The Vegas Golden Knights (13-3-1) erased a two-goal deficit two times to come back and defeat the Montreal Canadiens (7-8-2) in a 6-5 contest on Thursday night at Bell Centre.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
The Canadiens opened the scoring at 6:43 of the first period as Alex Newhook blasted one past Golden Knights' netminder Adin Hill. Just 3:20 later, Montreal's Johnathan Kovacevic ripped a shot from the right dot to find the back of the net for the 2-0 lead.
The Golden Knights and Canadiens combined for six goals in the second period. Brett Howden got the Golden Knights on the board with a shorthanded goal just 2:33 minutes in. Snapping a wrist shot from the left circle, the right winger found room under the arm of Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau to halve the lead. Jesse Ylonen regained the two-goal lead for Montreal on a breakway going upstairs on Hill, before Brayden McNabb settled the puck in the slot prior to wristing a shot past Primeau's glove just 18 seconds later. At 11:20 of the second period, an odd-man rush into the zone for Vegas and a cross-ice pass to Jonathan Marchessault saw him beat Primeau gloveside to pull even at three. Ylonen recovered the lead and scored his second of the game 33 seconds later as he sent a shot past Hill from the bottom of the right circle. The Golden Knights potted a power-play goal with just under four minutes left in the period to earn the 4-4 tie. Shea Theodore walked in from the point to wrist a shot over Primeau's glove assisted by Jack Eichel and Mark Stone.
With 3:51 left in regulation, the Golden Knights earned a double minor opportunity on a highsticking penalty by Brendan Gallagher. Jack Eichel tallied his first goal of the night and his third point on the power play going top shelf on Primeau at 18:03 of the third. At 18:48, Mark Stone scored his own power-play goal, his third point, and the game-winner going five-hole on a wrap around shot. Justin Barron earned Montreal's fifth and final goal a 19:06 falling just short of the Golden Knights in the 6-5 contest.
TOP PERFORMERS
Shea Theodore: Theodore tallied one goal and three assists for four points aganst the Canadiens.
Jack Eichel: Eichel posted a three-point night (1G, 2A).
Mark Stone: Stone earned three points (1G, 2A) on the night.
William Karlsson: Karlsson posted a career-high 9 shots on goal and posted one assist.
VGK STATS OF THE KNIGHT
Brayden McNabb became the 20th Golden Knight to score this season with his goal in the first period. Vegas has the most goal scorers of any team in the league.
With an assist in the second period, Ivan Barabshev collected his 200th career point (88G, 112A).
The Golden Knights collected their fourth shorthanded goal of the season on a tally from Brett Howden. Vegas is now tied for the most shorthanded goals in the league with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Carolina Hurricanes, and Colorado Avalanche.
The Golden Knights are 8-0-0 when scoring a power-play goal.
William Karlsson recorded a career-high nine shots on goal against the Canadiens.
The Golden Knights attempted 18 shots on goal in the 1st period of the contest against Montreal. That is the most shot attempts Vegas has recorded in a period this season.
BECAUSE VGK WON...
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LOOKING AHEAD
The Vegas Golden Knights head down to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT at Wells Fargo Center. Catch the action on Vegas 34, KnightTime+ and on FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.
