Reilly Smith scored the tying goal before scoring the overtime winner as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Tuesday.
It’s the eighth straight victory for Vegas, which has won 12 of its first 14 games on the schedule (12-2-0).
From the 23e second of play in extra time, Smith broke away from Erik Källgren and did not miss his chance to settle the debate.
Timothy Liljegren, author of his first two goals of the campaign, and Mitch Marner had allowed the Leafs (7-4-3) to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
The visitors proved to be opportunistic, however, outsmarting Källgren four times from just 20 shots.
A first in 11 years for the Devils
Vitek Vanecek made 33 saves and the New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to seven with a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton each had a goal and an assist, while Tomas Tatar provided two assists.
The Devils’ last seven-game winning streak (10-3-0) dates back to February 2011.
Hischier broke a 2-2 tie at 11:50 of the third period, scoring his seventh goal of the campaign.
Rasmus Andersson had two assists for Calgary (5-5-2), while Jakob Markstrom made 17 saves in the loss.
Lindy Ruff’s squad prevailed despite two video reviews overturning a goal they thought they had scored.
Thursday, at home against the Ottawa Senators, the Devils will have the opportunity to add an eighth consecutive success.
Oilers end long drought
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both scored, and the Edmonton Oilers held on to win 3-2 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In addition to ending a series of three losses, the Albertans signed their first victory on Lightning ice since 2009.
McDavid, the NHL’s goals and points leader, gave the visitors a 2-1 lead by threading the needle for the 14th time of the campaign early in the second period.
Sometimes faltering since the beginning of his adventure in Edmonton, goaltender Jack Campbell excelled against Tampa, totaling 35 saves, including some of the most important in the last minute of play.
Warren Foegele set the tone for the game by hitting the target on the Oilers’ first shot, taking advantage of the Lightning’s softness on the power play to surprise Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Jon Cooper-led roster cue came from Brandon Hagel and Alex Killorn.
Philly does most of the work in second
The Philadelphia Flyers scored three times in the second period, racing to a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Philadelphia has won seven of its first 12 games for 16 points under new coach John Tortorella. The Blues suffered their eighth straight loss in regulation time.
After a scoreless first period, Wade Allison opened the scoring at 10:11. Then, Travis Konecny scored his fifth of the season six minutes later. Noah Cates dealt a blow to the Blues’ comeback hopes by hitting the target with three seconds left to make it 3-0.
It was only the third time in 12 games that Philadelphia had gone first in scoring.
Konecny, the Flyers’ goal leader with five, beat goaltender Thomas Greiss with a wrist shot to the tackle side.
Felix Sandstrom made 28 saves in front of the Flyers net, replacing ailing Carter Hart.
The Blues managed to get on the scoreboard through Ryan O’Reilly, who scored his second of the season.
The Flyers were quick to bring the Flyers to order when Lukas Sedlak moved the ropes just 82 seconds after O’Reilly’s goal.
Owen Tippett made it 5-1 late in the game.
Another Islanders comeback
Adam Pelech, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored in the third period as the New York Islanders rallied for another 4-3 comeback victory over the New York Rangers.
Rangers led 3-1 heading into the third period at Madison Square Garden before Pelech scored his first of the season 14 seconds into the engagement. Nelson tied the game with his fifth at 12:46 on the power play before Lee gave the Islanders the lead at 14:30 with his eighth goal.
Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves for the Islanders, who won for the seventh time in eight games.
It’s the second night in a row the Islanders have rallied from a two-goal third period deficit to win. They did the same against Calgary at home before winning in overtime.
The Islanders outscored their opponents 25-11 in the third period in goals this season. They shut out Rangers 3-0 on October 26 at home to start a five-game winning streak.
Filip Chytil, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck scored for Rangers. Goalie Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves in the loss.
Rangers have lost three games in a row at home.
Kyle Palmieri opened the scoring for the Islanders on the power play at 6:04 of the first period with his fifth goal. Ryan Pulock and Zach Parise got assists.
Chytil – in his second game after a six-game injury hiatus – tied the game at 11:36 in the first, beating Varlamov for his third goal.
K’Andre Miller and Adam Fox picked up assists. Fox has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in its last 11 games.
The goal ended Varlamov’s goalless streak at Madison Square Garden. He had shut out the Rangers in each of his last four games at MSG, tying the record set by Ottawa’s Alec Connell in 1926 against the New York Americans for consecutive road shutouts.
