Rapid Recap: Golden Knights 3, Avalanche 2 (OT)

Max Pacioretty scored in overtime and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Ball Arena.
Pacioretty knocked in a loose puck in the crease at 1:56 of the extra frame after Alex Tuch's original shot came free, giving Vegas the extra point in the standings.
Despite the loss, Colorado still gained a point for the 10th straight game (8-0-2). It's the team's first double-digit point streak since Nov. 11-Dec. 2, 2018 (9-0-2).

Joonas Donskoi and Devon Toews scored in the first period, but each time the Golden Knights answered with goals of their own to tie the outing. Samuel Girard and Nathan MacKinnon had assists in the outing, and Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves.
Alec Martinez and Shea Theodore tallied for Vegas, as netminder Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots.
The Golden Knights take the outright lead in the West Division with 47 points, while the Avalanche has 46. The teams meet two more times this season.

THE GOALS

1st Period
1:16 COL (1-0) - Joonas Donskoi deked and shot the puck short-side and over the shoulder as there was traffic in front.
16:32 VGK (1-1) - PPG, Alec Martinez tied the outing with a one-timer from the right circle during a man advantage.
17:35 COL (2-1) - Devon Toews took a pass from Nathan MacKinnon and scored with a snap shot from the mid-slot.
2nd Period
3:40 VGK (2-2) - Shea Theodore's shot was redirected in front by William Carrier and the puck got past Philipp Grubauer.
3rd Period
No Scoring
Overtime
1:56 VGK (3-2) - Max Pacioretty knocked in a loose puck in the crease to end the game.
Final: Golden Knights - 3 | Avalanche - 2 (Overtime)

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 2
Vegas: 1 for 4

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves on 34 shots.
Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22-of-24 shots faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

The Avalanche won a season-best 63 percent of its faceoffs, winning 34-of-54 draws. Colorado's previous season high was 60.4 percent on March 3 at San Jose (32-of-53), and it's the club's best outing at the faceoff dot since winning 64.6 percent on Nov. 27, 2019 versus the Edmonton Oilers (31-of-48).

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche is now 1-0-1 on its six-game homestand and 3-2-1 after six of the eight-game season series vs. Vegas. The clubs finish their year set on April 26 & 28 in Nevada… Colorado was playing its fourth afternoon contest of the season and its third and final one in Denver. The team is now 3-0-1 in day games... Samuel Girard is on a three-game assist/point streak (0g/3a) tied for his longest point streak of the season (fourth time) and of his career (seventh time)… Devon Toews scored his sixth goal of the season, tying his career high that he previously set last year with the New York Islanders... Nathan MacKinnon now has 14 points (5g/9a) in the last nine games… Colorado's Dan Renouf and Vegas' Keegan Kolesar fought at 1:22 of the first period. It was Renouf's second fight of his career... Despite the loss in OT, the Avs have still earned points in 10 straight games (8-0-2) and is 12-2-3 in their last 17 contests. Colorado is on its first double-digit point streak since Nov. 11-Dec. 2, 2018 (9-0-2)… The Avalanche dropped to 3-4 in overtime this season.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

So much to like about how this goal was created.

IMAGE OF THE GAME

View from up high.

ROSTER REPORT

Dan Renouf returned to the lineup on defense and took the spot previously held by Bowen Byram, who was out with an injury. Fellow blueliner Jacob MacDonald was listed as questionable heading into the contest, but he was able to play. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made his second straight start. Sheldon Dries, Greg Pateryn, T.J. Tynan and goaltender Adam Werner are currently on the taxi squad.
INJURY UPDATE
Bowen Byram didn't play as he was out with an upper-body injury suffered in the previous game. Head coach Jared Bednar said the rookie defenseman is currently day-to-day, but he could be week-to-week. Matt Calvert missed his second straight contest with an upper-body injury and is out week-to-week. Goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) and defenseman Erik Johnson (upper body) are out long term.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche continues its six-game homestand on Monday as the team hosts the Anaheim Ducks at Ball Arena. Colorado will also play one game versus the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday before hosting the St. Louis Blues on Friday and Saturday in back-to-back contests, the first ones with fans in the building in Denver.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 17 Tyson Jost - 72 Joonas Donskoi
37 J.T. Compher - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 34 Jacob MacDonald
27 Ryan Graves - 2 Dan Renouf
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
35 Jonas Johansson