The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t just tweak the lineup Tuesday in Pittsburgh - they reshuffled it with purpose, and the result was a 3-2 win over the Penguins that snapped into place late.
Coach Ryan Craig mixed and matched after a rough stretch that had seen Vegas lose five of its previous six. Brett Howden moved up alongside Jack Eichel and Mark Stone.
Ivan Barbashev skated with William Karlsson and Mitch Marner. Trevor Connelly dropped back to the third line.
Jonas Rondbjerg came out, Raphael Lavoie went in, and Adin Hill got the start over Carter Hart.
The changes paid off in a game Vegas had to grind through from start to finish. Tomas Hertl opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period, giving the Knights the kind of lead they’d been chasing instead of defending. Hill backed it up with a sharp night in goal, turning aside 23 of 25 shots, while the penalty kill came through in a major way late in the third period when Pittsburgh had a 5-on-3 for 1:22 with Jeremy Lauzon and Brayden McNabb in the box.
Then came the sequence that flipped the night. Connelly tied it 2-2 in the third period, scoring for the second straight game, and Hertl finished it with 32.8 seconds left on a late power play, linking up with Stone and Eichel for the winner.
Vegas also completed a season sweep of Pittsburgh after beating the Penguins 6-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 17.
“I describe it as a grind,” said Craig. “We got some big penalty kills.
We got a couple of goals on the power play. Our goaltender battled.
There was some desperation there and a little bit of luck. But we got through it.
And we got three points so far on the (road) trip.”
Mitch Marner kept his point streak rolling, collecting an assist on Hertl’s first goal to extend his run to 11 straight games. He now has 16 points on the season, though only two of those have been goals. Even so, he’s still driving offense.
“I’m just trying to do my thing,” Marner said. “Get the puck in my hands and try to make plays. Try to find holes to fire pucks through or find a lane to shoot.”
Craig said the lineup changes were made to spark the group at 5-on-5 and give a few players a different look.
“We tried a few different things, tried to get some guys going a little more in 5-on-5,” Craig said of his decisions. “We flipped Howie and Barbie, tried to get a different look.
Lavvy (Lavoie) hadn’t played since he scored (against Ottawa). We wanted to work him back in.”
Connelly, meanwhile, keeps making a case for more trust. He absorbed a big hit in Boston on Monday and took more punishment Tuesday, but he stayed with it and finished with a slick goal, deking to his backhand before beating Arturs Silovs with a forehand tuck at the left post after Lauzon sent him in.
“I’m just trying to put my foot down and give it my best effort,” said Connelly, whose six goals have him tied for the rookie lead with Boston’s James Hagens and Chicago’s Roman Kantserov. “I’ve had a lot of support from these guys, especially Hertl. He’s helped me so much this first half of the season.
“I feel good. My body feels good. I just got to go out each shift and play.”
Even after Pittsburgh pushed ahead 2-1 in the third and Vegas looked like it might be running on fumes, the Knights found a way to hang around until the late finish. That was part of the story too.
“We grinded,” said Karlsson said. “Proud of the boys.”
Marner put it more simply: “We just stick with our game, that’s what we do.”
And the lineup may not stay the same for long. Victor Olofsson is nearing a return from the upper-body injury that has kept him out since Oct. 6, and because he’s on the trip, Thursday in Detroit could bring another different look at Little Caesars Arena.
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