Blog: Golden Knights remain undefeated in overtime with 3-2 win over Arizona

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AP Photo/David Becker

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) and Vegas Golden Knights center Jonathan Marchessault chase the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, in Las Vegas.

Published Sun, Dec 3, 2017 (11:24 a.m.)

Updated Sun, Dec 3, 2017 (7:41 p.m.)

The Golden Knights had chance after chance in overtime, but Arizona goalie Scott Wedgewood was up to the task every time, until the last one. Jonathan Marchessault created a 2-on-1 with a great individual play to bounce the puck off the boards to himself. On the break, he waited until the last second and fed the puck across the ice to Reilly Smith, who put the puck past Wedgewood for the win.

Vegas' 3-2 overtime win over the Coyotes improved their overtime record to 5-0 overall and 4-0 at T-Mobile Arena.

Golden Knights, Coyotes tied 2-2 at the end of regulation

The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead when Jonathan Marchessault scored only 18 seconds into the third period. Marchessault banged home a rebound from a Nate Schmidt shot for his 10th goal of the season.

The Coyotes would answer with a power play goal by Derek Stefan with 11:10 to play, and neither team would score again in regulation.

Vegas outshot Arizona 39-32 in regulation, and had 15 “high danger” shots compared to the Coyotes seven.

Golden Knights, Coyotes tied 1-1 after two periods

Despite dominating play for most of the game, the Golden Knights are tied with the Coyotes entering the third period at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights got on the board first, early in the second period when Colin Miller found Alex Tuch streaking down the left side of the ice to start a partial breakaway.

Tuch took it from there, skating around Arizona goalie Scott Wedgewood and tucking the puck into the bottom corner of the net to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead with 17:18 to play in the second period.

Vegas has dominated possession and outshot the Coyotes 26-14, but Wedgewood has played brilliantly to keep Arizona in the game.

Later, Coyotes’ rookie Jakob Chychrun beat Malcolm Subban with a wrist shot to tie the game 1-1.

Teams scoreless after first period

The Golden Knights and Coyotes are scoreless after 20 minutes of hockey at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas nearly doubled Arizona in shots on goal with an advantage of 15-8 in the first period of the interdivision matchup Sunday night.

Goaltenders Malcolm Subban and Scott Wedgewood have stolen the show to this point, as the Golden Knights look to snap their season-long three-game losing streak.

Not only did Vegas out shoot Arizona, but it controlled play throughout the period. The Golden Knights dominated puck possession and spent the majority of the period in the Coyotes’ zone. And while Wedgewood was solid, Vegas missed multiple opportunities firing the puck wide of the net.

Pre game

Following the Golden Knights’ morning skate on Sunday at City National Arena, Marc-Andre Fleury stepped onto the ice.

The veteran goaltender, who has missed the last 21 games with a concussion, has officially been cleared of all symptoms according to general manager George McPhee.

“He has passed his formal neuropsychology test, and is currently in the “return to play” protocol,” McPhee said. “He will be in that this week and if there are no setbacks then he will be cleared for full-contact later in the week.”

Fleury suffered a concussion after being kneed in the head on Oct. 13. It’s the third diagnosed concussion of the 33-year-old’s career. He faced shots from teammate David Perron on both Saturday and Sunday.

“In our minds his brain is 100% healed and as we’ve said often enough, that’s important now and important in the future,” McPhee said. “We’ve used our specialists and sent him to other specialists, and everybody is in agreement and alignment that he’s in a good place right now.”

McPhee said the team hopes Fleury can return to full-contact practice by Wednesday. There’s no timetable set for him to play in a game, but it could be as early as next week.

“The fitness level is really high for (Fleury),” McPhee said. “He’s trained really hard off the ice for several weeks.”

The date for fans to keep their eyes on is Dec. 14, when Fleury’s former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, face the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

That game is still six games away, but the rest of the Golden Knights have an important division matchup tonight as they host the Arizona Coyotes.

Vegas has beaten Arizona in all three contests this season including most recently, a 4-2 win in Glendale on Nov. 25. Losers of their last three games, the Golden Knights will be looking to avoid the longest losing streak in franchise history tonight.

Deryk Engelland, who missed the Golden Knights’ game in Winnipeg after taking a shot to his hand in Minnesota, will return to the lineup tonight. Perron, who has missed the last four games, will remain out.

Prediction : Golden Knights 3, Coyotes 1

Season record for predictions: 15-8

Puck drops: 5:00 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink Prism 1760)

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-180, Total 6 minus-115 to the under

Golden Knights (15-9-1) (9-2-0 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant

Goal leader: William Karlsson (14)

Assist leader: Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith (14)

Expected goalie: Malcolm Subban (4.20, 2.24 goals against average)

Arizona Coyotes (7-18-4) (4-10-3 away)

Coach: Rick Tocchet

Goal leader: Clayton Keller (11)

Assist leader: Derek Stefan and Max Domi (13)

Expected goalie: Scott Wedgewood (3-4-2, 2.66 goals against average)

Golden Knights game day roster

Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Brendan Leipsic, Oscar Lindberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Stefan Matteau, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch.

Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Brayden McNabb, Colin Miller, Luca Sbisa, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore.

Goalies (2): Malcolm Subban and Maxime Lagace

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