FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Maple Leafs - Game 14- 2022

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Maple Leafs – Game 14 – 2022

Franchise Sports Media

Golden Knights (12-2-0)  | Toronto Maple Leafs (7-4-0)

Riley Smith is clutch in his native home of Ontario, scoring twice, giving the Golden Knights the win in overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3, extending their win streak to 8 games.

The Golden Era of the Vegas Golden Knights is looking great so far. New coach, a new style of team play, atop 1st place in the league, and currently on a winning streak. But their 7-game streak was tested when the Knights continued their five-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Going into this game, the Knights wanted to extend their winning streak to 8 games, currently having the 4th best start in team franchise history. VGK has not won a game on the road against Toronto, with their overall record against them being 0-2-2.

Bruce Cassidy started Logan Thompson in the net tonight. Everyone came in healthy and in full force for the Knights. The first period began in the right way and the fast way for VGK. Forty-five seconds into the game, Nicolas Roy got his third goal of the season to make the score 1-0 from an assist from William Carrier. Roy put a loose puck in the goal crease after Erik Kallgren made the initial save on a breakaway by Carrier. The goal by Roy was the second-fastest goal of the season for the VGK, behind Keegan Koselar’s goal, which was scored in 12 seconds.

The first period was pretty much in the hands of the Golden Knights, with puck possession and outscoring the Maple Leafs, but Toronto was able to tie the game 1-1 from a goal from Timothy Liljegren when he one-timed a pass from David Kampf, who was on the goal line, at the right dot. It was Liljegren’s first goal of the season in his third game. With the game tied at one apiece, Jack Eichel extended his point streak to six games when he scored to give Vegas back the lead 2-1. 

 2nd Period woes for the Knights 

In the second period, that open door for the Knights being outscored by their opponents became a problem for them again against the Leafs, being outscored 15-5 and giving up two goals. One from Mitchell Marner and Timothy Liljegren, both goals for the Leafs resulted from turnovers at the blue line from Vegas, which gave the Leafs the lead 3-2 for the first time in this game. The goal from Marner was right in front of Thompson, shooting past Zach Whitecloud and Jake Leschyshyn. The goal from Liljegren to give them the lead was on a breakaway goal.

The tide turned for Vegas, and a hometown hero came through.

The Golden Knights are known for answering back and turning things around in third periods. This one was no different for the VGK. It didn’t look like it started well when the Knights were called for a holding call on Michael Amadio. But that penalty kill did not seem an issue for them when Ontario native Riley Smith scored on a two-on-1 odd-man rush to tie the game at 3-3 from an assist from William Karlsson.

The Knights played a much better third period by keeping them out of their zone due to puck possession but also, their forechecking on defense came into play. The game was going into overtime tied 3-3, the second time the time would play overtime on their 5-game road trip.

Overtime would not last at all for the VGK. At about 23 seconds, Riley Smith became clutch again when he scored on a breakaway to give Vegas the win 4-3 and extending their win streak to 8 games now. Smith was the hero scoring twice, one a shorthanded goal, and also the overtime winner. Also, this game was Smith’s 700 career game for him. Logan Thompson ended the night with 28 saves. With this win finally defeating the Maple Leafs on the road, the Golden Knights have now won a road game against every team in the NHL.

The Golden Knights are still atop first in the league, and they are finding different ways to win games, whether it is in overtime or being outscored in the middle game. The Knights are finding ways to close out games. The offense and goaltending have carried them and kept them in games. They have one more road game before coming back home on Saturday. Their road record is very impressive, and by the look of things, they can easily be the favorite to finally win their first Stanley Cup.

The Golden Knights’ road trip finale will be on Thursday as they face the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Arena. They are scheduled to drop the puck at 4:00 pm, and the game can be seen on AT&T Sports Net (channel 313 on Cox Cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.