Max Pacioretty scores in OT, Knights beat Avalanche 3-2

DENVER -- — Max Pacioretty scored at 1:56 of overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Vegas rebounded from a 5-1 loss in the series opener Thursday night to move a point ahead of Colorado atop the West Division.

“As a group we were really disappointed with our effort (Thursday night) and we responded,” Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer said. “What tonight showed when we play our game and dialed into details and execution and the things we have to do to win on the road we’re a hard team to beat. What we learned about them is if you’re off your A game even a little bit they’re going to make you look really bad, and that’s what they did in game one.”

Pacioretty also had an assist, Alec Martinez and William Carrier scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves.

“We had a lot to prove after getting spanked in the last game,” Pacioretty said. “We knew it also wouldn’t come with playing well for one period. We never really got away from our game. We know a team like that is going to get their chances, they did and Flower stood tall.”

Joonas Donskoi and Devon Toews scored for Colorado, and Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves. The Avalanche had won seven straight at home.

“We knew they were going to be better tonight, as they were. We were not physical enough,” Donskoi said. “When they get the cycle going it’s hard to stop it. We were battling for the first spot in our division, so obviously we wanted to get two points, but we were not able to do it.”

Pacioretty scored when Toews broke his stick as he tried to clear a rebound from in front of the net. Pacioretty skated to the crease and poked the puck past Toews and in.

“I intercepted that puck and it was sitting there,” Toews said. “I was trying to play it with my stick and the next thing I know my blade is in the corner. I thought I had the leverage on it, I thought I had the play and unfortunately the stick let me down a little bit there.”

Vegas had a 34-24 shots advantage, the first time Colorado has been outshot in 20 games. The last time an opponent outshot the Avalanche was Vegas on Feb. 16.

Donskoi put Colorado ahead with his 12th goal just 1:16 into the game. Martinez tied it at 16:32 with his fourth of the season, a power-play goal, and Toews answered 1:03 later. Carrier’s tip at 3:40 of the second period evened it again at 2.

DEFENSIVE SUPPORT

Colorado defenseman Bo Byram was scratched with an upper-body injury he likely suffered when he was hit by Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar on Thursday night. Byram left the game after getting checked against the boards with a hit the Avalanche felt was excessive.

Dan Renouf took Byram’s spot in the lineup and quickly showed support for his teammate by dropping the gloves with Kolesar.

Bednar confmired Byram was injured on the hit by Kolesar and could miss multiple games.

“I’ve got him day-to-day right now but it could turn week-to-week,” Bednar said. “We’ll just keep evaluating him on a daily basis. He seemed to be doing pretty good today but not well enough to get back in the lineup.”

Game notes
Colorado LW Matt Calvert missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Golden Knights RW Mark Stone entered Saturday leading the NHL in points in March with 22 (eight goals, 14 assists).

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host Los Angeles on Monday and Wednesday nights.

Avalanche: Host Anaheim on Monday night.