Golden Knights outlast Blue Jackets in seven-round shootout

COLUMBUS -- Logan Thompson made 26 saves for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-2 shootout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Monday.

Paul Cotter scored the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout. It was the rookie forward's first NHL shootout attempt.
"Guys were actually telling me to pick him sooner, 'Well I don't know.' I don't stick around for the shootout much (at practices)," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think even Logan was flashing me some signs, so at the end of the day we got it right."

William Karlsson and William Carrier scored for the Golden Knights (17-6-1), who had lost two in a row (outscored 9-3).
"It's just about getting a win. Now we can start building a streak the other way," Cassidy said. "There's a lot of things in that game we can fix where we could have helped ourselves, but at the end of the day, it's very hard to win in this league. It doesn't matter who you play, where you play, so you enjoy the wins."
Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist, Gustav Nyquist had two assists, and Daniil Tarasov made 34 saves for the Blue Jackets (7-12-2), who have lost three straight.
"We've been playing some good hockey, it's just we want to get the results," Columbus captain Boone Jenner said. "We want to get the wins and feeling good that way. So, we've just got to keep going and build on the good things that we are doing."
Karlsson gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 15:59 of the first period. His initial shot from the slot was stopped by Tarasov, but the rebound kicked back out to him, and as he was falling down he swatted the puck just inside the left post off the skate of
Jake Christiansen
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Carrier extended the lead to 2-0 at 16:55 with a shot from the high slot through a screen.
"We've been going well on the road lately (10-1-1 on the season) and we're trying to win them all," Carrier said. "We don't have our game right now at home like we want to (7-5-0), but on the road right now we're going and want to keep it going."
Gaudreau cut it to 2-1 at 13:50 of the second period, scoring with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Nyquist.
The goal capped a possession in which Columbus had the puck in Vegas' zone for more than 90 seconds and attempted six shots.

Jenner tied it 2-2 at 12:11 of the third period, jamming in the rebound of Nyquist's shot at the right post.
"I'm disappointed for them," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "They're putting a lot into these games and not getting the two points.
"We had guys playing through [illnesses] tonight, nobody has any idea. There's several of them, and still they're laying it on the line. It's a pretty gutsy effort tonight."
NOTES:Vegas center Jack Eichel left the game at 1:45 of the third period after being struck on the left side of his head by a shot from Nicolas Hague. However, he was able to return later in the period and had a shot hit the post in overtime before hitting the crossbar on his attempt in the shootout. … Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo did not play because of personal reasons. … Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb played his 600th NHL game. … Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier did not play because of an illness. Gaudreau and defenseman Erik Gudbranson did not participate in the morning skate because of an illness but were able to play.