Knights proving their mettle this season, in more ways than one

Resiliency is often synonymous with the Golden Knights. They tend to always find a way to pull through.

This season has been no exception.

It’s normally injuries that force the Knights to dig deep and persevere. That’s continued this year since they already have 71 man-games lost.

But the Knights have been resilient in a different way this season. They’re never out of a game. They showed that again Thursday when they rallied from a goal down in the third period to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in overtime.

The victory was the Knights’ 10th comeback win of the season. Only the Washington Capitals (12) have more.

“You just stick with it,” right wing Keegan Kolesar said. “Games are 60 minutes for a reason, right?”

The Knights’ late surge in Winnipeg was rewarding, but had to be frustrating to a degree.

Games like Thursday are going to happen a lot. One team dominates for long stretches, only to not get rewarded. The Knights were two minutes away from falling victim to a goaltending masterclass from reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck.

But the team, trailing 2-1, was gifted a chance when the Jets committed two tripping penalties in 13 seconds. That gave the Knights a five-on-three power play, and right wing Victor Olofsson took advantage to tie the game with 1:49 left in regulation.

Left wing Ivan Barbashev scored with 1:13 remaining in overtime to complete the comeback.

The Knights dominated the Jets in almost every offensive category. They had a 84-43 edge in shot attempts, a 36-20 advantage in shots on goal and a 37-13 edge in scoring chances. It almost wasn’t enough.

“We played a really solid game. I thought we were the better team,” Olofsson said. “We just kept playing the same way the entire game and we finally got paid for it at the end.”

The Knights’ defense is one reason they’ve been able to stay in games. They’ve allowed just five goals during their four-game winning streak.

One of those wins was a 1-0 shutout of the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 3. The Knights will meet the Oilers again Saturday at Rogers Place as they try to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games.

Edmonton has won seven of its last eight. Its lone loss in that span came to the Knights, who have held superstar centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl off the scoresheet in both of their matchups with the Oilers so far.

“I think when you play against some of the top players in the world, you’re always on high alert,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “We obviously know what these guys are capable of. I think everyone’s defensive awareness goes up a little bit.”

Thursday was the kind of game the Knights needed after a five-day break. The score may have been decided by one goal, but they didn’t miss a beat after having a lengthy layoff between games.

Now they need to maintain their momentum heading into their most difficult back-to-back of the season. The Knights play the Oilers on Saturday, then travel to play the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. The Wild lead the Western Conference in points percentage.

“This whole trip, you’re playing against some good teams,” Pietrangelo said. “I think for us, it’s important to get some good games here before we have the home stretch.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.