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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It was blistering hot in Las Vegas Thursday afternoon when the Edmonton Oilers were in Sin City to play the Vegas Golden Knights, And with this level of intense heat, a hockey fan might have thought it was May with the Oilers and Knights fighting it out in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
But no. It’s actually March 26 and the truth is both the Golden Knights and Oilers would not qualify for the playoffs if they played in the Eastern Conference and not in the weak Pacific Division. The Oilers entered tonight’s game with 79 points, good for second place in the division, five points behind the division-leading Anaheim Ducks. Meanwhile, the VGK were a point behind Edmonton with 78 points, four points ahead of the fourth place LA Kings.
Before an announced crowd of 17,910, the Golden Knights’ woes continued as they lost their 11th game in the 16 games since the Olympic break — a 4-3 overtime loss to Edmonton despite two goals by Mark Stone. The second of Stone’s goals was a gorgeous strip and steal of Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid and then Stone deploying some nifty dekes to slide the puck past Oilers goalie Connor Ingram.
Edmonton grabbed a 1-0 lead after one period and a 3-2 lead after two before the VGK sent the game into OT with a goal by Ivan Barbashev in the third period.
The VGK had a power play in overtime, but failed to score the game-winner.
Instead, Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard scored the winning goal on a shot that beat VGK goalie Adin Hill for his 20th of the season and the Oilers extended their lead in the standings over Vegas to two points with nine games left for each team in the regular season.
Just the facts: Edmonton Oilers 4 Vegas Golden Knights 3 in overtime
VGK goal scorers: Mark Stone (22, 23) and Ivan Barbashev (21)
Attendance: 17,910
Standings: Vegas is 32-26-15 for 79 points in third place, two points behind second place Edmonton with 81 points.
VGK coach Bruce Cassidy postgame quote: “It’s been a battle since the Olympic break.”
Next VGK home game: Saturday against the Washington Capitals
PSA