Knights prevail in OT, close in on Pacific Division title
The Golden Knights took care of the first step needed to clinch the Pacific Division title.
They can lock it up in the final home game of the regular season Saturday.
Jonathan Marchessault scored 22 seconds into overtime — his second goal of the game — as the Knights pulled out a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday in a playoff-style battle in front of an announced crowd of 18,191 at T-Moble Arena.
“I thought we were desperate the whole game,” Marchessault said. “I thought we competed and even when we got behind early we kept working. It’s a big win.”
William Karlsson had a three-point night, including his 41st goal, and James Neal also scored for the Knights (49-22-7, 105 points).
The Knights lead San Jose by seven points and can clinch the Pacific Division title with a victory or an overtime/shootout loss against the Sharks when the teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
“I’m happy with the performance, the way we competed and battled,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “I thought it was a game you had to fight to earn your space out there, and I thought our team did a good job.”
The Knights struggled to generate offense in their two previous matchups against St. Louis (43-28-6, 92 points) and couldn’t find much room Friday, as the Blues were content to clog the neutral zone and slow the pace.
Neal ended a long scoring drought with his first goal since Feb. 8 to put the Knights on top 3-2 with 3:25 remaining in the second period.
Tomas Tatar hustled to win back the puck from Jaden Schwartz and found Haula open at the left post. Haula sent a one-touch pass across the crease to Neal, and he roofed it for his 25th goal.
“(Tatar) made a good play over to (Haula), and I was hoping he was going to give it to me quick,” Neal said. “I just tried to get it up as fast as I could and it was nice to see it go in.”
The Blues tied the game 6:14 into the third period when Chris Thorburn, who was selected by the Knights in the expansion draft before he signed with St. Louis as a free agent, was left alone and buried a feed from Scottie Upshall.
It was Thorburn’s first goal since Dec. 11, 2016, when he played for Winnipeg.
After starting slow in their past three games, the Knights fell behind less than three minutes into the first period on Patrik Berglund’s goal and made life difficult by taking two penalties in the opening 5:23.
But Karlsson evened the score at 1 when he hauled in a pass from Cody Eakin and converted on a breakaway for a short-handed goal at 6:18.
Karlsson is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, four behind overall leader Alex Ovechkin of Washington.
“(Eakin) made a great play,” Karlsson said. “I saw him get possession along the boards and I tool off and he hit me with a perfect pass.”
The Knights went ahead 2-1 at the end of a strong shift from the top line.
Karlsson found Alex Tuch open in the slot and he whiffed on the shot, but the puck slid to Marchessault at the side of the net and he tucked it at 13:31 for his 26th goal.
St. Louis answered with 3:51 left in the period when Brayden Schenn took a pass from Schwartz and flicked a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Subban on the short side.
“We got down early, but I loved the way we played,” Gallant said. “I like the way our team played for 60 minutes.”
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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
