Jack Eichel ended it 39 seconds into overtime, and the Golden Knights stayed unbeaten in the preseason by beating the Utah Mammoth 5-4 on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena. The win came after they trailed 3-1 in the third period, then found enough late pressure to turn a sloppy night into a third straight victory.
Eichel and Shea Theodore each finished with three points, while Adin Hill stopped 17 shots for the Golden Knights. Utah got 30 saves from Sebastian Cossa, but the late surge from the home side made the difference once the game opened up in the final minutes. The result also came with a lineup built around a large group of familiar names, including 17 of the team’s 18 projected opening-night skaters.
That mattered because this was the first game action for 14 Golden Knights players since June 14, when the team lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. It also gave Ryan Craig another look at how his new-look power play can work when the puck moves faster and the first pass connects. The chances were there, but the early stretch showed how thin the margin remains when the puck is slow and the spacing breaks down.
The Golden Knights did not play like a team cruising through preseason. Their passing was loose early, their pace lagged, and they spent too much of the night chasing the game before Jeremy Lauzon and Mark Stone scored third-period goals to start the comeback. Tomas Lavoie broke the tie with 1:31 left, Tomas Hertl pulled the game back level with a six-on-five goal with 26 seconds remaining, and Eichel finished the job before Utah could settle the puck again.
There was also a smaller battle inside the lineup that said plenty about where things stand. Jonas Rondbjerg played for a second straight game and skated at fourth-line left wing over Marc Gatcomb, a sign that some roster spots are still unsettled even as the opening-night group starts to take shape. The Golden Knights will have one more preseason test Saturday at home against the San Jose Sharks, and that game should tell them more about the bottom end of the roster than the top.
For now, the result is simple: the Golden Knights found a way to win when they were off their game, and they are still perfect entering the final day of preseason action.
