On Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights (12-6-8) finished off a four-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks (11-9-6). They scored first, quickly gave up the equalizer, and spent the remainder of regulation trading goals. Carter Hart was excellent in overtime, and the Golden Knights won 4-3 in the shootout.
The Golden Knights struck first, scoring just 27 seconds into the game. Shea Theodore sent a stretch pass up ice to Braedan Bowman, and the puck took a weird bounce across the ice to Ivan Barbashev, who entered the zone. When Barbashev tried to set Braedan Bowman up for a tap-in, the puck bounced off Wyatt Kaiser’s skate and into the net.
The Blackhawks answered back 54 seconds later. Oliver Moore forced a turnover in the neutral zone, and Connor Murphy set up an odd-man rush for Chicago. Tyler Bertuzzi sent a cross-ice pass to Oliver Moore, who ripped a shot past Carter Hart far-side.
The Blackhawks dominated the remainder of the third period. However, the Golden Knights played well defensively, blocking shots and getting their sticks in lanes. They went into the first intermission still tied at one with the Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks took their first lead of the night at 11:22 in the second period. Zach Whitecloud’s pass attempt took a weird bounce off of Frank Nazar, and Carter Hart left the crease to play the puck. Hart played it right to Tyler Bertuzzi, who fired a shot that fluttered off a diving Hart and into the net.
Weird play. Hart goes for a clear and the puck deflects off Tyler Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi shoots, Hart partially makes the save, and it flutters up and into the net.
Vegas unsuccessfully challenged for offsides.
2-1, Blackhawks
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) December 3, 2025
The Golden Knights found the equalizer at 17:19 in the second period. Brett Howden chipped the puck into the zone, and Spencer Knight played it around the boards. Mark Stone sealed it off and found Ben Hutton, who fired a seeing-eye puck that bounced off two Blackhawks and into the net.
Ben Hutton goal! This guy is a wizard with the puck. It was going wide, then bounced off about eight different Blackhawks and into the net.
2-2
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) December 3, 2025
The Blackhawks retook the lead 4:45 into the third period. Andre Burakovsky sprung Connor Bedard, who took off one-on-one against Shea Theodore. Bedard danced around Theodore and ripped a laser that beat Carter Hart far-side.
Ew. My god, ew. Connor Bedard juked Shea Theodore into next week and fired a lazer into the far corner. His release is incredible.
3-2, Blackhawks
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) December 3, 2025
Four minutes later, Zach Whitecloud took a penalty while trying to impede Frank Nazar on a breakaway. The Golden Knights killed it off and renewed their press for the equalizer. They outshot the Blackhawks 9-6 in the third period and controlled 61.61% of the expected goalshare.
At 17:32 in the second, the Golden Knights scored a late game-tying goal just as Carter Hart made to head to the bench.
Shea Theodore accepted a pass from Braedan Bowman at center ice, entered the zone, sent a pass to Jack Eichel, and crashed the net. Eichel fired a cross-ice pass to Ivan Barbashev, who set Shea Theodore up for a tap-in. Spencer Knight made the save, but left the rebound in the crease for Bowman. Knight kicked out Bowman’s first attempt, but he got his own rebound and stuffed it home.
That was an insane sequence. Spencer Knight makes two great saves, but Braedan Bowman gets his own rebound. Knight makes the stop… but kicks it into his own net.
3-3
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) December 3, 2025
In overtime, both teams had their fair share of chances. Carter Hart stopped all six shots he faced, and Spencer Knight made two saves to send the game to a shootout.
In the shootout, Pavel Dorofeyev scored to give the Golden Knights the lead. Connor Bedard beat Carter Hart to bring the Blackhawks even, but Shea Theodore brought home the win in the fourth round with the game on his stick.
Three stars of the game: Shea Theodore, Braedan Bowman, Carter Hart
7 Golden Knights Observations
1. The Golden Knights scored the first goal of the game tonight for just the 10th time this season. Their starts have been improving, but they’ve struggled to finish first. Tonight, they got over that hump.
2. Carter Hart made his Golden Knights debut tonight. It was his first NHL game in exactly 682 days. Hart saved the first shot he saw; he let the second one in. He was shaky handling his third shot. But after that, for the most part, he settled down.
3. In regulation, Hart was fine. He let in a few bad ones, got bailed out by the defense a few times, and saved a few that he shouldn’t have been expected to. However, he was stellar in overtime and stopped all six of the shots he faced. And he was pretty great in the shootout, too.
4. Brandon Saad drew back into the lineup tonight after sitting out on Saturday as a healthy scratch. He had a real jump to his game. Saad played 14:15– 2:05 came shorthanded– and recorded two shots on goal.
5. The Golden Knights were terrific on the penalty kill tonight. They went 5-for-5, which brings them to an 81.2% success rate on the season.
6. Tonight’s win was huge for the Golden Knights– they snapped a seven-game overtime losing streak. That had to feel somewhat like an exorcism.
7. I don’t know why Shea Theodore isn’t one of the first three shooters in the shootout. He’s been using ol’ reliable forehand-backhand move in the shootout for nine years, and it rarely fails. In his Golden Knights career, he’s 11-for-27 in the shootout.