Brewin Flames Posted November 18, 2019 Author Share Posted November 18, 2019 (edited) Karlsson scores two, Fleury and Vegas blanks Calgary, 6-0 G Game # 22 6 0 By Associated Press Updated: 14 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights can finally be proud of a third period. They went into their game against Calgary having held leads in six of their previous eight games and led by two in three of them. However, they've struggled to finish and were mired in a five-game losing streak. The Golden Knights left no doubt on Sunday. William Karlsson had his third straight multipoint game, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 34 shots to earn his league high-tying 10th victory this season and Vegas got four third-period goals to douse the Flames 6-0. Fleury, who improved to 14-4-1 all-time against Calgary, got his fifth career shutout against the Flames and 58th all time, which moved him into a tie for 19th in NHL history with Jon Ross Roach. "It's been a rough patch, everybody's getting all frustrated and sometimes confidence was so low going into the third (period), if we're behind (or) even if we're ahead teams would come back on us," said Fleury, who is one victory shy from 450 for his career. "We haven't been scoring as much lately, to see so many guys get goals tonight, it's good. It boosts everybody's confidence. Everybody feels a little better and it's gonna carry to the next game." Karlsson, the only player to have appeared in each of Vegas' 186 all-time regular-season games, had two goals and an assist. He now has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) over the last 11 games and leads the team with 23 points. "This is what we need, two huge points for us and now we just look forward," Karlsson said. "I think we executed very well, just overall a very good game." Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone and Cody Eakin also scored for Vegas, while Nate Schmidt had four assists, a new career-high for the defenseman for points in a game. Vegas, which is now 6-2-0 against opponents from the Pacific Division, also snapped a three-game home losing skid and improved to 2-4-3 in its last nine overall. "We really moved the puck well," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We're all about playing fast and speed and transition and I thought it was real good. It's good for our team, it's good for our confidence, now we just gotta continue to play that way." Calgary, which has never won inside T-Mobile Arena, dropped to 1-3-0 in the second game of a back-to-back this season after losing in Arizona on Saturday. "I thought we battled through 40 (minutes), and had a tough one in the final 20," Calgary coach Bill Peters said. "It was a little deflating in that regard. It feels like it's just hard to get (the puck) to go in right now." The Golden Knights got on the board midway through the first period when Karlsson skated in on an odd man rush with Max Pacioretty but kept the puck and fired it past Cam Talbot, who finished with 31 saves and dropped to 1-5-0 this season. Stastny notched his 698th career point, when he gracefully deked around Mark Giordano and fired a wrist shot by Talbot midway through the second period, while Pacioretty seized momentum for the Golden Knights by making it 3-0 early in the third. Eakin scored the most meaningful goal of the night, after struggling to find the back of the net through the first 21 games. Eakin capitalized took a pass from Jonathan Marchessault and flipped it past Talbot with a little more than five minutes left for his first goal of the season. "It felt good," said Eakin, who now has 99 career goals. "I've been doing it long enough and bad stuff happens where you go through something like that you can just do what you do best. Sometimes when you go through a rut like that where you're not producing, things get a little tougher and you feel like you're skating in sand. It's nice to get that one." Mark Stone snapped a six-game scoreless drought with a one-timer from one knee over Talbot's stick to make it 5-0, and Karlsson's second goal of the game came on a backhand with 2:31 left in the contest. Edited November 18, 2019 by Brewin Flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share Posted November 20, 2019 Fleury's big saves in 450th win lead Vegas past Leafs, 4-2 Game # 23 4 2 By Associated Press Updated: 5 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- The only thing missing for Marc-Andre Fleury was a magic wand. Fleury made 31 saves for his 450th win, including an incredible diving stop late in the game, and the Vegas Golden Knights held off the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday night. While his clutch save against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final with 1.2 seconds remaining might still be the biggest of his 16-year career, Fleury now has an argument for the most spectacular. With the Golden Knights clinging to a 3-2 advantage and less than four minutes left, Ilya Mikheyev fired a shot that went off the crossbar and directly to Nic Petan, who was staring at a wide-open net and a chance to score his first goal of the season. But Petan's backhand from the bottom of the circle was thwarted as Fleury dove back to his left and with his body outstretched snatched the puck before it hit twine, sending 18,292 fans into a frenzy -- even some wearing Maple Leafs jerseys. "It was fun. A little lucky cause I didn't stop the first one; it was off the crossbar," said Fleury, who is three wins behind New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist for sixth place on the career list. "It's good when you get those second opportunities to redeem yourself. As a goalie those are the saves that maybe make you feel like when you're a player and score a goal -- the saves I love to play for." Mark Stone, Cody Glass, Tomas Nosek and Cody Eakin scored for Vegas. But for the second consecutive game it was Fleury who kept the Golden Knights in it with outstanding stops, particularly when the Maple Leafs turned up the pressure in the third period. With 14:59 left, Fleury denied William Nylander on the doorstep. Then with 11:21 remaining, he stymied Toronto captain John Tavares' first shot of the game, tipped the puck with the paddle of his stick to himself and snared it with his glove. It was that kind of night for Fleury. Moments later, with the heat still on, he robbed Nylander by sliding across the crease and stretching out his left pad at the right moment to prevent the puck from sneaking into the corner of the net. Fleury, who shut out Calgary 6-0 on Sunday, became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to win 450 games. "He's pretty incredible when he makes types of saves like that," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "As a coach you come to expect that from him. He makes those saves. He's acrobatic. He never gives up on the puck." Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist and Zach Hyman also scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen, who has lost his last four starts, stopped 33 shots. The struggling Maple Leafs have lost six in a row and are 0-5-1 since star winger Mitch Marner went down. Toronto dropped to 9-10-4 on the season and has just two regulation victories in its last 16 games. "We had lots of chances. ... Bottom line is we've got to stick with it and just keep grinding," coach Mike Babcock said. "It's disappointing, but I'm always about the process and how hard guys play. We played way harder, so I thought that was good." After Max Pacioretty's shot trickled through Anderson's pads into the crease, Glass was there to clean up for a man-advantage goal that gave Vegas a 1-0 lead midway through the second period. Toronto tied it when Mikheyev entered the zone and dropped the puck off for Spezza, who fired it past Fleury early in the third. Vegas answered immediately when Nosek made amends for missing an earlier breakaway when he stole the puck in the neutral zone, raced in on a breakaway, put a filthy deke on Andersen and backhanded the puck into the net to make it 2-1 just 42 seconds after Spezza's goal. Stone extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play drive from the right dot at 10:22. Hyman cut Vegas' lead to one with his first goal of the season at 12:47, but Eakin put the game away when he scored the 100th goal of his career into an empty net with 21 seconds left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 20, 2019 Author Share Posted November 20, 2019 (edited) Save of the year candidate.... https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/11/20/fleurys-save-of-the-year-candidate-extends-maple-leafs-misery/ Edited November 20, 2019 by Brewin Flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 22, 2019 Author Share Posted November 22, 2019 Sharks topple Golden Knights 2-1 in overtime Game # 24 1 2 OT By Associated Press Updated: 12 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Logan Couture isn’t always following the calendar enough to know who’s next on the San Jose Sharks’ schedule. He knew the Golden Knights were coming, though, because the team uses the Las Vegas trip as part of its annual Father’s Trip. He made some dads plenty happy Thursday night, scoring in overtime to back 37 save from Aaron Dell in San Jose’s 2-1 victory. "I can barely remember who we play the next game," Couture said. "You get in the middle of a season, games just kind of happen." This was the first meeting of the Pacific Division rivals since Vegas swept a home-and-home set to open the regular season. The teams have met in the previous two postseasons, splitting those series. "Any time we play these guys it's gonna be a tough game," Couture said. "They're a very good team. At the end of the year they're gonna be near the top of the division, so it was a good test for us." San Jose is 7-3-0 in November to improve to 11-11-1 overall. It arrived in Vegas eager for a victory after its six-game winning streak was snapped in Tuesday's home loss to Edmonton. "I think we all know we're a good team," Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson said. Even when they're short-handed. The Sharks played without forward Tomas Hertl, who was a late scratch, resulting in the Sharks using 11 forwards and seven defensemen, rather than the traditional 12/6 ratio. They finished without forward Melker Karlsson and defenseman Radim Simek, both of whom left in the third period. Much of the credit went to Dell, who had perhaps his best performance of the season against a team that had given him fits in his three prior meetings. Dell came in 0-2-1 with a 4.28 goals against average and an .868 save percentage against the Golden Knights, but he stopped 33 of 34 shots in regulation and four more in overtime. "It was a great character win," Dell said. "I think we really showed that it doesn't matter who's in and who's out, that we can get the job done." Vegas was thwarted on all three attempts by the league's best penalty kill. San Jose has been successful on 22 of its last 24 penalty kills. "Our PK was good tonight again," Karlsson said. "I don't think they created anything more than a few chances here and there, which is gonna happen. Overall it's been one of the best parts of our game." Timo Meier scored early in the second period for San Jose, and Brayden McNabb tied it midway through the third. Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, coming off a highlight-reel save Tuesday, stopped 27 shots. "We played pretty good,” Fleury said. “We’re at home. Were playing against them, too, so we always want to beat them, but at least we battled back to get that point." After a physical start, including a first period that featured 29 combined hits and 20 shots on goal, Meier showed off his strength by holding off defenseman Nate Schmidt. He backhanded the puck past Fleury 1:26 into the second. McNabb scored and invigorated Vegas midway through the third, when he fired a shot from the top of the right circle and beat Dell glove side with his second goal of the season. Both of the defenseman's goals this season have come against San Jose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 McDavid scores 2 to lead Oilers past Vegas, 4-2 Game # 25 2 4 By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are slowly showing rest of the league there is no better scoring tandem in the NHL. On Saturday night, Edmonton's dynamic duo taught the Vegas Golden Knights a lesson. McDavid scored two goals, Draisaitl had three assists, and the Oilers beat the Golden Knights 4-2. "It was a whole team effort," Draisaitl said. "Just a big win." Draisaitl and McDavid are first and second in NHL scoring, with 47 and 46 points, respectively. Draisaitl leads the league with 31 assists while McDavid is second with 18 goals and tied for second with 28 assists. "They've been strong all year," Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. "They're top talent. I would say as good as they've been, I think there's been other parts of our team that have been quite well. They're obviously vital cogs to what we're trying to do, but they've really bought in to a team atmosphere, the way we want to play as a team." Ethan Bear and Markus Granlund also scored for the Pacific Division-leading Oilers. Mike Smith stopped 25 shots to earn his 250th career victory. Smith, 7-6-1 this season, bounced back from a 5-1 loss to Los Angeles on Thursday when he allowed three first-period goals before being replaced by Mikko Koskinen. Edmonton, 7-3-2 in its last 12 games, moved into a first-place tie with St. Louis Blues atop the Western Conference with 33 points. "There's lots of talk about us right now," McDavid said. "But I thought it was a complete effort tonight." Vegas, meanwhile, came out flat, was outskated and outhustled for much of the game, and couldn't seem to match Edmonton's speed or intensity. Now the Golden Knights hit the road for tests in Dallas and Nashville mired in a 2-5-2 slide after losing the last two during a four-game homestand. "It was disappointing from the start right to the finish," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "The execution wasn't there tonight, but it's gotta start with competing and battling and winning those battles. Get your nose dirty a little bit. And it's not all the guys, there's some guys. We've gotta get more of a team game. "We just didn't have any push back and that's what disappoints me with our group." Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 27 saves and dropped to 10-4-1 in his career against the Oilers. McDavid and Bear gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead before Eakin cut the lead in half with 20 seconds remaining in the first period. Granlund got his 100th career point when cleaned up his own rebound with a backhand to beat Fleury with just under eight minutes to go in the second period. Theodore responded with his second of the season, ending a 20-game goal drought, when he raced into the zone and used his crafty stick-handling skills to split a pair of defenders in the slot and beat Smith five-hole with 5:41 remaining in the period. McDavid and Draisaitl struck again, this time on a power play at 2:11 of the third, when Fleury was slow to get back in position. Draisaitl's pass from behind the goal found McDavid, who one-timed a wrister into the net, extending Edmonton's to two goals. "We had stretches in the second where we were kind of showing our game and we were starting to definitely play the right way, but it got away from us a little bit," Theodore said. "We're not even coming close to our expectations, especially with Edmonton coming in. We knew they were gonna be good, we knew they were gonna be fast, I just didn't think we had that match tonight." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 Stars tie record with 7th straight win, 4-2 over Vegas Game # 26 2 4 By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago DALLAS -- Alexander Radulov energized Dallas’ power play and Esa Lindell anchored a stout penalty-killing unit on a special Monday night for the Stars. Special, as in special teams. Two power-play goals by Radulov and four scoreless penalty kills in the second period led to the Stars tying a team record with their seventh consecutive victory, 4-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights. "(The penalty kill) stepped up and on the other side, too, the power play had two goals,” said defenseman John Klingberg, who got two of his three assists with the man advantage. “It's a huge part of hockey nowadays. It’s hard to score 5-on-5, and you need special teams to step up.” The Stars have won seven straight five times in a franchise history that dates back to 1967 as the Minnesota North Stars. Dallas is on a 12-game point streak (11-0-1) and has gone 14-1-1 in the last 16 after a 1-7-1 start to the season. The Stars moved within two points of Central Division leader St. Louis. "I think we have a lot more emotion into our game, and I think we're playing a lot faster," coach Jim Montgomery said. Radulov and Lindell staked Ben Bishop to a 2-0 lead in a dominant first period that Montgomery called “one of the best periods we've played all year.” Jason Dickinson scored in the second and Bishop finished with 26 saves for his sixth straight victory. Shea Theodore and Paul Stastny had the goals for Vegas. Malcolm Subban stopped 25 shots. Dallas scored two goals in less than two minutes during the first period. On the power play at 11:42, Radulov tipped in a shot by Klingberg from the blue line. “Before the game,” Radulov said, “we were talking about probably whoever won the special-teams game was going to get the most chances. That's what we did." At 13:25, Andrew Cogliano passed across ice to Lindell, who put a wrist shot between Subban and the left post. Tyler Seguin assisted on both goals. “We had a tough start to the first period with the two penalties and falling behind 2-0,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “You can’t get behind against a really good team like that.” The Stars outshot the Golden Knights 16-6 in the first. Vegas came out strong in the second period, with 10 of the first 11 shots on goal. Dallas killed four penalties, but Theodore scored on a backhand at 13:48, just five seconds after the last of those expired. Lindell was on the ice for 5:13 of penalty killing. The Stars have been successful on 15 opponents’ power plays in a row. “Esa’s probably our best penalty killer because he logs so many minutes and wins so many battles,” Montgomery said. Stastny, playing in his 900th NHL game, scored 1:23 into the third. Stastny was upset with the Golden Knights’ performance on the power play. “I lost a key draw there when we had a 5-on-3 for 18 seconds. I’ve got to find a way to win that or even have a 50-50 chance just so we can get possession off of that,” he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 28, 2019 Author Share Posted November 28, 2019 Stastny's OT goal caps comeback, Vegas beats Predators 4-3 Game # 27 4 3 By Associated Press Updated: 5 hours ago NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Paul Stastny’s 700th career point was certainly dramatic. Max Pacioretty tied the game with less than a second left in regulation and Stastny scored at 1:52 of overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night. Mark Stone, Reilly Smith and Pacioretty each had a goal and an assist for Vegas, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Malcolm Subban made 31 saves for his first win of the season. “It was pretty exciting to win a game like that,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “We needed something like that for our team tonight. Score late like that and then win it in overtime, it’s huge for our team.” Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene both contributed a goal and an assist for Nashville. Ryan Ellis also scored and Roman Josi added two assists. In overtime, Nate Schmidt intercepted Calle Jarnkrok’s pass attempt and went in on a 2-on-0 break on Predators goalie Juuse Saros. Schmidt fed a cross-ice pass to Stastny, who buried a one-timer for the winner. The goal was Stastny’s 700th NHL point. He and his father, Peter, are the third father-son duo to each have at least 700 points, joining the Hulls and the Howes. "We kind of never gave up,” Stastny said. “The spirit on the bench was always the same. We always stuck with it. Sometimes it takes that last second.” Nashville appeared to have a regulation victory in hand, but Pacioretty scored with 0.3 seconds remaining in the third period and Subban pulled for an extra attacker to send the game to overtime. “We had everybody on board tonight,” Pacioretty said. “We’ve had situations like this before where we’ve had a game that we want to rally behind, and this is definitely one of them.” Early in the third and with the game tied at 2, Duchene wired a wrist shot from the high slot inside the near post for his seventh goal of the season. Stone scored the first goal of the game at 7:33 of the opening period. From the goal line to the right of the Nashville net, Pacioretty used a soccer-style kick to direct the puck to Stone in the lower part of the left circle. From there he was able to beat Saros high to the glove side. Smith made it 2-0 at 6:22 of the second. A pass from Schmidt sent Smith in on a breakaway as he slipped behind Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro. From the slot, Smith beat Saros with a backhand between the pads. Granlund halved the Vegas lead 39 seconds later. Josi drove the puck down the right side and found Granlund in the low slot, where his quick redirection beat Subban through the legs. Granlund has seven points in his last seven games. “I think he’s been probably one of our most noticeable players,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “The production is coming now, but he’s working so hard every game. It’s hard not to notice him out there and the things that he does.” Ellis tied it 2-all at 11:25 of the second. Deep in the Vegas zone, Josi’s pass came to Ellis on the right side. After drawing Subban his way with a fake, Ellis switched to his backhand and slid the puck into