Golden Knights forward David Perron injured in win
The Golden Knights had to dig deep to earn two points Friday, and they did it without their second-leading scorer for half of the game.
David Perron suffered an upper-body injury in the second period against San Jose and is listed as day to day, according to Knights coach Gerard Gallant.
“Juggled the lines up a little bit, and that’s part of coaching,” Gallant said after the Knights’ 5-4 overtime victory at T-Mobile Arena. “You do the best you can when you lose a player, and the guys responded pretty good.”
Perron appeared to be injured when he collided with the Sharks’ Timo Meier less than a minute into the second period. Meier was given a minor penalty for interference, and Perron stayed in the game for a couple of shifts before heading to the Knights’ locker room.
Without Perron, who has six goals and 19 points, Gallant used Brendan Leipsic with Erik Haula and James Neal. Oscar Lindberg took Leipsic’s place on the line with Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch, as Gallant shortened his bench for most of the second period and all of the third period.
Also, goaltender Maxime Lagace was replaced by Malcolm Subban to start the third period. Lagace allowed three goals in the final 11:52 of the second period, and Gallant said Lagace “wasn’t feeling good.”
Subban made three saves and got the victory in his first appearance since being activated from the injured-reserve list Nov. 17.
“That’s what my goal is right now, obviously, to get back in there and pick up where I left off,” Subban said. “Obviously the boys are playing unbelievable. It’s not like we’re stealing games or anything.”
Next up
The Knights left for Arizona after Friday’s game and take on the last-place Coyotes at 5 p.m. Saturday at Gila River Arena.
Rookie forward Clayton Keller had a team-high 11 goals and 20 points for Arizona heading into Friday’s game against Los Angeles.
Goaltender Antti Raanta suffered an upper-body injury in Wednesday’s home loss to San Jose and was ruled out for the remainder of the Coyotes’ three-game homestand. Scott Wedgewood started in net for Arizona against the Kings, and Marek Langhamer was recalled from the minors on an emergency basis.
Get the hook
Sharks starting goalie Martin Jones was pulled 10 seconds into the second period after allowing three goals on 14 shots and replaced by Aaron Dell.
It was the third straight home game the Knights have chased a starting goalie. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick also were yanked in losses at T-Mobile.
Odds and ends
The Knights won their eighth consecutive game at home, joining the 1917-18 Toronto Arenas as the only teams to win eight straight home games during their inaugural NHL season. … Eakin played in his 400th career NHL game.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
