In the weekend before the NHL pause, the Golden Knights wrapped up a three-game Canadian swing with a pair of games in Alberta. Vegas defeated Calgary, 5-3, before sneaking by Edmonton in overtime, 3-2.
Shea Theodore scored the game-winning goal in each of those wins and today's Play of the Day focuses on his heroics against the Flames.
The Golden Knights started that game with their best foot forward as they held a 3-0 lead on goals from Tomas Nosek, Nick Holden and Max Pacioretty. Calgary battled back and tacked on three goals of their own as the clock wound down. In the final two minutes, Vegas made a push for the Calgary net.
VGK@CGY: Theodore pots late goal for Golden Knights
With 1:20 to go in regulation, Nosek started the play by dumping the puck into the Calgary zone. Nick Cousins tied up T.J. Brodie behind the net and allowed Chandler Stephenson to scoop up the loose puck. As the Flames began to set themselves in their defensive structure, Stephenson zipped a pass to Alec Martinez at the point.
Martinez pump-faked and baited two Flames into shot-blocking positions. As they froze up to get in the way of a shot, Martinez shuffled the deck and laid a pass onto Theodore's tape on the left boards.
Cousins drove to the net and created traffic as Theodore worked the puck through three Calgary players to get it on goal. The puck clipped the stick of Andrew Mangiapane and snuck over the shoulder of David Rittich. It caught the roof of the net and the red light turned on with 1:10 to go. With the 4-3 lead, Vegas added an empty net goal and picked up two valuable points in the Pacific Division race.