T-Mobile Magic Continues: Golden Knights Rally For 4-3 Win

LAS VEGAS, NV - It's becoming almost a cliche. When the Vegas Golden Knights play hockey at T-Mobile Arena, special things happen.

There's no other explanation after Shea Theodore sent the game winning goal into the back of the net Tuesday night, capping off a rally that gave the Golden Knights a 4-3 win over the NHL's best team and possession of first place in the Western Conference.

The Golden Knights now have the NHL's best home record, 14-2-1, and are tied for first place in the Western Conference. They now have 46 points, a 22-9-2 record, and have now won seven of their last eight games.

The matchup on Tuesday came with plenty of pregame hype. The Lightning brought the best record in hockey on the road to T-Mobile arena where best storyline of the 2017-18 season is being written. Tampa Bay entered the game as the best power play team in the league and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with two goals of the sort in the first period.

Vegas came into the game as a middle-of-the-pack power play team, but showed on Tuesday night that they're capable of playing to the level of even the league's best opponents. The Golden Knights tied the game 2-2 with two power play goals of their own in the second period, which proved to be just the beginning of their success against the Lightning's shorthanded crew.

The third period would prove to be symbolic of the Golden Knights magical inaugural season.

Erik Haula ripped the Golden Knights' third power play goal of the game early in the third period to put Vegas on top 3-2. They held that lead until the game's closing minutes when Victor Hedman tied it for the Lightning with 3:52 remaining.

It looked like the game was headed for overtime, but the Golden Knights got yet another power play chance and like they had done all night, made the best of it. With just three seconds remaining, Theodore took a Jonathan Marchessault pass from across the ice and ripped a slap shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the game winning goal.

The Golden Knights ended Tuesday with all four goals coming on the power play.

I thought things were clicking," Theodore said after the game. "Our power play finally got going and it was a good night for everyone."

Not panicking despite the early 2-0 deficit was why the Golden Knights were able to get the comeback win, he said.

"I thought we played them well 5-on-5, their two power play goals to start, so we just kind of stuck to our gameplan and I thought we finished the game strong," Theodore said.

Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury saved 35 of 38 shots in the contest.

The Golden Knights finish a five game homestand Saturday night against the Washington Capitals.

Image via John Locher/Associated Press