Entertaining Back-and-Forth Golden Knights/Devils Game Goes To Shootout With VGK Goalie Adin Hill Leading Knights To 4-3 Win Friday
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Just the facts: Vegas Golden Knights 4 New Jersey Devils 3, shootout
Storyline: VGK goalie Adin Hill played his best game, stopping 45 of 48 shots.
VGK goal scorers: Jonathan Marchessault two goals (18, 19); Jack Eichel (23)
Announced attendance: 18,033
VGK record: 37-19-6 for 80 points
VGK next game: vs Montreal Sunday at 3 PM
The New Jersey Devils are a legit Stanley Cup contender.
They’re fast, feisty skaters, constantly swarming to the puck and they outplayed the Golden Knights in the first period, putting 17 shots on goal and taking a 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.
The Devils were coming off a nice win over the defending champion Colorado Avalanche by dropping seven goals on the Stanley Cup titlists after the Avs shut out Vegas, 3-0, on Monday.
The Devils came out with a relentless style, though the Knights scored first.
VGK defenseman Brayden McNabb blocked a close-in NJ shot, then he took a shot from the post that caromed off the back board to winger Jonathan Marchessault, who got his stick on the puck while falling down and shot the puck past Devils goalie Akira Schmid for a 1-0 lead.
The sequence showed how McNabb is such an unheralded, un-hyped cog for the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Devils were tenacious and they eventually scored the tying goal on a power play score by Jesper Bratt, who fired the puck past VGK goalie Adin Hill from the right circle for his 25th after the Devils whizzed the puck around with the man advantage.
And with only 28 seconds left in the first stanza, Devils winger Dawson Mercer used a burst of speed to create separation from a VGK defender and sniped a shot past Hill over the goalie’s right shoulder and the Devils enjoyed a 2-1 lead after one period.
VGK coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game the Knights were not mentally prepared. In response to a LVSportsBoz.com question, Cassidy said his message during the first intermission about the lackluster first period would be kept to the locker room.
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The Knights lineup had some changes. New acquisition Teddy Blueger was inserted as center on the fourth line, Brett Howden was moved to the left wing and Paul “Welcome Back” Cotter was a healthy scratch.
And Jonathan Quick wore his familiar 32 as the Knights back-up goalie behind Hill after he was boomeranged from the LA Kings to the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Knights.
Ivan Barbashev, picked up from Pittsburgh, continued to be on the first line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault.
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The Knights climbed back in the game and played much better in the second period.
The sole goal of the middle stanza was scored by Marchessault, who took a pass from Barbashev and fired the puck into the back of the goal for a 2-2 game with about seven minutes left in the second period.
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Though the Devils were outshooting the Knights, Vegas took a 3-2 lead in the third period when Eichel used a deft touch to shoot the puck through the Schmid 5-hole. It was Eichel’s 23rd.
The Knights killed a penalty and even had a William Karlsson penalty shot that was denied by Schmid before New Jersey’s Miles Wood tied the game by cramming the puck past Hill to tie the game at three.
It was off to overtime tied at three.
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HIll was spectacular. The Devils had eight shots on goal during the OT, while the Knights were shut out in the extra time. Hill stopped 46 of 48 shots and the game moved to a shootout.
VGK’s Shea Theodore scored the sole goal in the shootout and the Knights skated off the ice with a 4-3 shootout win. The Knights announced attendance at 18,033.
The Knights play Montreal Sunday at 3 PM.
