Golden Knights end road woes to spoil McDavid's return for Oilers

Vegas Golden Knights' Mark Stone (61) get the open net goal as Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) tries to stop him during third period NHL action in Edmonton on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. (Jason Franson / The Canadian Press)

EDMONTON -

Their first road win of the season was a memorable one for the Vegas Golden Knights.

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Noah Hanifin had a pair of third-period goals as the Golden Knights came from behind to shock the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Wednesday. 

With just 48.4 seconds left to play and the game looking destined for extra time, the Golden Knights won a race to the corner and Ivan Barbashev was able to send it out to a hard-charging Hanifin, who sent a shot glove-side that beat Stuart Skinner in the Edmonton net for his third of the season to give them a late 3-2 lead.

“I think it was just a really good play by Barbashev,” Hanifin said. “It was kind of an awkward play, he was going in on the forecheck and they were kind of watching him a little bit and he made a great pass. I was just walking down main street, so good on him.”

The Knights came into the game 0-3-1 on the road this year, a stark contrast to their stellar 8-0-0 home record.

“It was good, it was starting to get into our heads almost a little bit,” Hanifin said of their road woes. “We’ve been playing so great at home and when you play at home you just have to kind of grind those games out, be responsible defensively and we were looking to do that tonight. 

"I thought we had a really good defensive effort and that’s how you win road games, so it was good to get that one.”

Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists and Mark Stone, with an empty-netter, for the Golden Knights (9-3-1), who have won two in a row and six of their last seven. Barbashev had three assists.

Adin Hill made 27 saves for the Golden Knights.

“We had a great first, the second wasn’t our best, they got an unfortunate goal to take the lead, but we stuck with it and got two quick ones at the end. It was a big win, especially on the road for us,” said Vegas defenceman Brayden McNabb.

“We stayed with it, we got back to what makes us good. We took care of pucks and eventually got rewarded. We played good defensively and that’s what happened.”

Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman replied for the Oilers (6-7-1), who have lost two straight despite getting captain Connor McDavid back from an ankle injury earlier than expected on Wednesday. 

The team announced the 27-year-old star would miss up to three weeks of action but McDavid returned in just nine days.

Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm said it was a blow to see the game slip away.

“It is very frustrating. I thought we played, I wouldn’t say a really good game, but we played a really good team well for 59 minutes,” he said. “It was a heartbreaking loss on that side of it. 

"There is obviously some good and some bad. We’re early in the season and we’ve got to try and build towards something that is going to be great. At the end of the day, as hard as it feels and as much as it sucks right now, you are going to have to learn from it and move on.”

Stuart Skinner managed 31 stops in the Edmonton net.

“We have to look at a lot of positives,” Kulak said. “We’re doing a lot of good things, we’re playing a lot better than we were the first five or six games of the season. I think if we keep trending in that direction there’s lots of hockey left, we’ll be fine.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.