Golden Knights rally from down three, edge Maple Leafs in shootout

LAS VEGAS -- Jack Eichel scored on a penalty shot and had an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights rallied from down three for a 4-3 shootout victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Mark Stone and Brett Howden also scored for the Golden Knights (4-1-0), who have won three in a row. Adin Hill made 21 saves before making four more stops in the shootout.

Braeden Bowman and Trevor Connelly scored in the shootout for Vegas.

“We’re a resilient team,” Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner said. “We stayed with it. We have a lot of confidence in our game throughout 60 minutes, and we did a great job of that.”

Jack Roslovic, Easton Cowan and Nick Paul scored, and Auston Matthews and Gavin McKenna each had an assist for the Maple Leafs (2-2-1), who were playing their first road game of the season. Sergei Bobrovsky made 40 saves.

“It was a good hockey game,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s a big point for us on the road against a good team. We had a good start then things kind of got away from us a little bit. Still, it’s hockey, it’s the NHL and it’s a good league. They’re a really good team. So, it’s again, it’s a big point for us, and we just move on with our game and keep building.”

Vegas rallied after falling behind 3-0 early in the first period.

Stone cut it to 3-1 at 17:36 of the first with a slap shot above Bobrovsky’s glove.

“That was a big moment of the game,” Golden Knights coach Ryan Craig said. “‘Stoney’ gets a big goal there for us. … We go to the intermission and started the same way we finished, which says something about the guys. They’re saying the right things. They’re prepared to go out and do the right things. They’ve been doing this for years. They know what they need to do.”

Howden made it 3-2 at 1:12 of the second period. He drove to the far post to finish a Mitch Marner pass.

“It’s a great play by everyone,” Marner said. “(William Karlsson), with speed, kind of backs up the D-man, hits me on the outside, and then from there on, I just know both of them are driving the post, So really from there, I’m just trying to put one in an area for one of them to get a piece of it. Lucky enough to hit ‘Howie’ on the foot there.”

Eichel tied it 3-3 on a penalty shot at 3:58 after Morgan Rielly tripped him on a breakaway. He extended his season-opening point streak to five games (three goals, nine assists).

“To see Jack go on fire, it’s fun to watch,” Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev said. “He’s an outstanding player, and he’s a leader for us.”

Roslovic gave Toronto a 1-0 lead 34 seconds into the game when he banked the puck off Hill’s pad from below the goal line.

Cowan extended it to 2-0 at 3:20, getting behind the defense and roofing a wrist shot on the breakaway after a Bobrovsky save.

“He started really well. Then he dipped maybe for a game or two,” Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller said of Cowan. “Tonight was a strong game for him.”

Paul then pushed it to 3-0 at 8:37 when he got a piece of Darren Raddysh’s one-timer from the point.

“We would have liked a better second,” Cowan said. “Thought the third was a bit better. It’s a good point, but I feel like the first and third we can build on for sure.”

NOTES: Connelly became the third Golden Knights rookie to score a game-deciding goal in a shootout. The others are Alex Tuch (Dec. 5, 2017, against the Anaheim Ducks) and Paul Cotter (Nov. 28, 2022, at the Columbus Blue Jackets). … The Golden Knights earned their fifth three-goal comeback win in franchise history, following Nov. 25, 2024 (5-4 in a shootout at the Philadelphia Flyers), April 14, 2024 (4-3 in overtime against the Colorado Avalanche), March 26, 2022 (5-4 in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks) and Jan. 4, 2020 (5-4 in overtime against the St. Louis Blues). … Roslovic’s goal 34 seconds into the game marked the second-fastest goal to start a road opener for the Maple Leafs. Only Stew Gavin (0:27) did so faster on Oct. 5, 1983, at Edmonton.