DETROIT—In a sense, it felt that every move made in the calendar year of 2026 has been preparing for Trevor Connelly to make his impact.
It explains why the Vegas Golden Knights were not willing to make big splashes at the trade deadline last season, and why they were willing to ship Pavel Dorofeyev off to the New York Rangers. While Connelly had struggled with injuries before, he has been absolutely dynamite at every level prior to this season.
What has taken some aback has been how quickly Connelly has found his groove at the NHL level, and this recent road trip through the Eastern Conference has been a perfect example of the rookie being on his game.
In Boston on Nov. 2, Connelly put together a memorable moment by shaking off a first period hit to force overtime with a third period goal. The next night in Pittsburgh, Connelly would again tie the game late to open the door for Tomas Hertl's eventual game-winner in regulation.
On Thursday, the magic continued for Vegas' latest star attraction, as Connelly and the Golden Knights continued to put together an impressive road swing with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
It took some time for the excitement to start ramping up, however, as both teams were unable to find any dangerous opportunities to get the scoring going.
While the Golden Knights did get themselves into some trouble with their puck management, goaltender Carter Hart was able to make timely saves and keep Detroit from getting on the scoreboard.
However, the dam would finally break in the third period, as a shot bounced off the end boards and directly on the stick of Anton Johansson for the first goal to fall in Detroit's favor.
Just over two minutes later, the Golden Knights would respond with an excellent 200-foot play involving multiple players. Noah Hanifin was able to clear the puck quickly and gave Vegas' forwards an opportunity to move into the offensive zone, eventually giving Braedan Bowman an opportunity to beat Red Wings goaltender Daniil Tarasov up high to level things again.
Then, with just under two minutes remaining, Connelly made magic happen once again.
Entering the offensive zone with the puck on his stick, the rookie was able to make a nifty move to get past a Red Wings defender, then using another as a screen to beat Tarasov on the far side for his third straight game with a third period goal.
Connelly is now once again tied among all NHL rookies with seven goals (Chicago Blackhawks forward Roman Kantserov) and 12 points (Boston Bruins forward James Hagens).
Hart also put together arguably his best goaltending effort of the season, stopping 25 of 26 shots.
Connelly and the Golden Knights will now get an opportunity to come home on a high when the road trip concludes against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
