The Golden Knights got one point Thursday night, but not the second one they needed.
Vegas fell 4-3 to the Oilers in overtime at T-Mobile Arena, wasting a two-goal night from Mark Stone and another even-strength response from its top line. Ivan Barbashev tied the game in the third, but the Knights could not convert on a 4-on-3 power play in overtime before Evan Bouchard won it for Edmonton with 1:50 left.
The standings made the result sting even more. Vegas stayed third in the Pacific at 32-26-15 with 79 points. Edmonton remained second at 36-28-9 with 81 points, and Anaheim stayed on top at 41-27-4 with 86.
Early mistakes, early hole
Vegas had some jump in the opening period, but the first big mistake cost it.
The Golden Knights matched Edmonton with eight shots in the first and created a few good looks, including a pair from Tomas Hertl in tight. Still, Matthew Savoie opened the scoring at 11:52 after the Oilers capitalized off the rush.
That has been the larger issue for Vegas lately. The Golden Knights have played enough good hockey to stay in games, but the mistakes keep turning into goals against.
“I thought we played a pretty good 5-on-5 game,” Stone said. “The problem with us is we’re giving up some big mistakes. That’s just what we’ve got to clean up.”
Ivan Barbashev saw the same thing.
“I think we made some mistakes early in the game,” Barbashev said. “This is probably where we got caught in the first, just trying to get out of our zone.”
Vegas also had to work through three penalty kills and did that part well. Edmonton went 0-for-2 on the power play, and the Knights’ penalty kill helped keep the game within reach.
Stone breaks through
The second period finally gave Vegas some finish.
Stone tied the game at 4:09, scoring his first goal in 10 games after Jack Eichel and Barbashev helped create a rebound chance in front. Then, after Connor McDavid put Edmonton back ahead at 7:27, Stone struck again at 14:51 on an unassisted play to make it 2-2.
It was a needed night for Stone and for a first line Vegas has been waiting on.
“Well, it’s a matter of time,” Bruce Cassidy said. “They have to. They’ve got to carry it for us.”
Barbashev said it was good to see the captain get rewarded.
“It’s nice to see Stony score,” Barbashev said. “They’ve been having a lot of chances, just couldn’t score, and it’s good to see him score.”
But every Vegas push got answered. Zach Hyman scored at 16:42 to give Edmonton its third lead of the night and send the Golden Knights back to the room chasing again.
That was the frustrating part of the game for Vegas. The Knights found offense at 5-on-5, but they could not string together enough clean minutes to hold a lead.
Another chance slips away
Vegas pulled level one more time in the third.
Barbashev scored at 6:21 off feeds from Pavel Dorofeyev and Shea Theodore, tying the game 3-3 and giving the Golden Knights their third even-strength goal of the night. It was one of the better signs for Vegas after recent scoring issues.
“We get three 5-on-5 goals. It’s big,” Stone said. “We’re a good rush team, so we were able to make some plays off the rush.”
Cassidy liked parts of Vegas’ even-strength game too.
“Our first goal was ozone, right, to the front of the net, recover, rebound,” Cassidy said. “Stony’s goal was a forecheck strip. So that’s two.”
Still, the biggest missed chance came in overtime.
Hyman went off for holding at 1:02, giving Vegas a 4-on-3 power play and a clean chance to win it. The Golden Knights got shots from Eichel, Mitch Marner and Hertl, but could not find the finish. Cassidy said Edmonton stayed compact and took away the east-west plays Vegas wanted.
“You give yourself a chance to win, you get the power play in OT, you’ve got to capitalize,” Stone said.
Once that opportunity passed, Edmonton finished the job. Bouchard scored from distance at 3:10 of overtime after McDavid won the draw, handing Vegas another loss that felt available.
That is where the Golden Knights are right now. They are showing more life at 5-on-5, their top players are producing again, and the penalty kill did its job. But with nine games left and the standings tightening, moral victories are not enough anymore.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