the open net. “It would have been nice to keep this little streak we got going, especially after the negative streak we had there,” Ellis said. “It happens, and we’ve got to move past it.” Saros made 26 saves in his third consecutive start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 30, 2019 Author Share Posted November 30, 2019 Alex Tuch lifts Golden Knights past Coyotes in shootout Game # 28 2 1 SO By Associated Press Updated: 16 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- When Malcolm Subban was 14 years old, he started packing his goalie bags the exact same way and hasn't changed since. "I go pants, jock, kneepads, then skates, shoulder pads, helmet, glove -- always the same" said the 25-year-old goaltender for the Vegas Golden Knights. He's just as meticulous as he prepares his mindset for a shootout. Subban improved to 5-0 lifetime in a shootout, Alex Tuch scored in regulation and added the shootout winner, and Vegas notched a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday. Jonathan Marchessault also scored in the shootout for Vegas, which won its second straight. Subban, who went into the shootout a perfect 16 for 16 in his career, stopped 35 shots in his third straight start, including two monster saves in the final 12 seconds of regulation, and two more in overtime, turning away Phil Kessel. He stopped two of the three shots he faced in the shootout. "I wish I could describe the feeling, but I'm just focused on the puck and you don't really feel anything else," Subban said. "I just try to stay patient in there and give my team a chance to get a goal or two." After losing his first six starts, going 0-4-2, Subban has won two straight after an overtime win in Nashville on Wednesday night. "When you're losing a lot, it gets pretty miserable, so I'm happy to get a couple of wins here," Subban said. "You're kind of just into the game and just try to dial yourself in and not think about anything else that's going on." Vegas played its second straight overtime game and sixth in November. The Golden Knights, who are 4-4 in overtime games this season, including a perfect 3-0 in shootouts. "Tuchy had a good game, he played one of his better games of the year," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Subby was good, made a couple of key saves there in overtime, locked in all night long. Obviously in the shootout he's very good at those breakaways." Arizona -- which is 6-2-2 against Pacific Division teams and has earned a point in nine straight games (6-0-3) against them -- played in its third straight overtime game and seventh this month. The Coyotes have earned points in 11 of 14 road games (8-3-3) and have earned points in eight of their last nine road games (6-1-2). Jakob Chychrun scored for the Coyotes, and Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves. Christian Dvorak scored the lone shootout goal for Arizona. "We played a good hockey game tonight, we deserved better," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "You kill that many penalties and you don't get power plays and that's what happened. I'm proud of the guys we played hard." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Tuch scores 2 early, Golden Knights beat Rangers 4-1 Game # 29 4 1 By Associated Press Updated: 6 hours ago NEW YORK -- The Vegas Golden Knights got off to a fast start with two quick goals to start the game, then added two more early in the second period. That was enough to get their first three-game winning streak of the season. Alex Tuch scored twice in the first four minutes and the Golden Knights beat the New York Rangers 4-1 Monday night. Reilly Smith and Max Pacioretty also scored, and Malcolm Subban stopped 29 shots as Vegas improved to 5-2-1 after a season-high five-game skid (0-4-1). "You could see it really set the tone for our team," Subban said of the early goals. "And then to follow it up with two more obviously helps. A 4-0 lead definitely gets you feeling good about yourself." Though the Golden Knights were feeling good about their longest win streak of the season, Tuch said they don't think about it too much. "We're just going out there trying to play each period one at a time," he said, "and just trying to get a win every night." Brendan Lemieux scored and Henrik Lundqvist finished with 28 saves for the Rangers, who were 4-0-1 in their previous five games. "I didn't like our mentality," New York coach David Quinn said. "We were way too risk-oriented, we just did not play a very solid, structured game. We really fueled their offense." The Rangers went 0 for 6 on the power play against a Vegas team that came in tied for fifth in penalty-killing. New York picked up the pace in the second half of each of the first two periods and came out more aggressive to start the third. The Rangers outshot the Golden Knights 8-1 over the first 12 minutes and finished the period with a 11-4 advantage but couldn't score. "We found a way, we made some good saves," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "The guys did a really good job on the PK and that was the difference for us." Subban, getting the start while Marc-Andre Fleury is away from the team following his father's death, denied Ryan Strome's tip try nearly seven minutes into the third, Filip Chytil's shot from the left circle with 8 1/2 minutes left and Ryan Lindgren's attempt from above the left circle less than 20 seconds later. "We did a pretty good job of taking away their plays on the power play and their strengths," Subban said. "That obviously goes a long way and really frustrates those guys." Vegas scored twice early in the first period and then doubled its lead with a pair of goals early in the second. Subban knocked turned aside a deflection by Chytil 2:10 into the second to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard, and Chris Kreider hit a goalpost exactly two minutes later. Smith made it 3-0 on a breakaway as he put a backhander past Lundqvist for his team-leading 12th at 4:44. With Vegas on its second power play of the game, rookie Cody Glass sent a pass across the front of the goal and Pacioretty quickly put it past Lundqvist for his 10th to make it 4-0 at 6:20. Lemieux deflected a pass from Jacob Trouba to get the Rangers on the board with 4:45 left in the middle period. The Golden Knights outshot the Rangers 13-3 over the first 10 minutes. Tuch got Vegas on the scoreboard just 1:34 in. His shot from the left side was stopped by Lundqvist but it trickled past and, as the goalie lunged back, he appeared to get the puck before it crossed the line . However, after a review, the goal counted as replays showed it went across before Lundqvist pulled it back out. "It was not the start we were looking for," Lundqvist said. "After that it was downhill for another five or six minutes before we settled things down and got our game going." The Golden Knights went on a power play 18 seconds later and Tuch took advantage on a rush just 2 seconds before the penalty expired, tipping a pass by Nate Schmidt at 3:50 to make it 2-0. It was his fourth of the season, and third in two games. "He plays hard, he played well and when he shoots pucks like that he's going to get them to go into the net," Gallant said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 Marchessault's hat trick leads Golden Knights past Devils Game # 30 4 3 By Associated Press Updated: 18 hours ago NEWARK, N.J. -- Jonathan Marchessault gave the Devils’ day of change an all-too-familiar ending. Marchessault scored three straight goals in the third period to rally the Vegas Golden Knights over New Jersey 4-3 Tuesday night, hours after the Devils fired coach John Hynes. Marchessault scored twice in the first 5:04 of the third to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead. He added a power-play goal midway through the period, and Vegas held on even after New Jerseys Nico Hischier scored 20 seconds later. The Golden Knights have won four straight to improve to 15-11-4. “It’s fun,” Marchessault said. “We didn’t have that all year so far, so it’s good that we get on a roll.” Malcolm Subban had 32 saves, and Chandler Stephenson scored in his first game since being acquired Monday from the Washington Capitals. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 26 shots for the Devils. Kyle Palmieri and Jesper Bratt also scored. Hynes was fired Tuesday after a 9-13-4 start that left the team in last place in the Metropolitan Division and with the NHL’s second worst record. General manager Ray Shero announced the move roughly 20 minutes before Hynes was scheduled to speak to the media before the game. Hynes had been the coach for four-plus seasons. Shero named assistant Alain Nasreddine the interim coach, and Peter Horachek, a pro scout for the team, joined the coaching staff as an assistant. “Tonight is a new beginning, and we had the lead, yes, going into the third, but it was more about what we did and what we didn’t do,” Nasreddine said. “There are no excuses.” The dismissal came a day after the Devils were ripped by the Buffalo Sabres 7-1, a game Shero said was hard to describe. That followed a 4-0 loss at home to the rival New York Rangers on Saturday. Subban has been playing for Marc-Andre Fluery, who has been away from the team for the past week with a family illness. “It’s been huge. Obviously, you get a couple wins you feel better about yourself, you feel good about your game, so it’s been great obviously,” Subban said. “Still stuff to work on, but it’s coming along so it feels good right now.” Struggling Devils forward Taylor Hall had a fast-break chance stopped by Subban in the first period before Palmieri scored a minute later off a pass from Damon Severson to make it 1-0. New Jersey outshot Vegas 17-7 in the first period. The Golden Knights tied it in the second period on a centering pass by Alex Tuch to Stephenson at 5:24. “That’s what he does,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said of Stephenson. “He’s done it before. He’s played on a real good team, and he’s had that role a little bit, so when we give him an opportunity and you know you want to make a player feel comfortable coming to a new team and scored a huge goal for us tonight, played some PK and it worked out.” Bratt restored the Devils’ lead 14:17 into the second. Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant challenged for goalie interference, but the referees said Hall was pushed into the crease by Paul Statsny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 Pulock's goal in OT lifts Islanders over Golden Knights 3-2 Game # 31 2 OT By Associated Press Updated: 16 hours ago UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- In a physical game with a playoff pace, Ryan Pulock and the New York Islanders took advantage of a prime opportunity in overtime. Pulock scored a power-play goal 3:20 into the extra session to give the Islanders a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. "It was probably one of the faster games we played this year," Pulock said. "That's a good team over there. It's huge to get that extra point." Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders, who won their seventh straight at Nassau Coliseum and snapped Vegas' four-game winning streak. Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault had the goals for the Golden Knights. "It was fast, it was furious. There were great plays, great saves -- everything you want in a game," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "It was a fun hockey game." Marchessault was sent off for tripping at 3:10 of OT, giving the Islanders a 4-on-3 advantage. That led to Pulock's winner after New York won the faceoff in the Vegas zone. Anders Lee assisted on the defenseman's fourth goal of the season. "It was a hard-fought game and fun to be part of," Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "Too bad it had to end." Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots for his ninth win of the season. He made a sterling glove save on Mark Stone in overtime. "Everybody was invested," Trotz said. "I can't think of one line I was disappointed in. ... I like the way we played. Great atmosphere. One of our better games of the year." Marchessault tied the game for the Golden Knights at 15:28 of the third after Nelson put the Islanders ahead earlier in the period. Marchessault, who had a hat trick in a win over the Devils on Tuesday, whipped the puck past Varlamov for his ninth goal of the season. Nicolas Hague and Reilly Smith assisted. Nelson snapped a shot past Vegas goaltender Malcolm Subban at 3:56 for his ninth of the season. Anthony Beauvillier and Scott Mayfield assisted. It was the first time the Golden Knights visited the Islanders' original home at Nassau Coliseum after Vegas' previous two road games against New York were played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This one had a playoff feel, rare for teams that meet only twice per season. Several dozen Golden Knights fans chanted loudly for their team but were quickly drowned out by the loud home crowd. "It was a great game, two teams battled real hard. I love the way our team competed," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "It was a real good road trip. If we keep playing like this, we'll win a lot of hockey games." The Islanders improved to 8-2-0 at Nassau Coliseum, where they are playing a majority of their home games this season, two years before a planned move into their new arena at Belmont Park. Clutterbuck opened the scoring at 4:26 of the second, scoring unassisted to finish a 3-on-1 break when he rifled the puck past Subban for his third goal of the season. Tuch tied it at 15:27 when he wired the puck over Varlamov's right shoulder to continue his stellar play on the road trip. Tuch also scored twice in Monday's 4-1 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden and had three assists in Tuesday's 4-3 win at New Jersey. Cody Glass and Jon Merrill assisted on Tuch's fifth goal of the season. Subban made a number of excellent saves in the first period. He had a sharp glove stop on defenseman Adam Pelech at 14:50 and another on Jordan Eberle on his doorstep at 16:10. Varlamov had an especially strong second, denying Smith, the Golden Knights' leading goal scorer, on a 2-on-1 chance from the right circle. Varlamov stopped Marchessault from point-blank range while Vegas was on a power play 12 minutes into the middle period. The Islanders held a 13-8 shots advantage after the scoreless first. Vegas outshot the Islanders 13-12 in the second, and the Golden Knights had an 11-4 edge in the third. The Islanders were coming off a 4-2 loss at Montreal on Tuesday and had played five of their last six on the road since an overtime win in Brooklyn against Pittsburgh on Nov. 21. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 Georgiev stifles Golden Knights in Rangers’ 5-0 win Game # 32 0 5 By Associated Press 17 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Alexandar Georgiev stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-0 on Sunday night. Georgiev, who recorded his first shutout of the season at New Jersey on Nov. 30, was making his fourth start in five games. It was the 23-year-old's fourth career shutout. Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba, Jesper Fast and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers. The Golden Knights hadn't been shutout since last Feb. 18 at Colorado. They came into the game with at least one goal in 52 consecutive regulation games, the third longest active streak behind Boston (84 games) and Florida (56). Malcolm Subban, making his seventh straight start for Vegas, made 20 saves. The Golden Knights had their five-game point streak snapped as they dropped to 7-6-3 at home this season. The Rangers took a 1-0 lead after defenseman Tony DeAngelo made a nice spin move near the blue line and passed the puck to the top of the left circle for Marc Staal, who then fired the puck to the top of the right circle for Panarin, whose wrist shot beat Subban 4:08 into the game. Kreider struck 14 seconds later, when he pelted Ryan Strome's cross-ice feed past Subban's skate, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Early in the second period Vegas forward Ryan Reaves was hit with a double-minor for high-sticking New York forward Brendan Lemieux in the face and the Rangers wasted no time on the power play. After Subban's save caromed to his right, Trouba stopped the puck with his skate, kicked it to his forehand and punched it in a wide-open net to make it 3-0 at 7:14. Trouba then helped extend the lead when his pass from the top of the right circle found Fast in perfect position to lift the puck over Subban's pad and give the Rangers a commanding 4-0 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in the middle period. The Golden Knights lost rookie Cody Glass late in the second when Lemieux came crashing in with a spinning elbow to the temple that left Vegas' first-ever draft pick on his knees writhing in pain. Glass had to be helped off the ice and to the locker room. Zibanejad got credit for the Rangers' fifth goal when the puck went off Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb and past Subban with just under five minutes left in the third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 11, 2019 Author Share Posted December 11, 2019 Fleury returns, leads Vegas to 5-1 win over Blackhawks Game # 33 5 1 By Associated Press Updated: 3 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Marc-Andre Fleury has enjoyed many big moments during his decorated NHL career. This one might have been the most emotional. Fleury made 28 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Tuesday night in their goaltender's first game since the death of his father, Andre. "I got to think about him a bunch," Fleury said afterward, doing his best to keep his emotions in check. "I tried to keep (the pregame routine) the same. I've been doing this for a while, none of that changed too much. But, it's definitely more emotional." The 16-year veteran, the only son to Andre and France Fleury, hadn't started since a 4-2 loss to Edmonton on Nov. 23. Fleury said he felt the energy before the opening puck drop, when public address announcer Bruce Cusick introduced him to a crowd of 18,319 that gave Fleury a bit more than the typical ovation he's used to. "I was away for a while. It's always nice to get that feeling when I get back on the ice," said Fleury, who improved to 11-6-5 against Chicago and 69-38-13 in December. "The first game, always a little worried to see how things are going to go, and I want to do well for the team. Took me a few minutes to get going, but the more the game went on, I felt better. The guys in front played very good. I'm just happy we got the win." Reilly Smith, Deryk Engelland, William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty and Ryan Reaves scored for the Golden Knights, who now hit the road for two games on a 5-1-1 run. Corey Crawford, who dropped to 1-4-0 against Vegas, made 32 saves for Chicago, which played its third road game in six nights. Dominik Kubalik scored with 27 seconds left to spoil Fleury's bid for his 59th career shutout. "Obviously it's a special game for (Fleury), coming back, and I think everyone on the team knew what kind of game it was for him," Karlsson said. "Unfortunately we couldn't (finish) the shutout, but he had a great game and the team played pretty well, too." After an evenly contested first period that saw both goaltenders come up with spectacular saves to keep their opponents off the scoreboard, Vegas was increasingly better in the second with the first seven shots on goal. "Whether it's managing the puck or just being sharp in transition, they were better than us," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton. "We would have some zone time, and then when they got it back, they were jumping by us, so it makes it difficult." Smith took advantage on a power play with the eighth shot of the period. He gathered a rebound, maneuvered his way around Crawford and tucked home the first goal of the game. Shortly after it was the 37-year-old Engelland beating Crawford top shelf with a wrist shot far side for his first goal of the season. With less than a minute left in the second, Smith was masterful in forcing a turnover from Chicago veteran Jonathan Toews, streaking in on an odd-man rush and delaying just long enough to draw Crawford to his left before dishing to Karlsson, who finished with a short-handed goal to make it 3-0. Meanwhile, Fleury didn't look as though he missed any time whatsoever, flashing leather and making highlight-reel saves to thwart every Blackhawks effort, including back-to-back attempts by Toews on the doorstep late in the second. Pacioretty's goal made it 4-0 early in the third, and Reaves got his third of the season late in the period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 13, 2019 Author Share Posted December 13, 2019 Sundqvist has goal, assist as Blues beat Golden Knights 4-2 Game # 34 2 4 By Associated Press Updated: 15 hours ago ST. LOUIS -- Oskar Sundqvist picked up right where he left off. After missing the previous six games with a lower-body injury, Sundqvist had a goal and an assist as the St. Louis Blues beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Thursday night. The 25-year-old center kept up his offensive surge, assisting on the Blues' first goal and scoring their second. Sundqvist had two goals in his last game against Tampa Bay on Nov. 27 before getting hurt. "I felt good out there," Sundqvist said. "The lungs weren't great. I had to keep the shifts short in the third." St. Louis coach Craig Berube called Sundqvist an effort player. "He plays an aggressive game and he attacks," Berube said. "He doesn't quit. He wills his way everywhere on the ice. He wills his way through traffic. He wills his way to the net. He wills goals in. That's what he does." Mackenzie MacEachern, Jaden Schwartz and Robert Thomas also scored for the Blues, who snapped a three-game skid. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves after getting pulled from his previous start against Toronto last Saturday when he allowed four goals on 11 shots. Max Pacioretty and William Carrier had the goals for the Golden Knights, who lost for the third time in four games. