Golden Knights lose at Vancouver in overtime

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Golden Knights had a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division with a victory Thursday night, which seemed an unlikely prospect a month ago.

After scratching out a point against Vancouver, the Knights will settle for sitting even in points with Arizona atop the standings.

Vancouver’s Christopher Tanev scored 1:30 into overtime to send the Knights to a 5-4 loss at Rogers Arena in the first game of the Fathers Trip.

“It’s a good point for us. We didn’t play our best to start the game,” right wing Mark Stone said. “For us to still outshoot our opponent by (nine shots) shows we played some really good 5-on-5 hockey.”

Stone tied the game with 4:20 remaining in the third period as the Knights extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1).

Reilly Smith and Nick Holden had second-period goals to help the Knights overcome a 3-1 deficit after the first. Jonathan Marchessault added a goal and an assist.

Elias Pettersson scored twice, including with 10:41 left in the third period to give Vancouver a 4-3 lead. Antoine Roussel and Tanner Pearson also had goals for the Canucks, who scored on two of their first four shots.

Jacob Markstrom finished with 39 saves, including a blocker stop on Paul Stastny with two minutes remaining to keep the game tied at 4.

“We needed to do a little bit better job in the first period clearing the front and coming back to support our defensemen and those don’t happen so we’re not chasing the whole night,” Smith said. “We did a good job coming back and tried to control the pace for most of the third period, but it’s hard to come back in this league.”

Here’s what stood out from the loss:

1. Momentum swing

The Knights controlled play for the final 12-plus minutes of the first period after falling behind by two goals and nearly went into the locker room tied.

Stone cut through the slot and had Markstrom leaning the wrong way, but his backhand was turned aside with 45 seconds left in the period.

Vancouver went the other way, and Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt made a careless pass in his own zone that was intercepted. J.T. Miller moved around Brayden McNabb and got off a soft shot, but Marc-Andre Fleury gave up a rebound and was unable to cover the loose puck before Pettersson poked it in for a 3-1 lead with 28 seconds remaining.

“We didn’t take care of the blue paint. That’s what we didn’t do,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “They scored at least two goals from the blue paint in the first. We got better at that the rest of the game. When you let people get to the blue paint and there’s loose pucks around there, they’re going to put them in the back of the net.”

2. Momentum swing, Part II

Holden delivered a check from behind to Vancouver’s Josh Leivo, who crashed awkwardly into the boards and stayed down for more than two minutes before he left the ice favoring his right leg with 8:18 remaining in the second.

The hit didn’t sit well with the Canucks, several of whom tried to get at Holden in the ensuing scrum, or their fans, as Holden was not penalized.

They felt even more aggrieved 28 seconds later when Holden’s shot from the point sailed through traffic and tied the game at 3.

“I think earlier in the year, we didn’t really have that killer instinct to come back in a game,” left wing Max Pacioretty said. “Obviously, we’ve been feeling a little bit better about our game as of late, especially individuals. Being able to claw your way back into a game is a good feeling, but ultimately you want to get that second point.”

3. Like old times

The Knights’ first line of William Karlsson, Marchessault and Smith are starting to click the way they did during the inaugural season and combined for six points to lead the comeback.

Marchessault cleaned up a rebound in the first period, and the three connected for a beautiful goal in the second that cut Vancouver’s lead to 3-2.

Karlsson fought off a check behind the net from Bo Horvat and centered the puck to Marchessault. He made a one-touch pass to Smith at the side of the net for his 14th goal.

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