Shea Theodore’s late goal leads Golden Knights to 5-3 win over Flames

CALGARY — Shea Theodore scored the game-winning goal with 1:10 left to play to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-3 win over the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday.

Nick Holden had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (38-24-8), who regained top spot in the Pacific Division over the idle Edmonton Oilers (37-24-8).

Tomas Nosek, Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault, into an empty net, also scored for the Golden Knights.

Making his third start in net for Vegas since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the NHL trade deadline, Robin Lehner made 19 saves to improve his record to 3-0 with his new team.

Milan Lucic had a goal and an assist for the Flames (36-27-7), who had won three straight games heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Knights. Dillon Dube and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Calgary.

Flames goalie David Rittich’s troubles on home ice continued as he took the loss after stopping 27 of 31 shots he faced. Since backstopping the Flames to a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at home on Dec. 12, Rittich has gone 0-6-1 in his past seven starts at the Saddledome.

Nosek opened the scoring at 5:24 of the first period when he deposited a rebound past Rittich, who stopped the initial shot by Ryan Reaves but couldn’t get back into position in his net to deny the follow-up attempt.

Vegas then went up 2-0 at the 11:49 mark of the first when Holden took a pass from Nick Cousins and snapped a quick shot past Rittich.

Calgary appeared to pull within one at 15:50 when Mikael Backlund swatted a rebound past Lehner, but the goal was disallowed after replays showed Backlund interfered with Lehner before scoring.

The Flames had a few great chances to score late in the first, but Johnny Gaudreau mishandled the puck on a breakaway and didn’t even get a shot on goal before Lehner made a glove save to stop a shot by Derek Ryan that was tipped on net by Lucic.

Pacioretty put the visitors up 3-0 with a power-play marker at 3:39 of the second when he one-timed a pass from William Karlsson past Rittich.

The Flames then rallied with goals by Lucic at 8:23 and by Dube a little more than eight minutes later. After Lucic snapped a shot through Lehner’s legs, Dube beat the Vegas netminder with a shot just over his blocker during a man advantage for the Flames.

Tkachuk pulled the Flames even with three minutes remaining in regulation when he took a pass from linemate Andrew Mangiapane before lifting a backhand shot past Lehner.

Theodore’s shot then deflected off Mangiapane’s stick and past Rittich into the top corner to give the Knights the victory.

Notes: Knights forward Mark Stone missed his fifth game in a row with a lower-body injury, while his older brother and Flames defenceman Michael Stone sat out his sixth straight contest as a healthy scratch. … After sitting out the past eight outings for the Flames as a healthy scratch, Zac Rinaldo drew back into Calgary’s lineup in place of fellow forward Tobias Rieder, who had suited up for 10 straight games. … After being involved in a collision in his own zone early in the first period, Flames defenceman Noah Hanifin left the ice with an upper-body injury and didn’t return.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2020.

Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press