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 shots in his 820th career game, which tied Sean Burke for 14th on the NHL's all-time list. "Lot of missed chances, but we were loose in the second," coach Gerard Gallant said. "That cost (us) the hockey game." The Blues took control with two goals in a 39-second span late in the second period. Schwartz gave the defending Stanley Cup champions a 3-2 lead with 5:07 left in the frame, ripping home a big rebound off a shot by Brayden Schenn. Thomas made it 4-2 moments later, beating Fleury short side on a shot that deflected off his arm. "I think everyone thought I was going to pass," Thomas said. "I kind of was just waiting, saw him slide off the post a little bit and was able to sneak it by him." Fleury wanted that one back. "They put the puck on net," he said. "Had a lot of bodies there and that fourth one, that's on me." MacEachern gave the Blues a 1-0 lead on a one-timer off Jacob de la Rose's pass at the 4:52 mark of the first period. Pacioretty tied it 25 seconds later, putting in his own rebound on a breakaway for his second goal in two games. Carrier's first goal in 14 games gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead with 7:32 left in the first. Carrier tucked home a rebound of Nate Schmidt's shot. "We played probably 30 minutes of good hockey," Berube said. "Maybe 35, but I'm looking for 60. I'm not trying to be critical up here, but we have to get better." Sundqvist tied the game for the Blues at 1:34 of the second, deflecting Alex Pietrangelo's shot past Fleury for his ninth of the season. "It feels like I'm in the right spot a lot of times," Sundqvist said. "At the same time, it's a really good job by the other guys to get the pucks there. Today it was kind of a lucky goal -- it was more like a reaction when Petro shot it there." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 14, 2019 Author Share Posted December 14, 2019 Pacioretty scores in OT, Golden Knights beat Stars 3-2 Game # 35 3 2 OT By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago DALLAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights went on the offensive in OT, and the aggressive approach quickly paid off. Max Pacioretty scored on a backhander 51 seconds into overtime and the Knights beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Friday night. Vegas coach Gerard Gallant put Pacioretty, the team's scoring leader, and Mark Stone on the ice to start the overtime. "In the D-zone I worry about it," Gallant said. "But in the offensive zone, no. They are two good hockey players and I want to get them out there. We tried something better and it worked." Dallas' Jamie Benn had tied it with 5:11 remaining in the third period. He worked a give-and-go, passing from behind the net to Tyler Seguin, then skating into the slot to deflect Seguin's return pass past goalie Malcolm Subban. Taylor Fedun put the Stars ahead 1-0 in the first period. The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead in the second on goals by William Karlsson and newcomer Chandler Stephenson. "You could see the difference when we were playing as a unit of five," Pacioretty said, "making sure we make life hard on (Dallas') forwards on the blue lines. We deserved, I felt, to come out with a win." Subban made 28 saves for his first win in three career games against Dallas. Ben Bishop stopped 28 shots for Dallas, which had won three in a row and 10 of 11 home games. Fedun, a defenseman activated because John Klingberg was a late scratch because of a family illness, skated backward across the top of the slot and sent a wrist shot over Subban at 15:14 of the first. Fedun had been a healthy scratch in all six games since Nov. 26. Fedun was informed about an hour before the puck dropped that he would be playing. "It doesn't matter what's happening behind the scenes in there," Fedun said. "You got to perform and that's what matters. However you go about doing that, you got to find a way to get it done." Fedun's second goal this season was the only one of 16 shots on Subban in the first period. "Malcolm was huge in the first," Gallant said. "He had a lot of good scoring chances against so he was the difference in the first for sure." A bigger difference was Vegas' superior play in the second period and beyond. "A very good first and a very bad second is what you saw," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said. "I thought it was even in the third. We had a great chance in overtime but didn't capitalize. We got caught on a change and they did it." Dallas is 1-0-1 since Bowness took over after head coach Jim Montgomery was fired. Karlsson led the Golden Knight's resurgence in the second period. Bishop stopped Karlsson's shot from the left faceoff circle 3:35 into the period, but 45 seconds later Karlsson beat the goalie with a snap shot into the left side of the net. That tied the game at 1. Neither team had a penalty until the Stars' Blake Comeau went off for hooking at 12:04 of the second. Dallas killed the Golden Knights' power play, with Bishop making three saves. The Golden Knights came back just 37 seconds later for a 2-1 lead when Stephenson eluded Fedun for a wrist shot from the left circle. In six games since being traded from Washington, he has two goals and an assist while playing nearly three minutes more per game for Vegas. "I didn't know much about him before he came," Pacioretty said. "I knew he was a fast player and he probably didn't get as much of a chance as he deserved in Washington. As you saw tonight, he's got a phenomenal shot." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Pacioretty scores twice, Golden Knights top Canucks 6-3 Game # 36 6 3 By Associated Press Updated: 17 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Max Pacioretty has scored 67 points twice in his career. At the rate he's producing this season, the 12-year veteran is on pace to shatter that mark. Pacioretty had two goals and two assists to help the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 Sunday night. With 15 goals and 19 assists in 36 games, the 31-year-old forward is on pace for 77 points. "I think I've gotten my opportunities pretty much the entire year," said, Pacioretty, whose career highs for goals and assists are 39 and 34, respectively. "I'm obviously playing on a really good line with two really good players and getting a ton of opportunities. That's kind of my job is to make sure that I finish those opportunities." He did that twice in the third period to help ice the game for the Golden Knights, who recently lost of 10 of 13 but are now alone in second place in the Pacific Division, just one point behind Arizona. Nick Holden, Valentin Zykov, Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone also scored for the Golden Knights. It was the fifth time this season Vegas had five different goal scorers in a game. "That's a complete game from everyone in our group, from the goalie to the D-men ... a full group effort, it was a lot of fun," said Pacioretty, who scored for the fourth consecutive game, the second-longest goal-scoring streak of his career. "We know that we play a lot of important games, divisional games, teams that are right there in the wild-card race. Definitely important games for our group, we understand that, but at the same time we just worry about our game, which we have done pretty well recently." Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots to improve to 12-2-1 in his career against the Canucks. The last time Fleury lost to Vancouver in regulation was 2006. To the delight of the announced gathering of 18,066, Fleury had his typical highlight-reel saves of the game. The first came in the second period against Josh Levio, who came out of the penalty box and ended up on a breakaway, but the 16-year veteran goaltender's diving poke check thwarted the effort. The second came in the third period, when he quickly slid across his crease to stop Elias Pettersson from making it a one-goal game. "Those are fun ones, I think when you're a goalie, you can dive around and make sliding saves," said Fleury, who also got career win No. 452, two shy of Curtis Joseph for sixth all-time. "They're the ones I smile more, I have more fun doing. Obviously it's a lot more fun when they don't go in the net." Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Jake Virtanen did find the back of the net against Fleury, while Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves to fall to 1-6-1 in his career against the Golden Knights. Michael DePietro replaced Markstrom late in the third period and allowed one goal on seven shots. The Canucks, who played the second of a back-to-back after a 4-2 loss in San Jose on Saturday, dropped to 6-12-4 when their opponent scores first and 2-10-1 when trailing after the first period. "It's well known you don't want to give up the first goal in the league," Vancouver coach Travis Green said. "It's hard to come back in this league. But I think that was the least of our worries tonight. We weren't very good." Vegas improved to 8-0-1 all-time against Vancouver and has now scored 11 goals in their last two home games -- the most they've scored in two straight home games this season. "We like to play well in this building and get the fans behind us and scoring first really helps us," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought we played an excellent game tonight. Guys are scoring some big goals and of course scoring a lot of goals tonight. I think we played a good all-around game." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 Nosek helps Vegas get first regulation win over Wild, 3-2 Game # 37 3 2 By Associated Press Updated: 4 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Tomas Nosek’s parents come to the United States once a year to watch their son play. They arrived Tuesday morning, just in time to see him end a 13-game scoring drought in the evening. Nosek's fifth goal of the season was his second game-winner of the campaign and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2. Nosek, who is from the Czech Republic, fired a wicked knuckle puck that went far side over Alex Stalock's glove and into the top corner to make it 3-1 at 6:16 of the third. "Sometimes you have that kind of luck that you score from everywhere, sometimes I have Grade-A chances, last couple of games I have breakaways, and then I score from shot like this," said Nosek, who hadn't scored since Nov. 19, spanning 14 games. "Sometimes it happens like this. I don't think it's something different but I'm for sure happy that that goal helped the team win a game." He's also happy he got to score during his parents' annual visit from halfway around the world as Miroslav and Daniela Nosek were two of the announced 18,220 at T-Mobile Arena. "I'm happy for them and for me for sure too," Nosek said. "They just come once a year. They're teachers so they have holidays right now back home, so they could come for two weeks, be here and go back." Chandler Stephenson and Shea Theodore also scored to help the Golden Knights get their first regulation win against Minnesota in seven tries since joining the league in 2017. It also marked the first time Vegas won three straight at home this season. