It was a strange night for the Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames, not because of the result, but because of how it all unfolded.
During the second intermission, the game was delayed for an unusual reason: a problem with the ice surface. Both captains, Mark Stone and Mikael Backlund, made several trips to the bench to observe conditions and talk to the referee.
Arena staff worked to fix the problem, while in-game entertainment continued while remaining consistent with the Las Vegas atmosphere. The delay lasted 26 minutes and disrupted the flow of an already back-and-forth game.
Despite this, the Golden Knights remained perfect under head coach John Tortorella, and continued the momentum late in the season, going 34–26–16 and defeating the Flames 6–3.
Calgary opened the scoring with Morgan Frost scoring her 19th goal of the season. Frost had time and space and defeated Carter Hart cleanly. Hart finished the game with an .864 save percentage and 3.00 goals-against average.
The Golden Knights responded and Mitch Marner deflected Shea Theodore's shot to tie the game at 1–1.
Less than three minutes later, Blake Coleman restored Calgary's lead. After Theodore pinch hit, the Flames went on a two-on-one and Coleman beat Hart's blocking side.
However, Marner struck again, scoring his second of the night and 22nd of the season, with a neat passing sequence to Jack Eichel and Rasmus Andersen.
Before the second period ended, Coleman scored his second goal of the game for Calgary. But once again, the Golden Knights found a response. Pavel Dorofeyev scored his 35th goal of the season on the power play. He is now eighth, surpassing the franchise record of 43 set by William Carlson in 2017–18.
After two unexpected periods and long delays, the third belonged to the Golden Knights. Brett Howden gave the Golden Knights their first lead by scoring on a rush and beating Dustin Wolf.
Shortly after, Wolf misplayed the puck behind his own net and Ivan Barbashev took advantage to extend the lead to 5–3. Marner later sealed it, earning a hat trick and leading the Golden Knights over the Flames.
Head coach John Tortorella is now 2-0-0 with the Golden Knights and is looking to get the team back on track.
The Golden Knights will look to continue their winning ways against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night as they begin a four-game road trip.
