Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill, right, reacts as Calgary Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane celebrates victory during overtime NHL hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – MacKenzie Weegar scored with five seconds left in overtime Monday night to give the Calgary Flames a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
A.J. Greer also scored for Calgary (9-10-3), which extends its home-ice points streak to four games (3-0-1).
William Karlsson scored the lone goal for Vegas (14-5-3). After a sizzling 11-0-1 start to the season, the Golden Knights are 3-5-2 since.
With Jacob Markstrom (flu) a late scratch, Dan Vladar made consecutive starts for the first time and was sensational in his first home start since Feb. 28 of last season. He had 27 saves to improve to 4-2-1.
Adin Hill got the start for Vegas, making 32 stops to fall to 9-2-2.
The game-winner came on an end-to-end rush that started behind the Flames net with Weegar weaving his way up the ice and into the Vegas zone where he fired a shot past Hill on his blocker side.
In the third period, Weegar almost ended up the goat when he lost the puck at the Vegas blue line giving Ivan Barbashev a breakaway, but Vladar made the save as he did repeatedly in his best start of the season.
Vladar was especially sharp in the second period and both times he robbed Nicolas Roy. Early in the period, he went post-to-post to kick out his left pad and get a toe on Roy’s one-timer after he was set up by Jonathan Marchessault. Late in the period, Roy got in alone and made a deke to his forehand only for the 6-foot-6 goaltender to stretch out his right pad this time to deny him.
With emergency backup goaltender Dustin Nickel looking on, there where were also a couple of scary goal crease collisions involving Vladar. Early in the first, William Carrier went flying backwards into the net, clipping Vladar at the knees and sending him flying. He was penalized on the play. In the second period, it was friendly fire with Weegar falling to the ice and sliding into the Flames net, again sending Vladar flying.
Vladar was a bit slow to get up both times.
Vegas opened the scoring at 13:53 converting its first power play of the game. Michael Amadio’s shot was stopped but the rebound out the other side was fired into the vacant side by Karlsson for his 10th goal.
After a scoreless second period, Calgary pulled even at 2:31 of the third when Nazem Kadri’s shot hit a Vegas player in front and fell right at the feet of Greer, who ripped it past Hill for his fourth goal.
Greer, claimed on waivers from Boston just before the season, already has four goals, which is one off his career high of five, which he set last year in 61 games with the Bruins.
Calgary lost Chris Tanev late in the third when he dove to try and block Karlsson’s wrist shot from the high slot and got the puck directly in the face. He dropped to the ice immediately holding his face.
EBUG
With Markstrom’s illness not confirmed until after the game-day roster transaction deadline had passed, Nickel was signed to an amateur tryout to be the emergency backup. The 32-year-old Calgarian’s last notable hockey stop was with Mount Royal University, his last season being 2015-16.
DEPLETED D
Vegas defencemen Shea Theodore (upper body) and Alec Martinez (lower body) missed their second and third games, respectively. Inserted into the lineup after being recalled from Henderson (AHL) on Sunday was D Kaedan Korczak.
NEW LOOK, SAME RESULTS
Mired in a 1-for-29 skid on the power play over the previous 10 games, Calgary shuffled the personnel on both of its power-play units, but the shakeup didn’t work as the Flames went 0-for-3. Vegas was 1-for-3.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Three-game Western Canada road swing continues in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Flames: Six-game homestand continues Thursday night when the Dallas Stars visit the Saddledome.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2023.