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves earned career win No. 453, one shy of Curtis Joseph for sixth all-time. The Golden Knights, who recently lost 10 of 13 and dropped to ninth in the Western Conference, hit the road riding an 8-2-1 win streak. "We’ve had a little rough patch," Fleury said. "Its good to string some wins together and get that confidence back in our building and get the people cheering and give them something to cheer about." Mats Zuccarello and Zach Parise scored for the Wild, and Alex Stalock made 26 saves. Stalock, who is now 8-3-2 in his last 14 starts, remains one win shy of his career high for Minnesota. The 32-year-old has made 12 of his 17 starts this season on the road. Zuccarello got the Wild on the board first, with two Golden Knights players sitting in the penalty box. Eric Staal's pass made its way through the crease and Zuccarello finished with a shot past Fleury with 1:14 left in the first period. Stephenson, acquired from Washington in a trade last month, tied it midway through the second when he fired Mark Stone's backhand pass during a 2-on-1 rush past Stalock. Stephenson has three goals and two assists with Vegas. In 24 games with the Capitals he had three goals and one assist. Theodore gave Vegas a 2-1 lead with just 10 seconds left in the period when he gathered Stone's blueline feed skated in and fired a wrist shot past Stalock. "I'd like to make the save on that with 10 seconds left in the period, it's a whole different game," Stalock said. "You can sense it in the locker room after, you never want to give one up late like that. It'd be nice to come up with that save. I think we played a great game, we had chances and it just didn't go tonight." Minnesota didn't give in that easy, though. With Stalock pulled, and the Wild skating with an extra attacker, Parise cut the deficit to one goal when he tapped the puck in from the side of the net. The Wild dropped to 4-3-2 in its last nine road games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Tanev scores in OT, Canucks beat Golden Knights 5-4 Game # 38 4 5 OT By Associated Press Updated: 15 hours ago VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks were fired up to snap a three-game losing streak against the Vegas Golden Knights. Chris Tanev scored at 1:30 of overtime and the Canucks beat the Golden Knights 5-4 on Thursday night. "I just passed it to Bo (Horvat) and went to the net," said Tanev. "He made a really great pass. I didn't think it was going to get to me. "It ended up right on my stick and just went around (Marc-Andre) Fleury and ended up going in." Elias Pettersson scored twice, and Antoine Roussel and Tanner Pearson added goals for the Canucks. Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, Nick Holden and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights. Jacob Markstrom made 38 saves for Vancouver. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots for Vegas. The win was Vancouver's second in 10 games against the Golden Knights since Vegas joined the league in 2017-18. The Canucks are 2-7-1 against Vegas in that span. The Golden Knights got their first power play with 2:30 left in regulation, when Jordie Benn was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Markstrom was solid in net, sending the game into overtime. The Canucks opened the scoring when Roussel tapped a rebound past Fleury at 2:49 of the first period. Pearson finished off a give-and-go between Jake Virtanen and Josh Leivo to put Vancouver up 2-0 less than five minutes later as a tripping penalty to Nicolas Hague expired. The goal was Pearson's ninth of the season. Marchessault got the Golden Knights on the board with 6:02 left in the first, sending a rebound past Markstrom. The Canucks restored their two-goal lead with 32 second left in the opening period on Pettersson's first of the game. The Golden Knights outshot the Canucks 13-11 in the first period. Vegas scored twice in the second. Smith narrowed the lead to 3-2 at 11:01, beating Markstrom after Horvat blocked a shot from William Karlsson. Leivo was injured barely a minute later when he was pushed into the boards by Holden. No penalty was called on the play, and Holden tied the game with 8:50 left in the second. Travis Green calmed his team down by calling time out immediately following the goal. "I think we were a little frustrated for sure," said Tanev. "They scored two goals in, I don't know, two minutes, and they were coming at us pretty good. A lot of zone time, shots from everywhere, seemed like they were getting chances almost every shift. "It was a really good time out by coach to sort of settle us down. I think after that we played pretty well the rest of the game." The Canucks regained the lead at 9:19 of the third when Pettersson scored on a wrist shot from the left circle high to the stick side of Fleury for his second goal of the game. Stone tied the game with 4:20 to go. "It's a good point for us," said Stone. "We didn't play our best to start the game but overall we dictated a lot of the game, had some chances and we got out power played 4 to 1 so for us to still outshoot our opponent by 10, or whatever it is, shows we played some really good five-on-five hockey." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 Theodore's goal in 3rd helps Golden Knights beat Sharks 3-1 Game # 39 3 1 By Associated Press Updated: 15 hours ago SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Ending an 11-game stretch without a goal was satisfying enough for Paul Stastny. Doing it with his Hall of Fame dad, Peter, in town for Vegas' father's road trip made it even sweeter. Stastny opened the scoring, Shea Theodore got the tiebreaking goal with 11:55 remaining and the Golden Knights beat the struggling San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Sunday night for their ninth win in 13 games. "He'll be off my back for a couple of hours. That's good. A happy flight," Paul Stastny joked. "More than anything, he'll just be happy that we won. That's all he cares about." Jonathan Marchessault also scored and Malcolm Subban made 37 saves to keep the Golden Knights tied for first place in the Pacific Division with Arizona. Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Aaron Dell made 34 saves. "Everyone's got to take a look in the mirror and decide, what do you want to bring for the second half of the year right now?" Couture said. "What do you want to accomplish as a hockey player? . A lot of guys haven't had good years." The Sharks weathered a storm early in the third period, icing the puck four times in a span of 48 seconds, before putting pressure on for the tying goal. Brent Burns skated around the net on a power move and fed Couture on the other side for a one-timer and his 12th goal of the season. Dell then made big stops on William Carrier and Brayden McNabb on one sequence to preserve the tie and earn a loud ovation from a fan base that has been waiting for top-notch goalie play all season. "I feel like I'm playing well right now and I feel like the more opportunity I get, the more experience I'm getting," Dell said. "I think I'm taking that experience and making the most of it." But the tie didn't last much longer as Theodore beat Dell with a wrist shot from the circle to make it 2-1 moments later. Vegas added an insurance goal late in the period when Reilly Smith beat Erik Karlsson on a rush and fed Marchessault in the slot. "We wanted to finish the road trip on a good note, having the dads in town," Theodore said. "I thought we played a good, solid game." The final regular-season meeting between the Pacific Division rivals got off to a tight, defensive start with only a handful of scoring chances in the first two periods. Nicolas Hague had a shot for Vegas deflect off both posts and out in the first period. Hague, who also hit the crossbar, is still seeking his first career goal. Dell robbed Mark Stone with a glove save on a power play just moments after Subban stopped Evander Kane on a 2-on-1 at the other end. Joe Thornton then had two good chances in the second for his first goal of the season but was stopped twice by Subban. "He's been excellent," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "He played real strong tonight. Both goaltenders were excellent in the hockey game. A 3-1 game could have been 7-5. It was strong goaltending." The Golden Knights finally broke through late in the second when Alex Tuch found Stastny in the slot for his ninth of the season. Vegas nearly added to that but Dell covered up a puck on the goal line as San Jose defenseman Brenden Dillon got into a scuffle with Ryan Reaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 Bellemare, Kadri score twice, Avalanche beat Vegas 7-3 Game # 40 3 7 By Associated Press Updated: 4 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has six goals this season, and three have come against his former team -- in its arena. Bellemare and Nazem Kadri each scored two goals, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 7-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night. "This building has been good to me the last two years and a few months," said Bellemare, who registered his first multi-goal game. "It's just kind of crazy bounces, crazy luck, crazy moves, crazy plays -- somehow I feel good when I play here." Bellemare, who played for Vegas in its first two years in the league, scored the first goal of the game during a 6-1 win in October, then duplicated the feat when he took a cross-ice pass from J.T. Compher, skated between the circles and whipped a backhand past his former teammate, Marc-Andre Fleury. "Sometimes bounces are going your right way. I could have received that puck in my skate and it could have floated off my skate, but it just stuck there and that's the start of the play," said Bellemare, who netted his second goal late in the second period to seize momentum for the Avalanche, who took a three-goal lead at the time. "I never scored like this on Flower, so it's just, some nights you get the puck luck." Quipped Vegas coach Gerard Gallant: "He sure loves to play against us, doesn't he? Maybe he didn't like me at all." For Bellemare, it's appears a bit more than luck, as he's on pace to shatter his career high of seven goals, which he achieved with Philadelphia during the 2015-16 season, and 16 points, which he notched with Vegas in its inaugural season in the league two years ago. "It's hard to believe I scored two, I usually score five a year, so that's already one-third of it; that's nice," said Bellemare, who signed with the Avalanche as a free agent on July 1. "I made a decision this summer after talking with this team and they were quite honest with me and the way that I play offensively and that they knew that I could have more, and they wanted more. They gave me the chance to play in that