Vegas Fights Back in the Second
The Golden Knights didn't waste any time in the second period getting back even. David Perron came into the zone with speed before turning around and finding Vegas native Deryk Engelland at the point. The defenseman snapped his shot through traffic to beat Cam Ward, catching iron before finding the back of the net.
The Hurricanes' response was also swift, coming from another unlikely source. Like Marcus Kruger, Trevor van Riemsdyk was a former Blackhawk who was part of their 2015 Stanley Cup team. van Riemsdyk was selected in the Expansion Draft by Vegas but was with the team for less than 24 hours before being traded to the Canes with a late-round pick for a second-round pick in 2017.
His start with the Hurricanes was also slow, but things had started to turn around on this road trip for van Riemsdyk. In his last three games, van Riemsdyk had three assists, including a two-assist performance the night before in Anaheim. After Marc-Andre Fleury made a great pad stop on Jeff Skinner, the Canes forward found van Riemsdyk, who lifted a tough-angle shot into the net to get his first goal in the red and white.
Vegas found the answer again with a little over seven minutes left in the period. Colin Miller made a beautiful stretch pass to spring Reilly Smith for a breakaway. Smith buried his chance past Cam Ward's blocker to even it up. This would be the final goal of regulation, as both sides failed to convert in the third period before playing through a scoreless overtime.