The Vegas Golden Knights got back in the win column with a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in a wild game that saw two goals come off the board following a challenge, and both sides scoring 3 in a row in the final period of play. Logan Thompson stopped 26 of 30 shots faced, Alex Pietrangelo had yet another 3-point game, and many others tallied multiple points during the win.
The 1st period of play saw the Golden Knights control a lot of the play, they out shot the Canucks 17-8, but they almost found themselves behind. Vancouver seemingly got on the board during the first period, but Bruce Cassidy challenged the play and it was determined that “the puck left the attacking zone at 6:46 (13:14 elapsed time) and, therefore, the play was off-side. The clock is reset to show 6:46, when the off-side infraction occurred.”
Despite the goal being called back, Vancouver ultimately struck first at 11:48 of the 2nd period when a Brock Boeser shot deflected off rookie Andrei Kuzmenko. It was a solid play by the Canucks, and was made possible because Kuzmenko found himself in between both Nic Hague and Zach Whitecloud on top of the goal crease.
The Golden Knights answered back quickly with Jack Eichel making things happen twice. Vegas’ leading scorer fired a shot on net, and captain Mark Stone deflected it past Thatcher Demko at 14:52 to tie things up. Forty nine seconds later the Golden Knights scored again to take a 2-1 lead, and this time William Carrier tipped the shot home to pick up his 5th goal of the season.
After 40 minutes of play the Golden Knights held a 25-16 edge in the shots on goal battled, and looked to lock things down in the 3rd period. What followed was the exact opposite, as both sides scored multiple goals in succession, and somehow the Golden Knights escaped with a victory.
Bo Horvat tied things up at 2-2 1:47 into the period after J.T. Miller hit him with a pass that allowed him to streak down the middle of the ice. Nearly 4 minutes later Luke Schenn picked up his 2nd goal of the season to make it 3-2, and less than a minute after that Elias Pettersson scored his 10th goal of the season to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead.
This is a story the Golden Knights have seen before, and it looked like things were slipping away, but what followed next was something that’s happened to the Canucks a few times this season, and that is blowing a multi-goal lead. William Carrier started the comeback by scoring his 6th of the season, 2nd of the game, to make the game 4-3. Reilly Smith followed up with his 10th goal of the season at 8:57, and then Mark Stone scored… or at least everyone thought he did.
But for the 2nd time during this game a goal was reviewed, and it was determined that as Vancouver was attempting to clear the puck by rimming it around the boards, it struck a camera that was protruding through the cutout in the glass, and therefore play should have been called dead.
The Golden Knights go ahead goal was called back because the puck went into a camera hole causing the lens to fall on the ice.
Yes. You are reading this right. pic.twitter.com/Cqqi6bFhGF
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 22, 2022
However, the 4-4 tie didn’t remain for long as Alex Pietrangelo worked his way toward the circles and cut to the net to receive a pass from Mark Stone to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 lead.
No camera lens was stopping this one 😅 pic.twitter.com/i1oRS1Oz2y
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 22, 2022
That goal was the final one of the game, and despite surrendering 3 goals in the 3rd period. All in all it was a sloppy game for the Golden Knights which saw missed assignments, an inability to generate offense on the power play, and some carelessness, but they found a way to regroup when it mattered most. Surely it came against an opponent which hasn’t played well this season, but a win is a win, and the team added a much needed 2 points to get back in the win column.