position where I get a little more ice time and obviously I'm striving right now. They work me in their practices, and I feel way more confident." Bellemare has been a nice addition for an Avalanche team that improved to 7-3-1 in December and will head into the three-day holiday break on a 15-6-1 run since Nov. 7. With the win, the Avalanche finished tied for their most points at the break with 51, matching their total from 2000-01. Colorado also improved to 13-6-1 on the road, tied for the second-most road wins with Arizona, behind only Washington (16). "We've had a lot of injuries and we've overcome quite a bit of adversity already in the first half of the season and we're kind of getting through that injury bug now," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "The depth that (Colorado GM) Joe (Sakic) brought in in the offseason and the guys have real defined roles and we like the depth that we have, and guys are buying into those roles and they're coming to play every night." That includes goaltender Pavel Francouz, who improved to 9-0-1 in his last 12 games. Francouz stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced, and now has a 2.03 goals against average and .938 save percentage during his 12-game run. Fleury, who entered the game on a 5-1-1 run in last seven home starts, made 31 saves. But it was the goals he allowed that left Fleury looking anything like a three-time Stanley Cup champion. Matt Nieto, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche, who kept the pressure on Fleury most of the game. Ryan Reaves, Max Pacioretty and William Carrier scored for the Golden Knights. The highlight of the game for Vegas was Deryk Engelland igniting the announced crowd of 18,425 with his fists. The 37-year-old Engelland got the best of 24-year-old Nichushkin with a flurry of right-handed haymakers before the two tumbled to the ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 28, 2019 Author Share Posted December 28, 2019 Ducks' 3-goal barrage in 2nd leads to 4-3 win over Vegas Game # 41 3 4 By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Vegas Golden Knights' dramatic NHL entry in 2017 coincided with the Anaheim Ducks' decline from several outstanding years. The expansion club immediately dethroned Anaheim as Pacific Division champions and went on to win eight of the clubs' first nine meetings. With a three-goal barrage Friday night, the Ducks answered back a bit. Cam Fowler had a goal and an assist while the Ducks scored three goals in 1:37 midway through the second period of a 4-3 victory over the Golden Knights. Adam Henrique and Max Comtois also scored and Jakob Silfverberg had two assists during the decisive stretch for the Ducks in both teams' first game back from the Christmas break. Anaheim is struggling to break out of the division cellar and struggling to score goals again this season, but the Ducks were proud of beating the upstart opponent that has dominated them. "You know that in the back of your mind, so you want to turn that, really," Henrique said. "I thought we played good from start to finish. They got a couple at the end there, but it was a good team win for us." Devin Shore added a third-period goal and John Gibson made 26 saves for Anaheim. Fowler's Ducks were the five-time division champions when the Golden Knights took charge of the Pacific on the way to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final as an expansion club. "They've had a lot of early success in this league, and we know that we haven't fared that well against them," Fowler said. "I know me personally, I was thinking about the last time we faced them (a 5-2 loss at Vegas on Oct. 27), and it was probably our worst performance of the year. Just got embarrassed and outworked, so we wanted to make amends for that tonight." Anaheim trailed 1-0 before capitalizing on a two-man advantage and the ensuing momentum to match the third-fastest three-goal spree in franchise history. Nate Schmidt had two late goals, while Jonathan Marchessault also scored and Malcolm Subban stopped 14 shots for the Golden Knights. Vegas had been perfect in four previous trips to Honda Center along with its healthy contingent of fans traveling four hours down the I-15. The Knights almost rallied when Schmidt scored twice in the final 1:52. After snapping his personal 21-game goal drought, the defenseman added his second with 5.7 seconds left. It was too late to stop first-place Vegas from losing two straight in regulation for the first time since Nov. 25. "It ended up being a 2 1/2-minute span that cost us the game," Vegas forward Reilly Smith said. "They caught a couple of fortunate bounces, and they went in the back of the net." After a scoreless first period, William Karlsson took advantage of a defensive mistake and sprung Marchessault for an unimpeded breakaway. His shot slipped barely inside the top corner above Gibson's glove hand and rattled home for his 13th goal of the season. The Ducks' offense awoke during a two-man advantage for 46 seconds in the second period. Henrique scored late in the 5-on-3 sequence, and Fowler ripped home a power-play goal 83 seconds later. Just 14 seconds after that, the 20-year-old Comtois made an exceptional play in front of the net to tip a long shot by Jacob Larsson for his sixth career NHL goal. "There was still half the game left," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We could have come back and battled back, and just couldn't find a way." Shore's goal gave him 100 career points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Stone scores twice, Golden Knights beat Coyotes 4-1 Game # 42 4 1 By Associated Press Updated: 14 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights started their second half of their schedule by opening a seven-game homestand with some of their best hockey in a critical showdown. Mark Stone scored twice, Shea Theodore had three assists and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to lead Vegas to a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night to take over sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. Vegas looked entirely different than the team that appeared flat after the league's three-day holiday break in a 4-3 loss in Anaheim on Friday. The Golden Knights entertained the second-largest home crowd of the season, an energetic announced gathering of 18,461, by thoroughly outplaying Arizona with more shots (36-28), more hits (36-17), more blocked shots (20-12) and more high-danger chances (10-7). Vegas, which came into the game with the league's third-best home power play, also dominated on special teams, going 2 for 3 with the man advantage while stopping the Coyotes -- who are 13-3-1 when scoring a power-play goal -- on all five of their opportunities. Arizona, which came in ranked first in the league with an average of just 6.5 penalty minutes per game, sent four to the box for a total of 11 minutes. That included a crucial penalty kill early in the game, when Ryan Reaves was whistled for a double-minor just 3:29 into the game. It wasn't too long after killing the four-minute infraction that Stone got things going on a power play, by manhandling Arizona defenseman Jason Demers in front of the net to retrieve a feed from Alex Tuch and flipping the puck past Coyotes starter Antti Raanta. "The intensity was something special tonight," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Obviously, it was two teams tied for first place and I knew it was going to be a lot better than last night. The PK was really good tonight and we had some key saves at key times. To kill (the double-minor) off and not get behind 1-0 early was real key for us." Michael Grabner scored the lone goal for the Coyotes when he tied the game with 6 1/2 minutes left in the period, but Stone answered about 95 seconds later when he buried a pass from Max Pacioretty behind the net to put Vegas back in front. It was Stone's first two-goal game as a member of the Golden Knights and put Vegas alone atop the division for the first time since Oct. 4, when they opened the season by sweeping a home-and-home series against San Jose. Fleury, who came in having lost five of his last eight starts while allowing 21 goals in his previous five games, earned his 454th career win to move into a tie with Curtis Joseph for sixth all-time. Chandler Stephenson and Paul Stastny also scored for the Golden Knights, who improved to 10-4-2 in their last 16 games. Raanta made his 15th start of the season for Arizona but was pulled at the 1:54 mark of the second period after giving up four goals on 16 shots. Adin Hill, recalled on Dec. 20, made 20 saves in his season debut. "That's a heavy team," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "They'll rattle a little, so you know you got to be able to be quick against that team. Your power play has to be good against those guys, because they're going to rattle you. You can't be intimidated." Which the Coyotes weren't, they just couldn't match Vegas speed, physicality or scoring. Stephenson and Stastny added their goals in the second period to keep Vegas' momentum flowing. "We wanted to have a good start to the game, I thought we did that," said Stone, who now has a point in nine of the last 10 games, with eight goals and six assists. "When we got all four lines kind of cycling the puck, using our size, our skill and our speed, we're a tough team to play against. We had contributions from everybody tonight. Big goal from Stastny to get that three-goal lead. Those are such important times of the game, you know, 4-1 is so much better than 3-2." