An original misfit is the overtime hero for the Golden Knights in rollercoaster 5-4 series-evening win over Utah

Well, I feel like I need a drink. After a disastrous Game 3, Vegas entered this critical Game 4 badly in need of a win to even the series, with a daunting 3-1 deficit facing them if they didn't. For a while, it looked like they were taking those stakes seriously, racing out to an early and sizable lead. Then, for another while, it looked like they almost certainly weren't, as they managed to blow that 3-0 lead and even trail 4-3 for a few minutes.

But after almost a full period of overtime and a waved-off game winner, it was Shea Theodore who ultimately had the dagger, firing a rebound from the slot past Karel Vejmelka with less than a minute to go in OT. Now, the Golden Knights have new life, with the series heading back to the Fortress tied up at two games apiece.

So-far quiet skaters end up exploding on offense

Heading into tonight, the trio of Pavel Dorofeyev, Brett Howden, and Shea Theodore had combined for zero points, a -2, and two penalty minutes across the first three games of the series. Not exactly what you're looking for from two top-six forwards and who's supposed to be your best offensive defenseman.

However, any lingering concerns about them were mostly buried tonight, with not one, not two, but all three finding the back of the net. Doro finally stepped up to a degree, sniping a netfront right-place-right-time pass from Ivan Barbshev for Vegas' first goal, coming just 72 seconds into the game. Vegas has badly been in need of tone-setting goals this series, and Doro scoring that quickly certainly felt like one.

Meanwhile, Big Game Brett stepped up for multiple clutch moments, including this absolutely nasty short-handed goal off a feed from Mitch Marner:

Midway through the third period, Howden also tipped in a long-range shot from Noah Hanifin to tie things at four, breathing new life into a Vegas squad that looked left for dead after Clayton Keller's goal. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Shea Theodore's OT winner, which capped off Vegas's survival in this one.

In related news about a usually-quiet forward, I'd like to give a shoutout to Cole Smith. Thanks to a wacky tip-in goal to put Vegas up 3-0 in the second, he's now sitting at three points in four games, with his linemates Colton Sissons and Nic Dowd respectively at three and two as well. They've stepped up massively this series, and I hope we find a way to keep this fourth line together in the offseason.

The setbacks didn't fluster anyone

As alluded to earlier, this was a game filled with setbacks and mistakes, despite better-than-usual puck luck from the hockey gods. Weak defensive play in our own zone, Carter Hart's inconsistency, and Jack Eichel's terrible offsides in overtime all contributed to an uphill battle for Vegas in a game that should've been a comfortable win. As an addendum, we may have a goalie problem again.

But... the team didn't fold. They could've completely fallen apart after a disastrous two goals in 29 seconds for Utah midway through the second, but they closed out that period with a ton of scoring chances.

They likewise could've done the same after Utah took the lead the following period, but a continued offensive led to the aforementioned Howden tip-in and a tied game. Again, they could've lost hope after what we thought was a Dorofeyev OT winner was overturned by Jack Eichel being far off the blueline:

But just a few minutes after that, Vegas' continued pressure led to an Ian Cole disaster class and Theo's OT winner, on which Eichel himself recorded an assist. They refused to let bad luck and bad momentum get in their heads, and thanks to it, they head home facing a best-of-three with home-ice advantage instead of a near-insurmountable series deficit. See you all on Wednesday, and Go Knights Go!!

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