For 40 minutes in Detroit, nobody could score. Then the whole game flipped in the third period, and a 20-year-old rookie decided it. Trevor Connelly scored with 1:42 left on Thursday night to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
40 Scoreless Minutes, Then Three Goals in 16 Minutes
Vegas pressed early, putting 13 shots on goal in the first period, the most the Golden Knights have recorded in the opening 20 minutes since opening night, when they had 14. Detroit goaltender Daniil Tarasov stopped all of them and finished with 32 saves. Carter Hart answered at the other end with 25 saves on 26 shots, a .962 save percentage. Thursday was the first time Vegas has gone scoreless through the first two periods since March 2025.
| Time (3rd period) | Scorer | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2:02 | Anton Johansson, Detroit | Red Wings 1, Golden Knights 0 |
| 4:20 | Braeden Bowman, Vegas | Tied 1-1 |
| 18:18 | Trevor Connelly, Vegas | Golden Knights 2, Red Wings 1 |
Johansson pounced on a Carter Mazur shot that caromed off the end boards. Just 2 minutes and 18 seconds later, Victor Olofsson, in his first game back from injury and his first game since October 6, helped work the puck to Tomas Hertl and then to Bowman, who used a Detroit defenseman as a screen and beat a screened Tarasov to tie it.
The Rookie Is Tied for the League Lead, and He Is Doing It Late
Here is the part that should change how you watch this road trip. Connelly has now scored in three straight games on this trip, and his winner was his seventh goal of the season, tying him for the rookie goal-scoring lead. He took a pass from Jack Eichel at the blue line, toe-dragged Michael Rasmussen in the left circle, and beat Tarasov.
“As soon as I saw (Eichel) get some speed going I tried to match it,” Connelly said. “He’s such a threat off the rush, so I knew if I found some open ice he’d either find me or make a play of his own. The guy who was covering me kind of overcommitted, and I got off a lucky shot.”
- Help around him: Hertl now has four points in his last three games, and Vegas went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- Coach’s read: “We made some plays,” Golden Knights coach Ryan Craig said. “We got a couple goals, we did a nice job on the penalty kill (2-for-2), and we got some big stops from our goaltender.”
- Streak that ended: Mitch Marner’s 11-game point streak ended. He had 16 points, one goal and 15 assists, during the streak, per NHL.com.
What the Win Is Worth, and How to Watch the Finale
The win moves Vegas to 11-5-2 for 24 points, against Detroit at 7-7-3 for 17 points. Vegas has won two straight, is 2-0-1 through three games of this road trip with five of a possible six points, and has beaten Detroit four straight times, per Reuters via Field Level Media.
- Next game: Sunday, November 8, at 12:30 p.m. PT at the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Arena, the final game of the road trip.
- Watch in Vegas: Scripps Sports, listed by the team as The Spot-Vegas 34, or stream on KnightTime+.
- A Vegas-only perk from this win: the team’s “When VGK Wins, You Win” offer gives fans six free boneless or traditional wings at Buffalo Wild Wings locations throughout the greater Vegas metro area with a qualifying pre-tax purchase of $10 or more on food and non-alcoholic beverages, available for two days after any 2026-27 Golden Knights victory. Check the terms at your location before you order.
One road game is left. If Connelly scores again Sunday, it will be four straight, and the rookie race stops being a nice story and starts being the story of Vegas’s fall.
