FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Flames - Game 58 - 2023

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Flames – Game 58 – 2023

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (35-18-4)  | Calgary Flames  (27-20-12)

 The Vegas Golden Knights complete the comeback defeating the Calgary Flames in overtime 4-3. Alex Pietrangelo scores the game-winning goal in OT to extinguish the Flames. 

The Golden Knights vs Flames first period.

In a game that seemed impossible to overcome, getting badly outshot in the first period and trailing by two goals in the third, the Vegas Golden Knights managed to win in overtime 4-3 over the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights scored twice in the third period to force overtime, then Alex Pietrangelo was the overtime hero to get the victory for Vegas.

”I thought we chipped away more as the game went on,” Pietrangelo said. ”We were more aggressive, I think. They’re on a back-to-back, and we kind of put them on their heels.”

With the win, the Golden Knights are still leading the Pacific Division, but more importantly, they are currently leading the Western Conference with 75 points, extending their point streak to eight games.

”You’ve got to be able to win those games if you expect to advance (in the playoffs),” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. ”We’ve got to get there first, and that’s where these two points matter. That is a bigger sign to me. The big picture is we can play these games against a heavy team.”

The Flames dominated early in the first period, outshooting Vegas 18-8. Jakob Pelletier scored a power-play goal to put Calgary on the board first, 1-0, midway in the first period. The period ended with Vegas down by a goal, with goaltender Laurent Brossoit making 17 saves.

“[Brossoit] was strong when he needed to be,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “First period, they were doing what they wanted, but we got through it. That’s what you need good goaltending for. You’ve seen it happen to us in the past.”

Even with Brossoit holding everything down in the net, the Flames’ tempo continued to test the Vegas defense. Just two minutes into the second period, Calgary scored again after Jonathan Huberdeau deked his shot to the left and passed Brossoit to extend the lead for the Flames 2-0.

The Golden Knights vs Flames end of the first period.

The Golden Knights seemed to experience second-period layoffs again.

The Golden Knights vs Flames second and third periods.

Calgary was in firm control until Jack Eichel scored a power play firing a snapshot from the left circle, his fourth goal in six games to finally put Vegas on the board 2-1.

The power-play goal for the Golden Knights ended a 0-for-25 streak, with the man advantage for the Golden Knights dating to January 22.

“It’s a great shot by Jack,” Pietrangelo said. “It’s what he’s capable of. He’s capable of doing that in a blink of an eye. There wasn’t a lot of room around him, so he found a way to put that in there. That’s what we need from him. We kind of need him to take over games.”

But with just four minutes left in the second period, Mikael Backlund tipped in a shot from Blake Coleman to extend the lead again for the Flames 3-1.

In the third period, five minutes in, the Golden Knights started to climb back into the game when Zach Whitecloud shot far post from the right face-off circle to make the score 3-2. But it was not over there yet; just midway in the third, William Carrier scored from the slot after getting a rebound to tie the game 3-3.

“Will just gets hard to the net and makes life hard on the goalie,” Pietrangelo said. “We feed off that energy. He’s definitely an energy guy in the locker room, too. You see him on the ice. Everything he’s getting now, he deserves. He’s earning these goals.”

With the game going into overtime, the game did not last long as Alex Pietrangelo scored with 42 seconds in to give the Golden Knights the victory 4-3 and the two points for the game. The Golden Knights limited Calgary to 10 shots in the final two periods and overtime.

The Golden Knights vs Flames final score is 4-3.

The Golden Knights will remain at home when they play against the Dallas Stars at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. The puck drops at 7:00 pm. The game can be seen on  AT&T SportsNet (channel 313 on Cox Cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.