Blackhawks defeat Golden Knights in OT, hand them 1st loss

LAS VEGAS -- Philipp Kurashev scored on the power play at 2:50 of overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks handed the Vegas Golden Knights their first loss of the season, 4-3 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

Kurashev scored with a wrist shot from the top of the slot through traffic after William Karlsson was called for tripping.

“It wasn’t the best-looking 4-on-3 I ever saw, but we got it done,” Kurashev said. “We were trying to get the puck on net and luckily it went in. It was a long shift too. I just saw an opportunity to shoot it and it went in.”

Connor Bedard scored his third goal of the season, and Petr Mrazek made 18 saves for Chicago (3-5-0).

“It was tough, and the guys really fought,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “It’s a really good sign for the team. I really like that early in the season.”

Karlsson and Shea Theodore each had a goal and an assist for Vegas (7-0-1), which was the last undefeated team in the NHL. Adin Hill made 20 saves.

“We mismanaged pucks all night,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We didn’t execute at an NHL level for most of the night and it ended up catching up to us. It happens sometimes, and tonight was one of those afternoons.”

Pavel Dorofeyev gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 1:35 of the first period when he tipped a Michael Amadio pass.

Karlsson extended the lead to 2-0 at 3:52 by tipping a Theodore one-timer.

The Blackhawks took the lead by scoring three straight goals.

Ryan Donato made it 2-1 at 13:20, scoring to the short side from the left face-off circle.

“He could have shot the puck a few more times,” Richardson said. “That first goal got us going.”

Bedard tied it 2-2 at 14:39 on the rush after receiving a Nick Foligno pass behind the defense.

“I have a couple of goals here,” Bedard said. “Obviously, I have more shots in the other games I didn’t score, but obviously a really good play there and I was trying to get in the right spot.”

Taylor Raddysh put Chicago in front 3-2 at 1:11 of the third period after Theodore lost the puck to him in Vegas’ zone.

“The momentum is huge,” Bedard said. “For us that's big, just build off each line and you’ve got to hope that goals come and work for them. And we did that well.”

Theodore tied it 3-3 at 11:38 with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Vegas went on the power play with 2:26 remaining but failed to convert. The Golden Knights finished 0-for-4 on the man-advantage.

“We didn’t dummy it down and put numbers to the net and put pucks there,” Cassidy said. “That was obviously a problem. That’s why our numbers on it were why we didn’t produce on it.”

The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Blackhawks.

“It's great for us,” Kurashev said. “We're young team and we beat the defending champs, so it's a great confidence boost for us. We can learn a lot from it and take good things from it, and hopefully we can build on something.”

NOTES: Bedard, an 18-year-old center who was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, became the youngest player to score in each of his first two games against the defending Stanley Cup champions. He scored in a 5-3 loss to Vegas on Oct. 21. … Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic left the game in the second period after taking a hit from Golden Knights forward Brett Howden. “We have to wait and see and let him settle down,” Richardson said. “… He looked a little wobbly, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.” … Bedard, Kurashev and Chicago defenseman Seth Jones played the entire overtime. … Vegas has 15 points, the most by a defending champion through eight games.