Working OT: Knights, rest of NHL see uptick after regulation

The Golden Knights have played a large amount of overtime games this season.

So has the rest of the NHL, though.

There have been 492 games played through Thursday. More than a quarter of them (133, 27 percent) have gone to overtime or a shootout.

Thirteen of the Knights’ 30 games have seen extra time, including their past three. That’s 43.3 percent.

Good news for the Knights is they’ve won two of those. They can cap a strong road trip Saturday when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Coach Bruce Cassidy thinks parity in the league is playing a part. Teams that weren’t expected to be where they are in the standings have made a push.

The Anaheim Ducks, for example, are tied with the Knights for first place in the Pacific Division. They’ve won 19 games, but 11 have come in regulation.

The San Jose Sharks, who are three points back of third place in the division, have won six of their 15 games in overtime.

“The teams that people may be underestimating are having good years,” Cassidy said. “They’re ahead of where people projected them this summer. That creates more competitive balance in the league.”

The Knights improved to 3-0-1 during their seasonlong five-game road trip Thursday with a 3-2 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

One way to look at this is the Knights have earned points in 24 of 30 games.

That’s even with a league-high nine overtime/shootout losses. They lost seven in a row in extra time after winning their first.

But the Knights have turned things around by winning three of their past four beyond regulation.

The key, Cassidy said, is the Knights haven’t given the puck away in moments that led to the winning goal at the other end.

Moments like left wing Mitch Marner’s giveaway Nov. 22 in a 4-3 loss to Anaheim, or losing an offensive-zone faceoff while on a power play and giving up a short-handed goal to the New York Islanders on Nov. 13 come to mind.

“I think it’s a law of averages,” Cassidy said. “We’re a good team. It wasn’t going to continue that way. That’s an area of improvement for us in overtime. For the most part, we’re not giving up those grade A chances, and we make a play.”

The Knights were on the other side of the bad turnover Thursday. Flyers right wing Travis Konecny gave the puck away in the Flyers’ zone.

Seconds later, Jack Eichel found Mark Stone for his second goal of the game to give the Knights seven of a possible eight points on the trip.

“We’re comfortable playing that way,” Stone said. “When you roll four lines and start to wear them down, if you do this for a full 82-game season, you’re going to be happy with where you end up in April.”

About the Blue Jackets

A reminder of how competitive the Eastern Conference is: Columbus (13-12-6), with the second-fewest points in the East, is three points back of a wild-card spot.

The Blue Jackets, though, are reeling on a four-game losing streak and have lost eight of their past 10.

Defenseman Zach Werenski, a finalist for the Norris Trophy last season, leads them in scoring with 32 points.

The Knights will likely see Jet Greaves in the opposing crease. He’s taken the No. 1 job from Elvis Merzlikins with a 7-7-5 record, a 2.74 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.

Greaves has lost three straight decisions, but has allowed only six goals on his past 91 shots.

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