Comments / New

Golden Knights defeat Blue Jackets 3-2 in shootout for 10th road win of season

Posted on by Jillian Wagner

The Vegas Golden Knights snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday night in Nationwide Arena.

The Golden Knights blew a two-goal lead but came away with two points in their final November contest; Vegas is 17-6-1 on the year.

Paul Cotter scored the game-winning shootout goal in the seventh round to lift Vegas to victory.

Despite a rough start, the Golden Knights took a 2-0 lead late in the first period when they scored two goals in just 56 seconds.

First, William Karlsson scored against his former team while down on the ice, swiping the puck past Blue Jackets netminder Daniil Tarasov.

It was a strange play that saw the puck take several unexpected bounces, but Karlsson stayed with the play after his first shot was turned aside. He got a little help from a Blue Jackets skate in front, but his sixth of the year made it 1-0 at 15:59 of the opening frame.

Less than a minute later, William Carrier continued his impressive hot streak with his eighth goal of the season.

Carrier collected a feed from Zach Whitecloud and scored from the slot, beating Tarasov short-side at 16:55.

But Tarasov proceeded to stop the next 27 shots through regulation and overtime, finishing the game with 34 saves on 36 shots for a .944 save percentage.

Columbus pulled within one when Johnny Gaudreau scored nearly a full period later, making it a 2-1 game at 13:50 of the middle frame. The Blue Jackets had an unrelenting shift that kept Vegas pinned in its own end for more than 80 seconds, and Gaudreau capitalized on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Gustav Nyquist.

The Golden Knights came close to adding to their lead late in the second period on one of the best penalty kills of the season; it featured multiple high-danger looks for Vegas, the second of which came off the stick of Jack Eichel, who negated Columbusā€™ man-advantage by drawing a penalty while driving to the net.

The two clubs went a combined 0-for-6 on the power play, however.

There was concern early in the third when Eichel took a Nicolas Hague shot to the face, but he returned with roughly five minutes left in the period, which was a rough one for Vegas.

Columbus erased the one-goal deficit just over 12 minutes into the third, evening things up at 2-2 when Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner cleaned up a rebound at the side of the net.

Both goalies played well down the stretch, setting up Vegasā€™ fifth overtime of the season.

Vegas and Columbus had grade-A chances to end it in overtime. Eichel got a great look on a one-timer but hit the post, and Nyquist was shut down by Logan Thompson on a breakaway.

But 65 minutes of hockey wasnā€™t enough to determine a winner, setting up the first shootout of the year for both teams.

After Nyquist finally got one past Thompson, Vegas hit the post on both of its first two attempts, forcing a must-score scenario for Jonathan Marchessault in the third round. The Misfit came through with a short-side shot to keep Vegas alive.

Thompson made save after save, but the Golden Knights were unable to win it on their next three attempts. However, Cotter, who has had great success in shootouts with the Silver Knights and loves one-on-one opportunities, sealed it in the seventh round to secure the two points and victory. It was his first shootout attempt at the NHL level.

Thompson finished the game with 26 stops on 28 shots for a .929 save percentage. He made a lot of key saves to keep Vegas in the game, including in the third, when Columbus had an 80.61 percent expected goal share.

The win is Thompsonā€™s sixth road win in November, just one shy of the all-time record held by Ray Emery in 2006.

This was Thompsonā€™s first career shootout win, though he has now stopped 20 of 24 attempts in four shootouts.

Alex Pietrangelo missed the game for personal reasons; Ben Hutton recorded two shots and a plus-one rating but played just 10:43 in his first appearance since the Oct. 11 season opener.

The Golden Knights are 10-1-1 on the road this season and wrap up the month of November with a 9-4-1 record.

Vegasā€™ four-game road trip continues Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Talking Points