Golden Knights overcome travel issues, rally past Stars in OT
The Golden Knights were travel-weary. Beat up.
It almost seemed as if the hockey gods were conspiring against them Wednesday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The Knights, playing for the second time in two nights after winning 3-1 at Colorado on Tuesday, had flight delays and didn’t arrive at the rink until 3½ hours before puck drop, according to the AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain broadcast. Most of their players didn’t have their legs early on against the Stars, and it showed.
Two who did were left wing Jonathan Marchessault and goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
Marchessault provided his usual hustle and scored a game-tying goal off a one-timer with 1:02 remaining in regulation. Brossoit then made a tremendous save on right wing Luke Glendening to force overtime, setting up left wing Evgenii Dadonov’s game-winning heroics 1:59 into the extra session.
The 3-2 victory gave the Knights (3-4) back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
“It was a gutsy road trip, gutsy win again today,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “Tough circumstances, and guys found a way. It was a real character test.”
The win was a remarkable turnaround for the Knights, who trailed 2-1 after right wing Alexander Radulov scored 6:56 into the second period. They could have fallen behind much further.
The Stars led in shots on goal 19-6 when Radulov scored. The Knights went through a 21:59 period between the first period and the second with one shot.
Brossoit kept his wobbly team in the game before Marchessault and Dadonov beat goaltender Anton Khudobin in the first meeting between the teams since the 2020 Western Conference Final.
“We had a rough go before getting on the road, before these two games,” Marchessault said. “With those two momentum games, we can turn it around a little bit and start playing some good hockey.”
Here are three more takeaways from the win:
1. Brossoit’s busy first start
Brossoit didn’t get to ease into his first start with the Knights.
The offseason free agent signee was under fire from the start and finished with 32 saves. He saved his most important one for last.
Glendening fired from the slot with 25 seconds left in regulation after receiving a pass from center Tyler Seguin. Brossoit, whose momentum was carrying him left, pushed hard with his skates the other way and got across his crease to make the stop.
“I was all desperate to get over there, and then I kind of got screened a bit, and then all of a sudden the puck was to my right and I tried to make a quick play,” Brossoit said. “Got a pad out, was lucky he didn’t get it up, and that’s all she wrote.”
2. Injuries, somehow, grow
The Knights received positive injury news for one of the first times this season when defenseman Alec Martinez played after missing three games with a lower-body injury.
But the bad news kept coming after that.
Left wing Mattias Janmark didn’t play and is considered day to day after suffering an upper-body injury in Colorado, according to the AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain broadcast.
Then left wing William Carrier left in the second period after a blocked shot. He was assisted off the ice and to the locker room and didn’t return.
The Knights have captain Mark Stone, left wing Max Pacioretty, right wing Alex Tuch and defenseman Zach Whitecloud on injured reserve.
3. Overtime magic
When the Knights earn at least one point, they usually get two.
Wednesday’s win improved the team’s record to 10-0 the past two seasons in games that end during the three-on-three overtime. Dadonov’s second goal as a Knight ended it, after center Nicolas Roy fought to keep the puck in the offensive zone, won it and passed it back to his teammate.
“It just pretty much is his goal,” Dadonov said. “I just stop in front of the net and shoot.”
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
