Overcoming the Odds: Golden Knights Erase Two-Goal Deficit in Comeback Win Over Jets

The Vegas Golden Knights overcame a two-goal deficit and defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3, in overtime on Tuesday evening at Canada Life Centre. Brett Howden’s third period goal evened the score at two, and Reilly Smith’s equalizer with under five minutes remaining sent the game to overtime. Tomas Hertl collected the game-winning tally with 13 seconds left in the extra frame to lift the Golden Knights to victory and hand the Jets their 10^th straight loss. Vegas had just a 9% implied probability to win before Smith’s game-tying goal late in the third period.

Implied probability data is provided by BetMGM.
Pregame odds: Vegas -102, Winnipeg -118

1^st | 5:16 | Winnipeg Jets 1, Vegas Golden Knights 0 | VGK chance to win: 34%
Cole Perfetti gave the Jets an early 1-0 lead with a backhand shot five minutes into the first period.

2^nd | 12:04 | Winnipeg Jets 2, Vegas Golden Knights 0 | VGK chance to win: 9%
Luke Schenn doubled Winnipeg’s lead with eight minutes remaining in the middle frame on a wrist shot from the blueline.

2^nd | 19:09 | Winnipeg Jets 2, Vegas Golden Knights 1 | VGK chance to win: 25%
Mark Stone cut the Jets’ lead in half on a power-play goal with only 51 seconds left in the second period to extend his goal streak to a career-high five games. Mitch Marner sent a pass to Pavel Dorofeyev in the circle who passed it net-front for Stone to bury the power-play goal for the Golden Knights.

3^rd | 8:13 | Vegas Golden Knights 2, Winnipeg Jets 2 | VGK chance to win: 50%
Brett Howden erased Winnipeg’s two-goal lead with the game’s first game-tying goal. On a pass from Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin fired a shot to the net where Connor Hellebuyck made the initial save. Hanifin passed the rebounded puck to Howden who released the one-timer, tying the game and jumping the Golden Knights’ chance to win up to 50%.

3^rd | 14:56 | Winnipeg Jets 3, Vegas Golden Knights 2 | VGK chance to win: 11%
Kyle Connor put Winnipeg back in front with five minutes left in the final period on a goal from the slot for his 20^th goal of the season.

3^rd | 15:55 | Vegas Golden Knights 3, Winnipeg Jets 3 | VGK chance to win: 50%
Less than a minute after the Jets’ goal, Vegas had just an 11% chance to win before Reilly Smith once again tied the game with a backhand goal late in the third period. A shot from Ben Hutton bounced off Brandon Saad in front of the net landing in front of Smith who scooped home the backhand to send the game to overtime. For the second time of the night, Vegas’ chances jumped back up to 50% thanks to Smith’s contribution.

OT | 4:47 | Vegas Golden Knights 4, Winnipeg Jets 3 | VGK chance to win: 100%
Tomas Hertl helped the Golden Knights complete the comeback victory with his game-winning power-play tally with just 13 seconds left in overtime. Marner fired a shot towards the net from the slot where Hertl tipped the puck across the goal line, securing the Golden Knights 18^th win of the season.