With a shootout around the no. Determining 1-seed in the Western Conference and ticking time away, Alex Tuch scored 4:44 in overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights outscored the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 to win the round-robin tournament in Edmonton win.
The Golden Knights, who made a coaching change in January with the team stuck at no. 7 in the West, and Pete DeBoer caught up to replace Gerard Gallant, went 3-0 in the round robin, defeating Dallas and St. Louis. Louis for the win over Colorado, securing a first-round matchup with the No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks, a team that finished the regular season 12th in the West before advancing to Edmonton in the qualifiers.
Vegas, which advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018, scored two goals from Jonathan Marchessault, including one on a penalty kick, as well as another tally from Nicolas Roy, as the Knights completed an undefeated tournament.
“We came here to take care of every challenge that lies ahead of us. We did a good job,” Marchessault said. “We wanted the first seed after the round robin and we did it. I find that pretty positive. We’re really happy where our game as a team is.”
Goalkeeper Robin Lehner made 32 saves en route to the win, setting up a unique series against the Blackhawks, which traded Lehner to Vegas before the sport paused in March. Several Blackhawks, a day after eliminating the Oilers in their rink, saw the Knights’ victory from the stands.
Tuch scored the winner on a shot over the shoulder of Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The Avalanche tied the game with 1:02 left in regulation when JT Compher grabbed the puck. It was Tuch’s third goal in round robin play.
“Feels pretty good,” Tuch said. “Honestly, it was a big goal to get the first seed. I could not care who scored it as long as we did.”
Joonas Donskoi and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Grubauer sat in net over Pavel Francouz, who stopped 27 shots in a shutout win over Dallas on Wednesday. Veteran Grubauer was solid in saving 22 shots.
Colorado’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got a breakaway chance against his former team late in the third, only to send the shot high.
The intensity was increased to another level in a second period with four goals. The score was started when Marchessault tipped a power play shot past Grubauer. MacKinnon sat in the penalty area for an unsportsmanlike call after he expressed his displeasure over an ice message.
MacKinnon, a contender for the league’s MVP honors along with the Lady Byng Trophy, was killed for losing his cool by tying the tie with a spinning, backhanded shot at the power play.
Vegas jumped ahead again when Roy fired in a shot with heavy traffic for the net. The lead would take less than two minutes before Donskoi tied it.
Colorado had a golden opportunity in the first period during an extended 5-on-3 power play. Mikko Rantanen had a fantastic opportunity to put Lehner up another goal 65 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar.
With the loss, Colorado finished second in the round robin, and will take over Arizona in the first round.
“We talk like we lost and that our game was bad. I do not see it that way. I do not see it that way at all,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “If we expected this thing to be easy, we’re in the wrong tournament. This is going to be work. That’s a really good hockey team. I’m not really disappointed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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