Shea Theodore scored the decisive shootout goal to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 comeback win over the host Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Jonathan Marchessault also scored during the shootout for the Golden Knights, who earned their third win in the past four games. Vegas trailed 1-0 late in the third period before Nick Holden scored the game-tying goal and helped force overtime.
Blackhawks center Kirby Dach scored his first NHL goal in his second career game. Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago during the shootout, but Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat both were denied on their opportunities.
Theodore sealed the win with a backhand shot that floated over the glove of Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner. Chicago earned one point thanks largely to a strong performance from Lehner, who stopped 33 of 34 shots during regulation and overtime.
Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was equally impressive as he stopped 31 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime. He improved to 7-2-0 on the season.
Chicago opened the scoring with 3:45 to go in the first period. Dach parked near the right side of the crease and fired a one-timer off a pass from defenseman Olli Maatta.
At 18 years and 274 days old, Dach became the sixth-youngest player in Blackhawks history to score his first goal. Grant Mulvey holds the team record at 18 years and 32 days old during the 1974-75 campaign, and Eddie Olczyk is second on the list at 18 years and 56 days old during the 1984-85 season.
Dach nearly increased Chicago's lead when he spotted DeBrincat for a point-blank opportunity midway through the third period. However, Fleury quickly slid to his right and denied DeBrincat's attempt with his right shoulder.
The Golden Knights scored the equalizer with 1:33 to go in the third period. Holden skated in from the blue line toward the right faceoff circle and buried a one-timer on a perfect cross-ice feed from Mark Stone.
Before the game, the Blackhawks acquired defenseman Ian McCoshen from the Panthers in exchange for forward Aleksi Saarela. McCoshen, 24, has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 60 career NHL contests, all for Florida.
--Field Level Media
Vegas | Chicago | |
Nick Holden 1 | Points | Kirby Dach 1 |
Nick Holden 1 | Goals | Kirby Dach 1 |
Paul Stastny 1 | Assists | Olli Maatta 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Marc-Andre Fleury .969 | Save Percentage | Robin Lehner .971 |
Marc-Andre Fleury 31 | Saves | Robin Lehner 33 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Vegas | 34 | 2 | 0-5 | 4-4 | 8 | 25 |
Chicago | 32 | 1 | 0-4 | 5-5 | 10 | 29 |