Tomas Hertl, who had a goal earlier disallowed due to goaltender interference, scored on a power play 1:23 into overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Sunday.
“Maybe it was karma,” Hertl said.
Trailing 3-0 after two periods, the Knights forced overtime with goals from William Karlsson (twice) and Ivan Barbashev. Karlsson’s second goal, his 30th of the season and fifth in six games, came with 3:37 left in regulation. Adin Hill made 21 saves.
The Knights outshot Colorado 13-2 in the third period and overtime.
“It would’ve been easy tonight to say, ‘Let’s build our game and do some things in the third that are good and then worry about our next one,’” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s good that they pushed back. I think that will help the group collectively as we go into the playoffs. If we’re in this position, this is the one we’ll look back and say, ‘Hey, you’re never out of it.’”
Vegas capitalized on an Avalanche team playing the second of a back-to-back. They lost 7-0 to Winnipeg on Saturday in Denver and have been defeated in five of their past seven games.
“When you get into a game with a team that makes a push, you’ve got to continue to push back,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We didn’t push back hard enough, but at the end of the day, you can’t take dumb penalties in a tight game. You just can’t. That’s the difference in the hockey game for me.”
Two of Vegas’ goals came on power plays, the fourth time in six games the Knights have achieved that. Josh Manson picked up three of Colorado’s four penalties, including a high-sticking penalty with 12 seconds left in regulation that led to the Knights’ overtime winner.
Cale Makar had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who also got goals from Ross Colton and Mikko Rantanen. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots.
Vegas pulled to within a point of Los Angeles for the third playoff position in the Pacific Division. Each team has two games remaining.
Colorado picked up a point to trail Winnipeg by one in the Central Division. The Jets own the tiebreaker and have a game in hand.
This nationally televised game between the two most recent Stanley Cup champions featured a multiverse broadcast on truTV, where players appeared as characters like Bugs Bunny, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
The Avalanche scored twice on their first seven shots on goal. Colton snuck in a shot just above the goal line that trickled past Hill, and Makar scored from the slot. Colorado held the Knights to six shots on goal in the first period.
Vegas appeared to get on the scoreboard 6:57 into the second period on Hertl’s redirect, but the Avalanche challenged for goaltender interference, and the goal was overturned after a video review. Colorado soon after extended its lead to 3-0 on Rantanen’s redirect.
The Knights didn’t go quietly, scoring twice in the first 6:35 of the third period when Barbashev and Karlsson found the back of the net. Karlsson later tied the game on a rush after a pass from Brett Howden.
Over time, Hertl redirected Jack Eichel’s shot to complete the comeback.
“I think we feel pretty good playing here in this building, and our fans get into the game,” Eichel said. “We get one (goal), and all of a sudden, the building picks up, and we’re able to get another one and to put pressure on them.”
Karlsson and teammate Brayden McNabb played in their 500th career games.
UP NEXT
- Avalanche: Host Edmonton on Thursday to close the regular season.
- Golden Knights: Host Chicago on Tuesday.