The Vegas Golden Knights (23-11-12) extended their winning streak to six games with a 6-5 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs (23-16-8) Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights trailed by two goals on four separate occasions but demonstrated impressive resilience in their league-leading eighth third-period comeback win of the season.
What would have been the game-tying goal with just over four minutes remaining in the third period was overturned on an offside challenge, but the Golden Knights never stopped pushing, and Tomas Hertl netted the official equalizer with just seven seconds left in regulation.
Jack Eichel completed the wild comeback with the game-winner 2:44 into extra time.
It was a particularly special night for several players, including Mitch Marner, who faced his former team for the first time since coming to Vegas in a sign-and-trade over the summer. Marner, who was booed by visiting Toronto fans, recorded two assists, three shots, two hits and a block in 22:23.
The night also marked the return of Nicolas Roy, who was part of the return package in the Marner deal. Roy played parts of six seasons with the Golden Knights and was a member of the 2023 Stanley Cup team.
Additionally, Adin Hill made his long-awaited return for the Golden Knights, manning the crease for the first time since Oct. 20. He looked rusty but made arguably Vegas’ best save of the season in his second win of the year.
The Golden Knights were caught off guard in the first period, which was largely controlled by the visiting Leafs. Toronto took a 2-0 lead just 5:03 into the game when William Nylander collected a seam pass from Mason Maccelli before making a fancy stick-to-skate play and lifting the puck under Hill’s arm.
It came just three minutes after Morgan Rielly opened the scoring off a seam pass from Nylander. Hill had trouble getting over in time to get a piece of Rielly’s shot.
The Leafs scored two goals on their first five shots. But if there’s one thing the Golden Knights are not intimidated by, it’s falling down by two goals.
The Golden Knights made the most of their first power play of the game, as Pavel Dorofeyev scored on a one-timer off a touch pass from Marner.
But the Leafs responded 1:45 later when Auston Matthews scored on a redirect in front. It was the third time Toronto was able to get the puck into the low slot without much resistance, and the Golden Knights fell back into a two-goal hole as a result.
Reilly Smith had a chance to cut the deficit but was shut down by Woll on the breakaway. However, Hill had the answer. And then some.
Hill’s rolling skate save on Bobby McMann off a tic-tac-toe passing play by Toronto was sensational, and it prevented Toronto from extending the lead to three. After three months of inaction and after a rough start, it was a critical save at a critical time, and it allowed the Golden Knights to enter the second period in their sweet spot (a.k.a. down by just two).
In the second period, the Golden Knights cut that deficit in half once again.
An excellent shift by the Hertl line, particularly by Braeden Bowman, resulted in a slam-dunk goal for Keegan Kolesar, who fought through contact to get to the front of the net at 5:51.
However, the first and only penalty the Golden Knights took in the game ended up costing them, as another seam pass opened things up for Toronto down low. Matthew Knies found Maccelli on the backdoor, and Maccelli’s shot was tipped by John Tavares in front, restoring Toronto’s two-goal lead once more.
The middle frame was a better period for Vegas, but the Golden Knights were unable to maintain the one-goal deficit. However, the Golden Knights came alive in the third.
In fact, Vegas scored three goals in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
The first came on Vegas’ third man-advantage of the night, as Dorofeyev potted his second of the game and 13th on the power play this season, good for second in the NHL.
Much like he did Wednesday in Los Angeles, Marner took the ice he was given and fired the puck at the net. The shot was blocked, but Dorofeyev fought for the rebound to make it 4-3 just 2:10 into the period.
But for the fourth time in the game, the Maple Leafs took a two-goal lead when Scott Laughton scored on a 2-on-1 after a neutral-zone turnover, making it 5-3 at 8:58.
The roller-coaster ride continued, though, as the Golden Knights made it 5-4 just 1:16 later. It was Stone’s 17th goal of the year, and it extended his point streak to 10 games.
