Overcoming the Odds: Vegas Earns Come-From-Behind Overtime Win Against Toronto

The Vegas Golden Knights overcame multiple two-goal deficits in the club’s 6-5 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas did not hold a lead in the contest until Tomas Hertl’s game-tying goal with just seven seconds remaining in the third period to send the game into overtime. Jack Eichel secured the win for the Golden Knights in the extra frame to extend Vegas’ winning streak to six. The Golden Knights had just a 3% implied probability to win before Mark Stone’s goal in the final frame to bring Vegas within one.

Implied probability data is provided by BetMGM.

Pregame odds: Vegas -130, Toronto +110

1^st | 2:05 | Toronto Maple Leafs 1, Vegas Golden Knights 0 | VGK chance to win: 39%
Morgan Rielly put Toronto up early on a slapshot from the top of the circle with assists by William Nylander and John Tavares.

1^st | 5:03 | Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Vegas Golden Knights 0 | VGK chance to win: 22%
Nylander tallied his second point of the night with a backhand goal to double the Maple Leafs’ lead in the opening frame.

1^st | 8:12 | Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Vegas Golden Knights 1 | VGK chance to win: 39%
Pavel Dorofeyev recorded his first power-play goal of the night with help from Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner. Dorofeyev hit the one-timer to go top shelf against Joesph Woll thanks to a one-touch pass from Marner near the blueline.

1^st | 9:57 | Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Vegas Golden Knights 1 | VGK chance to win: 22%
Auston Matthews gave the Maple Leafs their second two-goal lead of the game by tipping the puck in on a shot from Jake McCabe.

2^nd | 5:51 | Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Vegas Golden Knights 2 | VGK chance to win: 31%
Keegan Kolesar tallied his second goal of the season and the Golden Knights’ second goal of the night six minutes into the middle frame. Braeden Bowman fired a shot towards the net where Woll made the initial save. Kolesar cleaned up the rebound to bring Vegas within one.

2^nd | 12:46 | Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Vegas Golden Knights 2 | VGK chance to win: 14%
Tavares tipped in a power-play goal with seven minutes remaining in the middle frame on a pass from Matias Maccelli and Matthew Knies.

3^rd | 2:10 | Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Vegas Golden Knights 3 | VGK chance to win: 26%
Early in the third period, Dorofeyev recorded his second power-play goal of the game to once again bring Vegas within one. A shot from Marner missed wide of the net, allowing Dorofeyev to bank the puck into the back of the net.

3^rd | 8:58 | Toronto Maple Leafs 5, Vegas Golden Knights 3 | VGK chance to win: 3%
Scott Laughton scored Toronto’s fifth goal nine minutes into the final frame, bringing the Golden Knights’ chance to win to just 3%.

3^rd | 10:14 | Toronto Maple Leafs 5, Vegas Golden Knights 4 | VGK chance to win: 16%
Mark Stone extended his point streak to 10 games, with goals in nine, by jamming the puck past Woll with help from Ivan Barbashev and Eichel. What started out as an odd-man rush, Barbashev fired a shot at the net where Woll made the first save. Stone and Barbashev crowded the net until the captain pushed the puck past the goal line to increase Vegas’ chance to win by 13%.

3^rd | 19:53 | Vegas Golden Knights 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 5 | VGK chance to win: 48%
With seven seconds left, Tomas Hertl posted the second-latest game-tying goal in franchise history. From behind the net, Stone sent a pass to Eichel in the circle who centered a feed to Hertl in the slot where he fired home the equalizer.

OT | 2:44 | Vegas Golden Knights 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 5 | VGK chance to win: 100%
The Golden Knights completed the comeback victory thanks to Eichel’s team-leading 5^th game-winning goal of the season. Shea Theodore and Stone entered the offensive zone for Vegas on the 2-on-1. Woll made the save on Stone’s shot, but he recovered the rebound and sent it to a charging Eichel who outwaited Woll on the backhand for the overtime game-winner.