Not many people expected the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche to be locked into a goaltender battle on Wednesday. Between Adin Hill and Alexandar Georgiev, fans were told there would be many goals. After all, the netminders weren't exactly Martin Brodeur vs. Dominik Hasek.
Well, Arnold has a few words about that.
The Golden Knights and Avalanche were tied heading into the third period, 1-1. Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring for the Golden Knights, sniping below the circle. He was followed up by Valeri Nichushkin getting the Avalanche on the board.
That bled into overtime, where the Avalanche entered with a power play. How did it happen? Dorofeyev got a hooking call on Devon Toews with eight seconds left in regulation. Would it come back to haunt the Golden Knights?
It turns out it would bleed into a shootout, where it would take Nichushkin in the fifth round to win it. The result was a 2-1 win for the home team and the Golden Knights saw their three-game road winning streak snapped. Hill stopped 33 of 34 shots for a save percentage of 97.1%. It's just Georgiev was as dominant, stopping 18 of 19 shots (94.7%).
The Golden Knights did gain a point from the affair, bumping their total to 31. However, they saw their record fall to 14-6-3. Still, they sit in first place in the Pacific Division after the shootout loss. The Avalanche improved to 13-10-0, adding two more points to their total (26). They still hold a playoff spot in the Western Conference, bumping into a tie with the Dallas Stars.
What's next for the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche?
The Vegas Golden Knights will return to T-Mobile Arena for a three-game homestand. That starts with a Friday game against the Winnipeg Jets, who have the most points in the NHL (36). That will be followed by home games against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday and a Tuesday matinee with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Golden Knights end their five-game road trip with a 3-1-1 record. Their lone regulation loss came last Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where they were shut out, 3-0. Still, seven points in five games is promising, given many people were expecting four or five. Will the Golden Knights carry that momentum into the next homestand? Stay tuned, for they're heading home for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Colorado Avalanche will play their next game at Dallas on Friday. Then, they'll play a home game against the Oilers on Saturday before embarking on a five-game road trip in the Eastern Time Zone themselves. That'll start with a game on Tuesday, December 3 against the Buffalo Sabres.
Sometimes, life will throw a monkey wrench into your plans. That could include a flat tire or a flooded bathroom, causing you mental anguish. The Golden Knights experienced that on Wednesday as Alexandar Georgiev played spoiler like a bad turkey. Hopefully, the leftovers at T-Mobile Arena are appetizing.