Mar 27, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer (31) defends his net in the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Max Pacioretty tapped in his own rebound 1:56 into overtime, and the visiting Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in Denver on Saturday.
Alec Martinez and William Carrier also scored goals and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots for Vegas, which took sole possession of first place in the West Division with the win.
Joonas Donskoi and Devon Toews scored, and Philipp Grubauer had 31 saves for the Avalanche. Colorado had its seven-game home winning streak snapped.
Grubauer was denied his 100th career win.
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The Avalanche played without defenseman Bo Byram due to an upper-body injury. Byram was hurt on Thursday night when he was checked into the boards by Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar.
Pacioretty got the game-winner when he skated into the Colorado zone and put a shot on Grubauer. The puck stayed in the crease and Toews’ stick broke as he tried to clear it out, and Pacioretty poked it in for his 18th goal of the season to win it for the Golden Knights
Pacioretty also added an assist for Vegas, which was the first team to outshoot the Avalanche in 20 games.
The Golden Knights scored 40 seconds into Thursday night’s game but it was Colorado that got the early goal Saturday. Donskoi skated down the right side, was stickhandled by Brayden McNabb and wristed a shot over Fleury’s left shoulder at 1:16.
It was his 12th of the season and his second-straight game with a goal.
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Vegas tied it up on the power play later in the period when Martinez scored on a one-timer off a pass from Chandler Stephenson at 16:32. It was his fourth of the season.
The Avalanche came right back to take the lead when Nathan MacKinnon fed Toews as he skated into the slot, and he beat Fleury at 17:35. It was his sixth goal of the season.
The Golden Knights tied it again early in the second period when Carrier deflected Shea Theodore’s shot by Grubauer at 3:40. It was his second goal of the season.
–Field Level Media