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 Marchessault scores twice, Vegas tops Anaheim 5-2 Game # 43 5 2 By Associated Press Updated: 20 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Vegas coach Gerard Gallant has been insistent all season that his team would eventually find its winning form. Heading into 2020, the Golden Knights look like the team that was favored to contend in the Western Conference prior to the season. Jonathan Marchessault scored twice, Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves, and the Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Tuesday to extend their run to 13-6-3 since Nov. 17. "We're a real good hockey team, I know that," Gallant said. "We don't play great hockey every night, like every other hockey team in the National Hockey League, but lately we've played real good hockey. Our guys know their roles, they try and do the most nights and tonight was a real good game again." Vegas has scored 71 goals during its 22-game run. "We've always been a fast team, but I think we're able to play fast as a five-man unit ... being able to move that puck past defensemen, getting the puck deep, forechecking, causing turnovers," Alex Tuch said. "I wouldn't say that we're a huge transition team, but when we cause turnovers in the offensive zone we're an attack-style team. We're just trying to do the little things right and start to build more and more chemistry every game." The Golden Knights, who remained in first place in the Pacific Division, closed out the month with a 9-4-2 mark and improved to 29-8-6 all time in December. "Even early in the year, we were playing well but we were losing; we didn't have puck luck," Gallant said. "We're working hard and we're getting puck luck. I don't think we've had a bad season; I'd like our record to be a little better than what it is now, but we've played good hockey for most of the year." It's led to a long climb from sixth place in the eight-team Pacific, to the top of the division. "We're playing some good hockey right now and we worked hard to be there and we're gonna work hard to stay there," Marchessault said. Mark Stone, Tuch and Reilly Smith also scored for the Golden Knights. Fleury, who was selected to play in his fifth All-Star Game, also earned his 455th win to take over sole possession of sixth place all time, passing Curtis Joseph. Korbinian Holzer and Jakob Silfverberg scored for the Ducks and John Gibson made 38 saves while dropping to 2-8-1 against Vegas. The Ducks continued to struggle on the road, where they're 6-12-2 this season. They've also struggled against Vegas since it entered the league for the 2017-18 season, going 2-8-1 against the Golden Knights, including a 1-3-1 mark at T-Mobile Arena. "It's frustrating when we go out and we're not ready to play," said Gibson, who came into the game tied for the sixth-highest career save percentage (.920) among NHL goaltenders with at least 200 games played. "It's a privilege to play in the National Hockey League and it feels like some guys are taking it for granted." That may have been evident with the game tied 1-1, and time running out late in the first period. After a scrum in front of Gibson, the puck squirted loose behind him and Anaheim's Josh Manson tapped the puck straight over the goal line, rather than clearing it, giving the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead and Tuch his sixth goal of the season. And while Gibson did his best to keep Anaheim in the game, turnovers hurt the Ducks. Down 1-0, the one-two scoring punch of Stone and Max Pacioretty once again sparked the Golden Knights. After Pacioretty forced Erik Gudbranson to turn it over in front of the net, Stone skated in and one-timed a perfect wrist shot over Gibson's glove. Stone and Pacioretty have been on the ice for 45 of Vegas' 128 goals this season -- a 35 percent clip. Smith later extended the lead late when he gathered a loose puck from a turnover he created, skated around Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm, and lifted a backhand perfectly to make it 3-1. Marchessault scored his first goal on a penalty shot. After Silfverberg cut the lead to two, Marchessault netted his second goal with Gibson pulled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 Pacioretty, Fleury lead Golden Knights past Flyers 5-4 Game # 44 5 4 By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Golden Knights defenseman Jon Merrill entered Thursday night's game against Philadelphia with 343 NHL games under his belt -- and he had played every single one of them on the blue line. He certainly made the most of his first appearance at forward. Merrill got his first goal of the season from a new spot on the ice, Max Pacioretty scored twice and Vegas went on to a 5-4 victory over the Flyers. "Anytime I'm in the lineup I'll do anything -- whether it's forward, goalie, D, whatever it is. I'll do anything for this team," said Merrill, inserted at forward when first-line wing Jonathan Marchessault was scratched. "There was a few times where I caught myself skating backwards and I caught myself I think out of position. We're all hockey players and I think when you're out there and you're having fun, your instincts just kick in and I think that's what happened a lot tonight." The Golden Knights improved to 14-6-3 since Nov. 17 and lead the NHL with 31 points in that span. Vegas maintained the top spot in the Pacific Division with 52 points, two more than Arizona Shea Theodore and Cody Glass also scored for the Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves, including a penalty shot, and improved to 30-19-2 against the Flyers, a team he faced often with Pittsburgh. "As a goalie, it's not an ideal situation getting all the goals scored on both sides, but you try to forget about (them) quickly, put it behind, and try to stop the next one and try to keep our team in the game," Fleury said. "It's such a good feeling at the end when you win those tough battles." Fleury has won his last three starts after struggling through a 5-5-2 stretch that included a 3.26 goals-against average and .895 save percentage. Pacioretty, meanwhile, continued to make his case for an All-Star appearance. He's on the ballot as one of the Pacific Division's Last Men In. "I felt maybe some time in my career it probably should've been there, but if it happens or not, either way I can't control what happens," Pacioretty said. "I'm just worrying about the team and contributing, and I feel happy about my play this season." Which has been exceptional, as he leads Vegas with 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) and has at least one point in 11 of the last 12 games (eight goals, nine assists). At the other end of the ice, Vegas' penalty kill has also been stellar at 9 for 10 over the last three games. The unit stymied a late Flyers power play that began 5-on-4 with 2:46 left and turned into a 6-on-3 edge on the ice with 1:29 remaining when defenseman Deryk Engelland was called for cross-checking and Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart was pulled. "The three guys on the ice did an incredible job. They blocked some shots, they paid a price to win a hockey game, and that's what you love to see from your team," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. Sean Couturier scored twice for the Flyers, who played their fourth game on a six-game road trip -- with the first five against Pacific Division teams. Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny each had a goal for Philadelphia. "First couple of shifts we dominated. Then we kind of let them back in," Konecny said. "It's not like they dominated us to the point where we couldn't handle them. We were just looking for offense trying to get ourselves back in." Hart made 28 saves in his first start against the Golden Knights. The second-year goaltender is 7-12-1 lifetime on the road and 11-7-3 against Western Conference opponents. "You know they come hard. That was in our pre-scout. They're a fast team, they don't like to play a lot of defense. They kind of like to play transition a lot," Hart said. In what was easily the most entertaining period of hockey the Golden Knights have played at home this season, there were six goals, 30 shots and a combined 30 hits in the first. The highlight was Merrill's goal. After slipping to both knees, he gathered a rebound of Nicolas Roy's shot and used a nifty forehand-to-backhand move to beat Hart, sending the crowd of 18,415 into a frenzy. Pacioretty had two goals in the period, Theodore also scored and the Golden Knights led 4-2 after one. At the other end, Fleury did his share to fire up the crowd with a couple of highlight-reel saves, including one on Scott Laughton's penalty shot. Giroux and Konecny scored for Philadelphia. Glass and Couturier traded goals in the second to keep it a two-goal game. Couturier opened the third with a power-play goal to cut Vegas' lead to 5-4. Fleury delivered another outstanding save when he flashed some leather with a little more than six minutes left, robbing Giroux on a wrist shot from the circle with a beauty of a glove save. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 Stephenson scores in OT, Golden Knights rally past Blues Game # 45 5 4 OT By Associated Press Updated: 18 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- It's no secret the Vegas Golden Knights haven't fared well against teams with better records this season. Saturday, with sheer resiliency, the Pacific Division leaders proved they can beat one of the league's best. Chandler Stephenson scored in overtime and the Golden Knights rallied from an early three-goal deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4. Vegas, which improved to 15-6-3 since Nov. 17 and leads the NHL with 33 points in that span, have laid the groundwork since dipping to sixth in the division, but had spent most of the season dominating subpar teams. While the Golden Knights are 16-6-2 against teams currently outside the playoff picture, they entered Saturday 2-6-1 against the seven teams above them in the standings while being outscored 35-21. Against all teams that currently would qualify for the playoffs, Vegas is 8-9-4 and has been outscored by a combined 75-60. The Golden Knights have won four straight -- three against teams that would be in the postseason right now -- including Saturday's statement victory against the defending Stanley Cup champions. "It wasn't too much of a statement the first 28 minutes, but after that we played real good hockey," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "You battle back, you never say never in this league." Stephenson poke-checked the puck from St. Louis' Robert Thomas, then streaked in on a breakaway and beat Allen with a forehand-to-backhand combo 3:01 into overtime. "Just kept my momentum from the backcheck and wheeled around the net," Stephenson said. It was his fifth goal and eighth point in 16 games for the Golden Knights since being traded from Washington on Dec. 2. The Golden Knights turned things around midway through the second period. Ryan Reaves, Paul Stastny, Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith also scored for the Golden Knights to erase a 3-0 hole, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves. Fleury, who announced Friday he is skipping the All-Star Game later this month, earned his 457th career win and is just one behind the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist for fifth on the career list. Alex Pietrangelo, Jaden Schwartz, Oskar Sundqvist and former Golden Knight David Perron scored for the Blues. Jake Allen made 28 saves. After winning a season-high eight consecutive games, the Blues have dropped three straight and have been outscored 15-8 in the losses. "This league is so tight," coach Craig Berube said. "You've got to keep winning, you've got to find a way to get points. We got a point tonight. It's a big point." The Blues lead the Western Conference with 59 points (26-10-7), while the Golden Knights are in second in the West with 54 points (24-15-6). The game featured a highlight reel for players scoring against their former teams, as Perron had three points (one goal, two assists) -- his first points since leaving Vegas after playing for the Golden Knights during their inaugural season in the league. Stastny, who spent 3 1/2 seasons with the Blues, has 12 goals and 31 points against St. Louis; Reaves notched his first goal against St. Louis; and William Carrier, who was drafted by St. Louis but never played for the Blues, had an assist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.