Jack Eichel scored in the opening minute of overtime after Tomas Hertl tied the game with 28 seconds remaining, lifting the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5–4 preseason victory over the Utah Mammoth on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights moved to 3–0 in exhibition play after recovering from a 3–1 deficit entering the third period. Their earlier wins came against Los Angeles, 4–2, and San Jose, 2–1 in a shootout.
Hertl finished a pass from Mitch Marner to force overtime after Tomas Lavoie had given Utah a 4–3 lead with 1:31 left in regulation. Eichel then beat Sebastian Cossa with a wrist shot to end the game.
Eichel finished with three points, according to Brogan Houston’s report for the Deseret News. Utah dressed a lineup drawn largely from the AHL, while Vegas used 16 players who appeared during its run to the Stanley Cup Final last spring.
Victor Olofsson opened the scoring for Vegas on a one-timer set up by Shea Theodore. Zac Jones and Liam O’Brien answered late in the first period, and Artem Duda extended Utah’s lead in the second.
Jeremy Lauzon began the Vegas comeback with a shot from the point early in the third period. Mark Stone made it 3–3 on the power play with 6:54 remaining, collecting a rebound from Eichel’s shot and scoring past Cossa.
Utah received extended minutes from young defensemen Duda and Dmitri Simashev. Duda played 22:59 and blocked five shots, while Simashev logged 21:44 and blocked six in his preseason debut, Houston reported.
O’Brien has scored twice in two preseason appearances after finishing last season with three goals in 38 regular-season games. For Utah, the defeat came despite leading after both the first and second periods and scoring again in the closing two minutes.
Thursday marked Vegas’ first home preseason game with Ryan Craig as head coach. The Golden Knights finish their exhibition schedule Saturday against San Jose at T-Mobile Arena, with the opening faceoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Pacific.
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This page is an original Sporting Page summary. The reporting remains with Vegas Golden Knights / Deseret News.
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