3 takeaways: Knights reverse recent history with late rally — PHOTOS
It wasn’t long ago that the Golden Knights were on the other end of what happened Friday.
The third-period leads they had in their East Coast road trip vanished in the blink of an eye. They were hoping to be due for one of those games in their favor.
They got that late in the third period Friday when the Knights scored three times in a span of 1:25 to complete a come-from-behind 6-4 win over the Ottawa Senators at T-Mobile Arena.
Center Tomas Hertl tied it 4-4 on a power-play goal with 3:11 remaining, then right wing Keegan Kolesar scored a minute later off a transition play to give the Knights the 5-4 lead.
Left wing Ivan Barbashev scored his second goal into an empty net with 1:46 to go.
“It wasn’t our overall best game. We couldn’t get our game going,” said Hertl, who has three goals in the past two games. “We made a couple of mistakes, but that’s why we’re a good team. We stayed with it.”
The Knights (5-2-1) didn’t have their legs under them in their annual Nevada Day game. It wasn’t because of the 3 p.m. start, nor would the Knights ever put that excuse out there.
Ottawa (4-3-0) was more physical and won more puck battles early on. That allowed the Senators to jump out to a 2-0 lead with goals from centers Adam Gaudette and Claude Giroux.
The Knights found a response with two goals in 19 seconds late in the first, with center Nicolas Roy and defenseman Nic Hague finding the back of the net to tie it 2-2.
The momentum died 50 seconds later when Drake Batherson was gifted a turnover from defenesman Brayden McNabb and beat goaltender Adin Hill for a 3-2 lead after one.
“To be honest, it was a wake-up call for us,” Barbashev said. “I don’t think we played our best.”
The Knights needed a response each time the Senators went ahead. Barbashev scored 6:40 into the second to tie it 3-3, but Gaudette’s second of the game — this one on the power play at 17:44 — gave the Senators a 4-3 lead.
That goal marked the fourth time in five starts that Hill was on the hook for four goals allowed. After that, he settled down.
Hill finished with 35 saves and stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third to give his team a chance to get back in it.
“It’s what good teams do,” Hertl said. “It’s a long season. It’s a lot of games. If you can still find a way to win it, it’s really important. Every point counts, especially early in the season.”
The Knights were in similar spots when they visited the state of Florida eight days ago. They let a 3-2 lead get away in the final minutes and lost 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Two days later, they lost 4-3 in overtime to the Florida Panthers in a game they never trailed until the winning goal was scored.
The Knights had the luck bounce their way. As ugly of a win as it was, the Knights will take it, especially with them playing the second leg of a back-to-back Saturday against the San Jose Sharks at 7 p.m.
“When we start bringing our best, we’re a pretty good team. That should be a lesson for all of us,” Kolesar said. “If we can turn it on from the start, it could’ve been a lot easier of a game for us.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Hague injured
Hague suffered a lower-body injury with 4:04 remaining in the second period.
Coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have an update, but the Knights will have morning skate Saturday with an update to follow.
Kaedan Korczak or Ben Hutton will go in the lineup if Hague can’t go.
2. Fresh off new contract
Defenseman Shea Theodore was held off the score sheet and was a minus-2 in 22:15 in his first game since signing a seven-year, $51.975 million contract extension Friday.
Theodore, who has seven points this season, returned to the lineup after an illness held him out of Tuesday’s 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
Theodore does not have a point in four of his last five games and is a minus-5 in that span.
3. Amadio returns
Right wing Michael Amadio made his first return to T-Mobile Arena after signing a three-year, $7.8 million deal with Ottawa on July 1.
Amadio played in 193 regular-season games and 20 playoff games with the Knights from 2022-24. He had 10 points in 16 games during the Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup in 2023.
The 28-year-old was given a video tribute early in the first period. He has no points in seven games with Ottawa this season.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.