Blackhawks hand Vegas first loss of season with 4-3 win in overtime
Phillipp Kurashev scored 2:50 into overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat Vegas 4-3 to hand the Golden Knights their first loss of the season
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Phillipp Kurashev scored on a power play 2:50 into overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat Vegas 4-3 on Friday to hand the Golden Knights their first loss of the season.
With William Karlsson in the penalty box for tripping Connor Bedard, Kurashev skated to the top of the slot and ripped the winner past Vegas goalie Adin Hill. It was Kurashev's first goal of the season.
The Blackhawks improved to 2 for 22 on road power plays this season. It was the first time Vegas allowed a power-play goal at home this season.
“It was just a long shift too, we stayed out there for a while,” Kurashev said. “I just saw the opportunity to shoot it, took it and it went in.”
Bedard, Ryan Donato and Taylor Raddysh also scored for Chicago, which had dropped three in a row and five of six overall. Petr Mrazek stopped 18 shots.
Vegas opened the season with seven consecutive victories for the best start for a defending Stanley Cup champion in NHL history. The Golden Knights beat the Blackhawks 5-3 in Chicago last week.
“We’re a young team and we beat the defending champs so it’s a great confidence boost for us," Kurashev said. "I think we can learn a lot from it and take good things from it, and hopefully we can build on something.”
Karlsson, Pavel Dorofeyev and Shea Theodore scored for Vegas. Hill made 20 saves.
Vegas and Chicago combined for four goals during a back-and-forth first period.
The Golden Knights jumped in front on Dorofeyev’s first of the season at 1:35. Dorofeyev took a pass from Michael Amadio and redirected it past Mrazek.
Karlsson made it 2-0 at 3:52 when he tipped in Theodore’s blast from the blue line.
After looking stagnant early, the Blackhawks began to find their form midway through the first. Donato grabbed a pass from Corey Perry and snuck a shot past Hill for his second goal at 13:20.
Moments later, Nick Foligno nudged the puck to the slot for a streaking Bedard, who one-timed a wrist shot under Hill’s glove at 14:39.
It was the third goal of the season for the No. 1 overall overall draft pick, and his second against Vegas. Bedard, 18, became the youngest player in league history to score in each of his first two games against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Chicago went in front for the first time in the third. Theodore whiffed on a clearing attempt in the defensive zone, and Raddysh skated in and beat Hill 1:11 into the period.
Theodore then atoned for the mistake with his third goal at 11:28.
After finishing with 11 shots on goal in the first period, the Golden Knights combined for 10 the rest of the way.
“Obviously they were playing hard and stepping up, but I thought we weren’t really making the plays we normally make," Vegas center Brett Howden said. "I thought it was good for us to get a goal back and at least get a point out of it. But it’s not up to our standard.”
Added Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy: “I just thought we mishandled pucks all night. We did not execute at an NHL level.”
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Visit Arizona on Monday
Golden Knights: Visit Los Angeles on Saturday
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
