The Vegas Golden Knights refused to let a wild night slip away Thursday, rallying twice in the final minutes before Jack Eichel finished a 6-5 comeback win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime at T-Mobile Arena.
Eichel ended it at 2:16 of overtime, taking a pass from Mark Stone and lifting a backhand past Joseph Woll to cap Vegas’ sixth straight win. The victory pushed the Golden Knights to 23-11-12 on the season and extended their grip atop the Pacific Division.
The finish came after Vegas erased a two-goal third-period deficit, survived a disallowed tying goal for offside, and answered again when Tomas Hertl scored with seven seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
“It would’ve been easy to say it wasn’t our night,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But they kept pushing because they want to win.”
Rust early, resolve later
Adin Hill’s first start since Oct. 20 came with some early turbulence.
Toronto struck twice in the opening five minutes, capitalizing on sustained pressure as the Maple Leafs outshot Vegas heavily in the first period. Hill gave up goals to Morgan Rielly and William Nylander but settled in quickly, making several difficult saves to prevent the game from breaking open.
Vegas found its footing midway through the period when Pavel Dorofeyev ripped a power-play one-timer to cut the deficit to 2-1. Toronto responded again before the intermission, sending the Golden Knights into the break trailing 3-1 despite flashes of pushback.
Hill’s night included moments that hinted at rust and others that showed why Vegas trusts him. One second-period sequence saw him sprawled in front of the crease, flipping and stopping a would-be goal with the back of his calf, a save that kept the game within reach.
“He looked like a goalie who hadn’t played in a while, and that’s expected,” Cassidy said. “Each time he plays, he’ll get better.”
Kolesar ignites the comeback
Vegas began chipping away in the second period.
Keegan Kolesar made it 3-2 at 5:51, hammering home a rebound in front after a long shift where Toronto defenders were unable to clear the zone. The goal rewarded sustained pressure from a line that spent nearly two minutes cycling below the goal line.
Toronto answered on the power play to restore a two-goal cushion, but the tone had shifted. Vegas was skating, forechecking, and beginning to tilt the ice.
“We believed,” Hertl said. “We’ve shown many times this year that we can come back.”
Chaos, heartbreak, and belief
The third period delivered everything.
Dorofeyev struck again on the power play early, pulling Vegas within one. Toronto pushed back and made it 5-3 midway through the period, seemingly in control.
Then the game unraveled for the visitors.
Stone jammed home a rebound to make it 5-4, setting off a late surge. Moments later, Dorofeyev appeared to complete his hat trick, only for the goal to be overturned on an offside challenge.
The crowd groaned. The bench reset.
Seven seconds later, Hertl planted himself in the slot and redirected Eichel’s centering feed to tie the game 5-5.
“It’s never easy when a goal gets called back,” Hertl said. “But we believed.”
Roles reversed in overtime
One night after Eichel set up Stone for an overtime winner in Los Angeles, the script flipped.
Stone carried the puck on a rush, had it poked away, recovered behind the net, and found Eichel drifting into space. Eichel waited, deked, and finished.
“You could tell Jack’s will in overtime,” Cassidy said. “He stayed with it and made a hell of a play.”
The sequence sent a large contingent of Maple Leafs fans home stunned. Blue and white jerseys filled the building, booing Mitch Marner every time he touched the puck and celebrating loudly when Toronto held late leads. Those same fans were silent by the end, their high fives cut short by another Vegas rally.
Marner, who spent his entire NHL career in Toronto before joining Vegas this offseason, finished with two assists and absorbed the attention with ease.
“Once the puck dropped, it felt like another hockey game,” Marner said. “You want to beat your buddies. It was competitive on both sides.”
Numbers that mattered
• Vegas scored three power-play goals, continuing a torrid stretch with seven power-play goals over the past eight games
• The Golden Knights now lead the NHL with eight comeback wins when trailing in the third period
• Jack Eichel finished with four points and extended his point streak
• Mark Stone recorded three points and assisted on both overtime game-winners in the past two games
• Former Golden Knights forward Nic Roy, now with Toronto, was honored with a video tribute on the jumbotron and received a standing ovation from the T-Mobile Arena crowd
Up next for the Golden Knights:
The Vegas Golden Knights continue their homestand Friday, Jan. 17, when they host the Nashville Predators at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. PT.
Vegas remains at home Sunday, Jan. 19, welcoming the Philadelphia Flyers for a 5 p.m. PT start. The Flyers enter the matchup at 22-15-8, while the Golden Knights sit at 23-11-12 and atop the Pacific Division.
The Golden Knights then hit the road to face the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, Jan. 22, with puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m. PT at TD Garden.
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