FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Hurricanes - Game 61 - 2023

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Hurricanes – Game 61 – 2023

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (36-19-6)  | Carolina Hurricanes  (39-12-8)

 

The Vegas Golden Knights avoid dropping their third-straight game at home against the Carolina Hurricanes, thanks to some late game heroics that went the VGK’s way

The first period of the Golden Knights vs Hurricanes in Las Vegas

The Carolina Hurricanes blew into Las Vegas on Wednesday night and looked to continue to have wins rotate their way.

The Hurricanes – winners of their last 12-of-14 games – saw their hot streak continue to cool off on the Las Vegas Strip at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas Golden Knights Reilly Smith scored a tiebreaking goal with 3:42 left in the third period to defeat the Hurricanes, 3-2, thanks to a beautiful backdoor pass from center Michael Amadio.

Smith’s goal halted a two-game losing streak by Vegas and said his reaction after the go-ahead goal was met with exhaustion this late in the season.

“(William Karlsson) and (Amadio) did a great job and have been giving me a lot of great chances over the last 10 or 11 games that we’ve played together,” Smith said. “It’s nice to put one in the back of the net, so give those guys a lot of credit.”

Smith said Amadio doesn’t get enough credit for the type of offensive threat that he is.

“He’s like a sneaky, skill guy,” he said. “He’s winning a lot of battles, as well. He’s a complete player and he’s been huge for us, honestly, over the whole season. But, it’s nice to be able to play with him and be able to see some of that first hand.”

Jack Eichel scored two goals in the second period. His first gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead of a William Carrier pass that scored high-glove side from above the right circle.

Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas would tie the game at 1-1, but Eichel made it 2-1 late in the second period with a breakaway goal that beat Carolina Hurricanes’ goalie Fredrick Andersen five-hole.

Since the All-Star break last month, Eichel has scored 11 points in 10 games and Wednesday night made if four multi-point games.

Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said his success comes from his speed and the line he plays with.

“A lot of his offense has come from either clean breakouts,” Cassidy said. “If they value that a lot, they will become a real dangerous line.”

Ivan Barbashev – who was recently acquired in a trade Vegas made with the St. Louis Blues on Sunday – assisted Eichel on the second goal. It’s his first point as a member of the Golden Knights.

Barbashev said his first game as a member of the Knights was a lot of fun and a different experience not being on the opposition.

“Great fans, (T-Mobile Arena) was buzzing,” he said. “This place was always tough to play in and especially when I was with St. Louis, every single game was really close and a really tough team to play against, and now you know, I’m on the other side. It feels good and it feels like we get more energy from the fans.”

End of the Golden Knights vs Hurricanes first period 

Vegas continues to give away late leads in 2022-23 and eventually has lost those contests, but Wednesday night, the Golden Knights wrote another story at The Fortress

Start of the second and thrid periods in the Golden Knights vs Hurricanes game.

Jordan Staal would tie the game with 7:16 left to go in the third period, thanks in part to a defenseman Brent Burns’ redirection.

Reilly said the Golden Knights needed this victory after they squandered another late lead.

“It’s big for us and I think we’ve been playing good hockey,” Smith said. “We’ve let a few games slip out of our reach with, probably the last three weeks. Those points can come back and get you at the end of the year. It meant a lot to win this one and get two more points.”

The Golden Knights’ Adin Hill stopped 24 shots – only allowing the two goals – and it helped the Golden Knights move back into first place alone in the National Hockey League’s Pacific Division with 78 points. Vegas has notched 10 points in its last 11 games. They are 7-1-3 in that span.

Cassidy said the defense has played great since the All-Star break and their performance is something they can hang their hat on

“I think in general, we’ve really bought into that,” Cassidy said. “I think (playing defense) can be the identity of our team and in our division. It might be able to separate us from some of the other teams and we still have some goal-scoring in the room.”

Anderson made 20 saves on 23 shots and both goaltenders tallied shutouts in the first period.

The game only featured only one power play for the Golden Knights, but the Hurricanes were able to kill it.

The Metropolitan Division’s first-place Hurricanes lost back-to-back games for the first time since the beginning of the calendar year. They sit with 86 points.

The final score in the Golden Knights vs Hurricanes game was 3-2, Vegas.

The Golden Knights will host the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena on Friday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. 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.