The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t exactly cruise to their 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. They had to wrestle for it, absorb a lot of pressure, and get bailed out by a few big moments that changed the tone of the night.
The biggest spark came from Adin Hill, who left his net to stop a shorthanded breakaway and ran over Senators forward Ridly Greig in the process. Twelve seconds later, Braeden Bowman cashed in on the power play for the opening goal. That sequence lit up the bench and gave Vegas a jolt in a game that had been tilting away from them.
“It wasn’t the best power play for us,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig following the 4-1 win. “[Hill’s play] probably gave us a little bit of juice.
Our bench got going after the goal ended up going in, they were all pointing down at him. Those kinds of things can get you going.
It was a real grind of a victory.”
Vegas opened with the first two shots of the game, then watched Ottawa take over the shot clock. There was nearly a 10-minute stretch before the Golden Knights got their third shot, and by the midway point of the second period, the Senators held a 14-4 edge in shots. That kind of imbalance usually spells trouble, but Hill kept the game within reach.
“We had to stay with it and grind,” Ryan Craig said. “In the second half [of the game], we got better. Some things bounced our way, but Hilly’s play… was one of those things that energized us, for sure.”
“He was unreal,” added forward Raphael Lavoie. “You know he’s got a hit, too, tonight?
Hillsy played amazing. It’s really nice to see.”
Ottawa answered the Knights’ first goal quickly, tying the game 34 seconds into the third period on a power-play score. That kind of punch can knock a team backward, especially one trying to snap out of a three-game skid. Instead, Vegas kept rolling its lines and leaned into its depth.
The winning sequence started with Marc Gatcomb delivering a big hit on Senators forward Andre Burakovsky in the defensive zone. Raphael Lavoie came away with the puck, moved it through center, and dropped it to Nic Dowd.
Dowd pushed it forward to Ville Heinola, whose wrister was stopped by Jonas Johansson. Dowd drove the net, the puck popped free, and Lavoie buried it.
“It means a lot,” Lavoie smiled postgame. “It’s been a long time coming, I think, and it feels really good.”
Lavoie’s night had an unusual twist, too. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup.
During morning line rushes, Jonas Røndbjerg had taken his spot on the fourth line. But Carter Hart left morning skate early with an apparent injury, which forced Vegas to recall a goaltender from AHL Henderson.
To become cap compliant, the team had to send Røndbjerg down.
“I wasn’t thinking of playing tonight,” Lavoie said after the 4-1 win. “I wasn’t in the lineup, and then suddenly, just before I left the rink, they told me I was playing. That’s how it was supposed to happen, I guess.
“We’re always ready to play,” Lavoie finished. “I did a lot of extra work in the morning because I didn’t think I was playing, but I just had to nap a little longer.”
Hill’s moment was the kind of gamble that can go very wrong in a hurry, but this time it worked. He owned that afterward, too.
“I think I’ve maybe been further from my net,” joked Hill following the 4-1 win, “But that’s the first flying butterfly I’ve done.”
“Kind of a little breakdown there,” Hill said postgame. “They had a mini 3-on-2. They made a double back-door play, and at that point, it’s just desperation to do whatever you can and try and keep the puck out of the net.”
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