Logan Thompson’s return for the Vegas Golden Knights was marked by another injury concern, but not before he made 37 saves to help secure a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
“Right now, we’re obviously concerned about Logan,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. “With him having missed that much time, we’ll need to look closely at this one.”
It was unclear if this setback was related to the lower-body injury Thompson sustained on Feb. 9.
“I don’t know what happened, to be honest. He just got up and left,” Cassidy said. “He knows his body. I hope it’s not related to the previous injury and that it’s something short-term.”
With Vegas leading 3-2, Jonathan Quick came in and stopped all five shots he faced as Calgary pressed for the tying goal.
“It doesn’t happen often, but Quick made some great saves to keep us in the game,” said Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev.
The Flames’ best chance came with a minute to go when MacKenzie Weegar’s shot from 30 feet out was stopped by Quick.
“I saw the net and missed my shot,” said Weegar. “If I could get one chance back all year, it would be that one.”
In his return from an 18-game absence, Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas (45-21-6). Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Amadio also scored.
Milan Lucic and Nazem Kadri scored for Calgary (32-26-15). Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves in his 11th start in the last 12 games.
The Golden Knights avenged their 7-2 home loss to the Flames last week, earning their seventh win in eight games and improving to 16-3-2 in their last 21 overall.
Vegas now has a four-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings atop the Pacific Division.
This loss was a blow to their playoff hopes for Calgary, leaving them six points behind Winnipeg for the second wild card in the Western Conference. It was Calgary’s 27th one-goal loss this season, leading the NHL.
“We’re in every game, so it’s frustrating to lose by one goal so often,” said Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson. “I don’t know how many times I’ve replayed moments in my head thinking we could have been in a different situation.”
Vegas extended their lead to 3-1 in the third period when Roy capitalized on a defensive zone turnover by Andersson, scoring with a pass from Phil Kessel at 5:19.
Kadri ended his 16-game goal drought with a power-play goal at 12:33, bringing Calgary within one, but the Flames couldn’t get closer.
Calgary fell to 0-18-3 when trailing after two periods.
Vegas, which has outscored teams 70-45 in the first period this season, took a 2-0 lead in the opening frame. Jack Eichel set up Marchessault for a 2-on-1 with Barbashev, who then shot high past Markstrom at 11:43. Amadio scored his own rebound at 15:23.
Lucic cut the deficit in half with 58 seconds left in the first period, scoring after a cross-ice pass from Walker Duehr.
SHOW OF SUPPORT
The Flames wore #SnowyStrong stickers on their helmets to support assistant general manager Chris Snow’s battle with ALS.
STREAK SNAPPED
Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith had his career-best point streak snapped at nine games (four goals, 11 assists). This equaled the franchise record held by Alex Tuch, Mark Stone, and Max Pacioretty.
UP NEXT
- Golden Knights: Travel to Edmonton to face Connor McDavid and the Oilers on Saturday night.
- Flames: Host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.