For the first time in the evening, the Golden Knights managed to pull even with Toronto, as Dorofeyev scored a hat-trick goal to make it 5-5 with 4:10 to go. However, Toronto issued a successful challenge for offside, taking the goal off the board.
It could have been a crushing momentum blow, but Vegas was not deterred, and Vegas would not be denied.
With Hill pulled, the Golden Knights struggled to keep the puck in the offensive zone but eventually got set up with under a minute remaining. An Eichel shot broke Knies’ stick, giving Vegas a little more freedom with the puck. In the end, Hertl created some separation in the slot, and Eichel set him up with a perfect pass for the one-timer. The Golden Knights tied the game with just seven seconds on the clock.
For the 18th time this season, the Golden Knights headed to overtime.
For the second night in a row, the Golden Knights came out on top.
Eichel did the honors this time around with a smooth deke and a gorgeous finish on the backhand at 2:44 of the extra frame. The game-winner capped off a miraculous comeback in arguably Vegas’ most exciting game of the year.
This was quite a win for the Golden Knights.
It wasn’t perfect, but the Golden Knights kept pushing until the very end.
“We were going to play to the last whistle, and that’s what it took,” Bruce Cassidy said.
Even after Dorofeyev’s equalizer was overturned, Vegas’ confidence was almost palpable. There was a level of deliberate calm in the way the Golden Knights finished the game, and however improbable the comeback may have been, it didn’t feel like a shocking result considering how Vegas was playing.
That hasn’t been the case for a while for the Golden Knights.
The Maple Leafs have more offensive firepower and skill than most of the teams Vegas has competed against recently, but the Golden Knights were never fazed. Even though they repeatedly gave up the next goal after pulling within one, they never let the game get out of hand. They were able to “stop the bleeding,” which they’ve struggled to do.
The fact that the Golden Knights play their best hockey when trailing by two is an oddity, and it’s not necessarily sustainble. However, it worked in their favor tonight. There was urgency in Vegas’ game, and the Golden Knights had the Maple Leafs on the ropes in the end.
The Golden Knights got goals from five different players, the power play went 2-for-3 and five players recorded multi-point efforts. Eichel led the way with a goal and four points, Stone scored a goal and added two assists, Hertl scored a goal and an assist, Dorofeyev lit the lamp twice and Marner tallied two helpers.
Hill was rusty, but it has been nearly three months since his last NHL action. That being said, his save at the end of the first period was not only remarkable, it was timely and it was critical.
The Golden Knights have won six games in a row, and their play is looking more and more like Golden Knights hockey every game.
But this game had special meaning to Marner, who was drafted by Toronto and spent nine seasons with the Maple Leafs before signing an eight-year deal with the Golden Knights.
“Once the puck dropped, it felt like another hockey game,” Marner said. “You always want to try to beat your buddies, though.”
He said the Golden Knights are resilient and “stay in a fight regardless of the score in the game and the time of the game. Obviously this one meant a little more to me, so I’m grateful to get the win. A lot of guys putting in effort, and it’s a team game out there.”
That team wanted to win it for Marner.
“Things didn’t go our way early, and we stuck with it and found a way to win an important game for a lot of guys in the room, especially Mitch,” Cassidy said.
Eichel also talked about the added significance to this game.
“We know how much it means to [Marner], and because of how much it means to him, it means that much to us as well,” he said. “I’ve been in similar situations where you’re playing your old team and you want to have a good showing and win the game. You could tell he had jump right from the start, and he was a huge part of the game. … It meant a lot to us to get the win there [for him].”
But even though there was added motivation behind this unlikely comeback, the Golden Knights still played with a level of compete, swagger and finesse that has been sorely lacking from their game for quite some time. It could end up being the kind of game that proves to be a turning point in the season.
However, there is plenty of hockey left to be played.
Vegas will continue this three-game homestand with matchups against Nashville on Saturday and Philadelphia on Monday. Marner will return to Toronto for the first time in the second half of a back-to-back next week.
Photo via Golden Knights