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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — There was a lot to digest in tonight’s wild and electric Vegas Golden Knights 6-5 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime.
Jack Eichel scored the game-winner in OT after VGK center Tomas Hertl tied the game with a mere seven seconds left in the third period before an announced 17,975 fans tonight.
VGK coach Bruce Cassidy said his team is resilient. “As the stakes go up, they get more competitive . . . They don’t like losing,” Cassidy said. “We were going to play to the last whistle.”
It was the sixth win in a row for Vegas, which also won in overtime last night, 3-2, over the LA Kings.
Prized VGK acquisition Mitch Marner skated against his former Maple Leafs mates, with lots of Toronto fans here in Las Vegas showering boos on Marner.
Then there was Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill returning to the pipes for the first time since October after getting injured with three games under his belt this season.
Cassidy said Hill looked like a goalie who has not played in a NHL game in three months.
The VGK coach noted Toronto came out with a faster pace than Los Angeles last night. “It wasn’t an easy start for Adin,” Cassidy said.
And former VGK Swiss Army knife player Nic Roy, a sweet guy with a big, easy smile, came back to T-Mobile Arena since the big trade that moved him to Toronto and brought the high-profile Marner to Las Vegas.
Toronto ambushed Vegas and Hill with two quick goals in the first six minutes, with Maple Leafs winger William Nylander at the center of both goals. In the first goal, Nylander made some nifty skating moves to zip around Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar and Hertl and set up defenseman Morgan Reilly for a shot that beat Hill.
A few minutes later, Nylander then shuffled the puck past a rusty-looking Hill for a 2-0 Toronto lead.
The Knights have a terrific power play this season and some nice puck movement from Eichel and Marner set up Pavel Dorofeyev from the right circle for his 18th goal to cut the lead down to 2-1.
But Toronto superstar Auston Matthews tipped in a goal that Hill had no chance to stop and Vegas ended the period trailing, 3-1.
In the second period, Kolesar scored only his second goal of the season before Toronto’s John Tavares redirected the puck into the net behind Hill to restore the Leafs’ two-goal lead at 4-2 midway through the middle stanza.
Dorofeyev scored another power play goal in the third period, but a VGK defensive breakdown led to a Maple Leafs goal by Scott Laughton scoring to give Toronto a 5-3 lead.
Red-hot Mark Stone scored his 17th goal of the season to cut Toronto’s lead to a goal at 5-4.
Dorofeyev thought he tied the game at five with a hat trick goal, but a review showed VGK were offside and the goal was nullified.
But with only seven seconds to go in the game, Hertl scored on a 6-on-5 setup to lock the game at five each.
Then Eichel scored the game-winner in OT and the Knights players celebrated the comeback win over a very tough Toronto team. Vegas improved to 23-11-12 for 58 points and plays Nashville Saturday and Philadelphia Monday before hitting the road.
PSA