Marner has 2 assists against former team for Vegas; Nylander leaves with injury for Toronto
Maple Leafs at Golden Knights | Recap
LAS VEGAS — Mitch Marner had two assists against his former team, and Jack Eichel scored at 2:44 of overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 6-5 come-from-behind victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
“Obviously, [my teammates] knew this one meant a little more to me,” said Marner, who was traded to Vegas on July 1 after playing his first nine NHL seasons with Toronto. “So, I’m grateful to get the win. A lot of guys put in an effort, and you know, it’s a team game out there.
“I think once the puck dropped it just felt like another hockey game out there. Obviously, I know a lot of those guys very well, and I tried to read off some of the plays and some of the things that I think they might do. But it’s a competitive game, you always want to try to beat your buddies.”
On the overtime goal, Mark Stone had the puck poked away from him by Morgan Rielly on a 2-on-1, but he quickly retrieved it and found the trailing Eichel, who deked to his backhand before lifting a shot past Joseph Woll.
“We’re competing when we don’t have the puck in overtime,” Eichel said. “[Stone] hits a post right there before we score, and we had a few changes. Credit to the whole group. It was a come-from-behind win, and we found a way to get a goal late there.”
TOR@VGK: Eichel completes comeback for Golden Knights in OT
Eichel’s goal came after Tomas Hertl tied it 5-5 with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Hertl got position in the low slot and redirected Eichel’s centering feed past the glove of Woll.
That goal came shortly after Vegas thought it had tied it on what would have been Pavel Dorofeyev‘s third goal of the game at 15:50. However, Toronto challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
“It wasn’t easy (to handle), especially when it’s the tying one,” Hertl said. “We just find ways to score different goals.”
TOR@VGK: Eichel sets up Hertl in final seconds of 3rd period
Eichel finished with a goal and three assists, Dorofeyev scored twice, and Stone had a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights (23-11-12), who have won six in a row, including 3-2 in overtime at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Adin Hill made 23 saves in his first game since Oct. 20 because of a lower-body injury.
“It was an entertaining game for people watching,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It would have been easy to say, ‘We’re down a few people, it’s not our night,’ especially after the offside goal comes back. … But they kept pushing because they want to win.”
William Nylander had a goal and an assist before leaving midway through the first period with a lower-body injury for the Maple Leafs (23-16-8), who were coming off a 6-1 loss at the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday. John Tavares had a goal and an assist, Auston Matthews scored, and Woll made 27 saves.
“We can probably do a little better job in the third period,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “It’s frustrating to lose this game tonight. We got off to a great start. We played really well tonight as part of the game. We’ve just got to be smarter in certain situations, that’s what it boils down to tonight.”
Rielly gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 2:05 of the first period, roofing a shot over Hill’s blocker from the left circle after Nylander won a battle with Keegan Kolesar along the right boards.
Nylander then extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:03. He kicked a centering pass from Matias Maccelli to his backhand in front and lifted a shot past the blocker of Hill.
TOR@VGK: Nylander scores nice backhand goal in opening period
Nylander, though, would exit the game at 8:48 of the first. He was playing in his fourth game after missing the previous six with a lower-body injury. Berube didn’t have an update following the game.
“He’s been so durable in his career,” Tavares said. “It’s ebbs and flows of a career, and, obviously, ‘Willy’s’ a very important player for us. So, it’s not ideal, but you know, he leaves early and he still impacted the game pretty well.”
Dorofeyev cut it to 2-1 at 8:12 with a power-play goal, scoring on a one-timer from the right circle off a quick pass from Marner, who was at the point.
Matthews responded at 9:57 of the first, redirecting Jake McCabe‘s centering pass inside the far post to make it 3-1.
Kolesar made it 3-2 at 5:51 of the second period. He spun off Rielly in front and knocked in the rebound of Braeden Bowman‘s shot.
Tavares pushed it to 4-2 at 12:46 when Maccelli’s one-timer from the left circle deflected in off his stick at the post for a power-play goal.
Dorofeyev got the Golden Knights to within 4-3 at 2:10 of the third period. He scored his second power-play goal of the game from below the right circle after Marner’s shot caromed to him off the end boards.
“Our power play is obviously firing pretty [well] right now, so we have to keep that going,” Marner said. “… We’re staying positive on the bench and have a lot of talking in this locker room, so that’s always what you want.”
TOR@VGK: Dorofeyev scores his second PPG of game
Scott Laughton put Toronto in front 5-3 at 8:58, taking a pass from Matthew Knies on a 2-on-1 and burying a one-timer from the right circle.
Stone made it 5-4 at 10:14. Ivan Barbashev’s initial one-timer was stopped by Woll, but the goaltender’s momentum carried him outside the crease, and on the ensuing scramble, Stone was able to knock it into the open net.
“There was a lot of good things in our game today,” Tavares said. “… Just got to continue to stay at it and tighten things up. You’ve got a point. That’s not what we wanted, and we were right there.”
NOTES: Stone has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) during a 10-game point streak. … The Golden Knights lead the NHL with eight comeback wins when trailing in the third period this season.
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