Philipp Kurashev scored with 2:10 left in overtime as the Chicago Blackhawks snapped the Vegas Golden Knights’ franchise-record seven-game season-opening winning streak with a 4-3 victory Friday in Las Vegas.
With William Karlsson in the box for tripping Connor Bedard, Kurashev intercepted a Vegas clearing pass inside the blue line. He skated in and fired a wrist shot through traffic and past the blocker of goalie Adin Hill for his first goal of the season.
The Blackhawks, who were just 2-for-30 on the power play before the game-winner, snapped a three-game losing streak. Bedard, Ryan Donato and Taylor Raddysh also scored goals for Chicago, while Petr Mrazek made 18 saves.
Shea Theodore and Karlsson each had a goal and an assist, and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for Vegas, which had won 28 straight games when scoring three goals or more. Hill finished with 20 saves for the Golden Knights, who also had their NHL record for consecutive wins to start a season by a defending Stanley Cup champion snapped.
Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 3:52 on goals by Dorofeyev, who redirected a pass in front of the crease by Michael Amadio for his first goal of the season, and Karlsson, who slightly deflected Theodore’s slap shot from the right point over Mrazek’s glove.
The Blackhawks, who had scored just two first-period goals in their first seven games, tied it, 2-2, later in the period with two goals in 79 seconds. Donato got the first when he snapped a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle off a Corey Perry pass through Hill’s pads. Bedard followed with his third goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot past Hill’s glove side.
Raddysh then put Chicago in front, 3-2, at the 1:11 mark of the third period after Theodore whiffed trying to pass out of his own zone. Raddysh picked up the loose puck and skated down the slot, firing a wrist shot past Hill’s glove side for his second goal of the season.
Theodore made up for his turnover at the 11:28 mark with his third goal of the season, firing a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that tipped in off the top of Mrazek’s glove.
–Field Level Media
