Pietrangelo, Golden Knights rally for OT win against Flames

LAS VEGAS -- Alex Pietrangelo scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win against the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Jack Eichel carried the puck over the blue line and dropped a pass to Jonathan Marchessault, whose shot hit the crossbar and dropped behind Flames goalie Dan Vladar. Pietrangelo got to it first and swept in the rebound on his backhand.
"I was right there. I was hoping [Marchessault] didn't miss the net because we would have been in trouble," Pietrangelo said. "That's 3-on-3. Sometimes you have to take a chance when you can."

Eichel had a goal and an assist, and Laurent Brossoit made 25 saves for Vegas (35-18-5), which extended its point streak to eight games (6-0-2).
"We're coming down the stretch where everyone has to bring their best every night," Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. "Not everyone is perfect. Some guys will have off nights. That's life and that's hockey. That's what you have 18 guys out there and a goalie back there for. We play the type of style where we play as a five-man unit every time we're out there. We support each other no matter what happens."
Mikael Backlund scored for the fourth straight game, and Vladar made 25 saves for Calgary (27-20-12), which won 6-3 at the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
"We had a real good start. Fatigue caught up to us a little bit," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's tough [to only get a point], but I was concerned with the quick turn, but you got to stay positive."
Whitecloud brought the Golden Knights within 3-2, shooting far post from the right face-off circle at 5:08 of the third period on the rush.
William Carrier tied it 3-3 at 12:35, collecting a rebound and scoring from the slot.
"Will just gets hard to the net and makes life hard on the goalie," Pietrangelo said. "We feed off that energy. He's definitely an energy guy in the locker room, too. You see him on the ice. Everything he's getting now, he deserves. He's earning these goals."

Jakob Pelletier gave Calgary a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:25 of the first period when he batted the puck into the net off the rebound of Backlund's shot.
Vegas was outshot 18-8 in the first period, with Brossoit making 17 saves.
"[Brossoit] was strong when he needed to be," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "First period, they were doing what they wanted but we got through it. That's what you need good goaltending for. You've seen it happen to us in the past."
Jonathan Huberdeau made it 2-0 at 1:24 of the second period after taking a pass from Pelletier, deking to his left, and sliding a shot past Brossoit.
Eichel cut it to 2-1 at 14:27 with a snap shot from the left circle on the power play for his fourth goal in six games. It ended a 0-for-25 streak with the man-advantage for the Golden Knights dating to Jan. 22.
"It's a great shot by Jack," Pietrangelo said. "It's what he's capable of. He's capable of doing that in a blink of an eye. There wasn't a lot of room around him, so he found a way to put that in there. That's what we need from him. We kind of need him to take over games."

Backlund tipped in a Blake Coleman shot at 16:34 to push the lead to 3-1.

Vegas limited Calgary to 10 shots in the final two periods and overtime.
"Getting the two points is obviously what you want, but I was very pleased with the fact we got into the game by playing hard," Cassidy said. "Matching them hit for hit. Winning our puck battles with what they did to us in the first period. That's important. You have to win those games if you expect to advance [in the playoffs]. … That is a bigger sign in the big picture. We can play in these games against a heavy team."
NOTES: Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, six assists). … Carrier has 16 goals in 52 games this season. He scored 15 goals in 115 games the past two seasons. … Vegas forward Byron Froese had two shots and two hits in 9:15 in his first game since Jan. 24. He was recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League on Thursday. … Backlund has eight points (four goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak.