The Vegas Golden Knights earned a point but failed to close out the win in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.
Vegas moves to 13-3-2 on the year and is 1-1-1 on its five-game road trip.
It was the second straight seesaw game, and the Golden Knights found themselves trailing 2-0 for the third game in a row.
Carter Hart was forced to make two huge saves early in the game, including on a breakaway by Ivan Barbashev. But the Flyers outshot the Golden Knights 16-8 in the opening frame.
Philadelphia opened the scoring late in the first period with a power-play goal from Owen Tippett.
The Flyers entered the game with the 30th-ranked power play, but Philadelphia converted on its first two opportunities, including when Tyson Foerster netted his first of the season 59 seconds into the middle frame.
However, just over three minutes later, William Karlsson got Vegas on the board to bring the Golden Knights within one. It was his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
But just under 10 minutes into the frame, Chandler Stephenson cross-checked Garnet Hathaway well after the whistle. The play was reviewed, and while the replay showed he did not make contact with Hathaways’ head, Stephenson was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct.
The Golden Knights were able to kill off the major, and they made it look relatively easy.
Just 19 seconds after doing so, Jonathan Marchessault scored his first of the game to even things up at 2-2. After Jack Eichel stripped the puck, he fed Marchessault down low, and Marchessault sent a spinning backhand through Hart’s pads. It wasn’t the best goal for Hart to give up, but it was a strong shift by the top line, and it’s never a bad play to get the puck to the net.
But the back-and-forth action continued.
The Flyers answered just 25 seconds later, as Sean Walker scored on an absolute laser from the point to put the Flyers ahead once again.
In the final minute of the frame, the Golden Knights capitalized on an extended 5-on-3 as Marchessault scored his second of the afternoon, pulling him into a tie with Karlsson for the team lead with nine goals.
For the second game in a row, the Golden Knights entered the third period tied after trailing by two.
Unlike the third period in Montreal, however, the Golden Knights were held off the board.
Vegas outshot Philadelphia 10-5, but the Flyers had two power plays in the third, including a late one on a Paul Cotter tripping call. The Vegas penalty kill came up clutch, however, holding the Flyers at bay to force overtime.
Only one shot was fired in overtime, but that doesn’t mean both teams didn’t have a chance to win it. As is often the case, a huge opportunity at one end led to a goal at the other.
Eichel had a glorious wide-open look in the slot but hit the post at one end, then turned it over in the defensive end, which led directly to Sean Couturier’s game-winner exactly one minute into extra time.
The Golden Knights had some very dominant stretches, but they struggled in the neutral zone throughout the contest.
“I thought we played an OK game,” Marchessault said. “We weren’t too good between the blues. I think that’s one of the things. We had a couple of turnovers; we weren’t clean in our neutral zone breakout. [The Flyers] keep coming; they work hard, so you gotta give them credit.”
The power play also could have taken over the game.
The Golden Knights scored a big 5-on-3 goal when they needed to, but Vegas failed to capitalize on a few other opportunities, including in the third period. Vegas had back-to-back power plays but wasn’t able to break through and take the lead.
On the flip side, though the Flyers scored twice on the power play, the Golden Knights’ penalty kill had another strong game. That was especially true on the five-minute major, which could have been a massive turning point.
The Golden Knights had their chances, but the execution wasn’t always there.
“Small things: not a tape-to-tape pass, not getting open for a defenseman, stuff like that that makes us play a little slower,” Marchessault said. “Playing fast for our group, it’s not necessarily fast players, it’s just the puck moves, options for each other. And I think tonight we missed a little bit of that.”
It was one of Marchessault’s best games of the season, and he finished with a game-high three points, including two goals and an assist. Shea Theodore tallied two assists.
Logan Thompson finished the night with 34 saves on 38 shots for an .895 save percentage, while Hart stopped 28 of 31 (.903 SV%).
The Golden Knights were able to come away with a point, but they left one on the table.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter: when you lose, you lose,” Marchessault said. “I think for our group, even if you lose in OT, it’s a disappointing outcome. I think we’re one of the good teams in the league, and we should have won that game. They’re a good team; you gotta give them credit. They were ready for us, and they played well.”
Vegas bench boss Bruce Cassidy chalked it up to puck management, which he also mentioned after the Golden Knights’ wild 6-5 win against the Canadiens Thursday night.
“At the end of the day, we mismanage the puck late again, and it ends up in our net,” Cassidy said. “It’s almost [like] we got what we deserved. You mismanage enough pucks, sooner or later it’s gonna cost you. … And that’s how it played out.”
As far as takeaways, Cassidy said there were two different games within the game. “You gotta respect what the other team can do and minimize that part of the game, and still play to our strengths. We did that for part of the game, but not enough.”
The Golden Knights have a quick turnaround with another game tomorrow in Pittsburgh.
“We’re starting fresh tomorrow no matter what, win, lose or draw,” Cassidy said.