Golden Knights comeback win one of the team’s most memorable

Of the 253 regular-season games in Golden Knights history, some stand out more than others. Within that select group, a handful are remembered as all-time greats.

Add Monday’s comeback to that list.

Spurred on by the first crowd at T-Mobile Arena in 363 days, the Knights responded with a massive surge in the final 7:20 of regulation and into overtime for an unforgettable 5-4 victory over Minnesota.

It was the first time during the regular season the Knights won a game in which they trailed by multiple goals entering the third period, according to the Knights media relations staff.

The only other time it happened was Aug. 3 in the playoff bubble when they scored four unanswered goals to defeat Dallas 5-3 in the round robin.

In addition, it was the 14th time the Knights have overcome a multi-goal deficit at any point in the game to win and the second time this season (Jan. 18 vs. Arizona).

“It was electric,” winger Alex Tuch said. “Obviously, it was limited capacity, but it felt like a full building. The crowd was really into it, felt like they were right on top of us. They gave us the momentum to come back and win that game.”

Trailing 4-2 entering the third period and hoping not to disappoint the announced crowd of 2,605, the Knights failed to register a shot on goal for the opening 11:35. But they had the final 11 shots on goal in regulation, and Max Pacioretty scored the winner on the only shot of OT to snap the Wild’s six-game win streak.

Pacioretty finished with two goals and leads the team with 10, all of which have come at home.

Tuch tapped in Mark Stone’s pass with 41.6 seconds left for his eighth goal, matching his total from the 2019-20 season.

Defenseman Nic Hague started the comeback with a blast from the point that beat Wild goalie Cam Talbot at 12:40 of the third period.

“I don’t think it was obviously just the fans, but they added to it for sure,” Stone said. “When you get a comeback win like that, those are big, big points. We were playing for first place. They were right behind us. They were a point back of us. That was a first-place game and just a huge win.”

The Knights (13-4-1, 27 points) finished with 39 shots on goal after they went seven straight games without surpassing 30.

With the come-from-behind win, the Knights improved to 3-3-1 when trailing after two periods. That’s the third-most victories in the league in that situation.

DeBoer said the fans were the difference. “That was the story of the night … just having them in the building, the energy. … They were a big part of what we did in the third period. I think the guys wanted to make sure they left with a win.”

Here’s three more takeaways from the win:

1. High five

Stone set up all five goals, setting a franchise record, and matched his career high for points in a game.

He is the second player in the past 25 years to record five primary assists in a game, joining Artemi Panarin (Dec. 8, 2017, with Columbus), according to NHL public relations. Only five players in NHL history have had more in a single game.

Stone set up Cody Glass for a tap-in goal on the power play at 7:09 of the second period and made a similar pass to Tuch for the tying goal in the final minute of the third period.

Stone has 18 assists in 18 games. No other Knights player has more than 16 points.

“He’s a very enthusiastic guy, hard-working guy,” Tuch said. “That’s why he’s our captain. He comes in every day and shows up with that work ethic and that enthusiasm.”

2. Size matters

Pacioretty was responsible for covering Minnesota’s speedy rookie Kirill Kaprizov in the overtime and was breathing heavily after chasing him around in the defensive zone.

But Pacioretty finally caught the Calder Trophy candidate near the end of the shift and rubbed out the 5-foot-9 Kaprizov along the wall.

Stone was able to intercept Kaprizov’s pass and he broke with Pacioretty for the winner.

“There’s some old legs chasing around the rookie for a while. I thought I might have puked if I had to skate up the ice again,” Pacioretty said. “But luckily Stoney with that strong stick was able to steal it. I saw that their backchecker fell. I knew that Stoney was going to feel the guy on him fell and there would be a chance for a 2-on-1 break. He obviously made an amazing pass to me and fortunate that it snuck through.”

3. Coghlan sits

Defenseman Dylan Coghlan was credited with five seconds of ice time in the third period, but that appears to be a glitch as DeBoer went with five defensemen.

Coghlan was on the ice for two of the Wild’s four goals in the second period. He failed to clear the puck twice and then was unable to tie up Marcus Foligno in front on Minnesota’s second goal. Coghlan also was unable to break up the pass leading to Nick Bonino’s goal that put the Wild on top 3-2.

Coghlan finished with a minus-2 rating in 8:04 of ice time.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.