Vegas Golden Knights’ Evgenii Dadonov, days after nixed trade, nets OT winner vs. Blackhawks
LAS VEGAS — Evgenii Dadonov scored in overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 Saturday.
Dadonov’s winner marked his second goal in two games since returning to Vegas’ roster after the NHL on Wednesday negated a trade that sent him to Anaheim because it violated his limited no-trade clause.
Dadonov took a pass from Nicolas Roy, skated to the high slot and beat goaltender Kevin Lankinen over his glove.
“I saw Roysy had the puck, he was holding, holding, holding,” said Dadonov, who extended his goal streak to four games and now has six goals and nine points in his past six games. “I just tried to open up, and finally he passed it to me. I moved to the middle and looked for the shot lane and then shot it.”
The rejected trade was a blow to the Golden Knights, who were trying to remove Dadonov’s $5 million contract from their salary cap in order to bring back players such as forward Mark Stone and defenseman Alec Martinez from long-term injured reserve. The trade would have moved Dadonov, a 33-year-old right winger, to the Ducks along with a conditional second-round pick for defenseman John Moore and the contract of forward Ryan Kesler, who played his last NHL game in 2019.
The Knights (36-28-4) had lost seven of 10 games when the trade was negated Wednesday, but Dadonov has helped them win both of their games since.
Saturday marked Vegas’ first ever victory in 58 games when trailing by at least three goals in the third period. The Golden Knights had been shut out in eight of their previous 11 periods heading into the third.
The victory moves Vegas within one point of third-place Edmonton and within three of second-place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division. The Oilers play at first-place Calgary, while Los Angeles hosts Seattle late Saturday.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski and The Associated Press contributed to this report.