Brewin Flames Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Kahun, Jarry lead Penguins past Vegas 4-3 Game # 46 3 4 By Associated Press Updated: 4 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- The Pittsburgh Penguins had a season-low 16 shots on goal against the Vegas Golden Knights, and that was enough to get a victory. Dominik Kahun had a goal and an assist, Tristan Jarry made 32 saves and Pittsburgh opened a three-game road trip by beating the Golden Knights 4-3 Tuesday night. In bringing Vegas' season-long four-game win streak to a halt, the Penguins extended their winning streak to three straight. Pittsburgh has won six of seven on the road (6-1-0). "It's always good to beat a team that's that good," said Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang, who is one assist shy of becoming the first defenseman in franchise history to record 400 in a career after registering two against Vegas. "They were playing really well as of late. We all know it's a tough building to come into and win games, so it's good to get that one." Pittsburgh, which has won 17 of 23 against Western Conference teams, improved to 12-3-1 since Dec. 4. Its 12 wins and 25 points during that span are tied with Tampa Bay for most in the NHL. Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Penguins, who are 16-6-4 in the 26 games that captain Sidney Crosby has missed due to injury this season. Jarry improved to 14-6-1 on the season, and 10-1-1 against Western Conference foes, including a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1). "We've got a great group of players," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "This is a players game. Those are the guys that go out there and get the job done. It's not always pretty; tonight was an example of it. But for the most part, our guys have played pretty competitive hockey and have deserved a lot of the points we've accumulated at this point." As has Pacific Division co-leading Vegas, which dipped to 15-7-3 since Nov. 17. The Golden Knights' 33 points are tied for second in the NHL with the Penguins in that span. It marked the second straight game the Golden Knights fell behind 3-0 and looked to rally in front of a sellout crowd. But unlike Saturday, when they came from behind to beat defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis in overtime, Vegas' effort came up short in front of an announced 18,298 in attendance. "I thought we played good," said Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 12 saves against his former team. "Obviously, we were down quickly, and we battled back in the game. For my part, I feel like I let the guys down. I let too many goals in on not many shots. That can't happen." Max Pacioretty scored his team-high 19th goal, while Paul Stastny scored a goal for the second straight game, his 12th of the season. Pacioretty (9) and Stastny (6) combined for 15 of Vegas' 35 shots, nine more than Vegas' top line of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Chandler Stephenson. Turnovers hurt the Golden Knights, who had eight giveaways, including three in the first period. "There were some self-inflicted wounds for sure," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Made some mistakes and they got some turnovers and they buried the puck in the back of the net. We've played really good hockey lately, tonight we made some early mistakes and it ended up in the back of the net." Malkin got the Penguins on the board early with his 12th goal of the season, and Hornqvist extended the lead when he collected a rebound from Jack Johnson's slap shot from the top, swept around and tucked it between Fleury's skate and the post. Vegas faced its second straight 3-0 deficit when Kahun finessed a backhand from the slot through Fleury's pads early in the second period. Tanev's swoop across the crease and wrap around past Fleury's right pad in the third proved to be the winner, as Smith made things interesting with a late goal in the third. Despite coming in with the league's third-best power play at home, the Golden Knights couldn't capitalize when Pittsburgh committed a penalty and Vegas went on a 6-on-4 advantage with Fleury pulled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Kempe helps last-place Kings stun Golden Knights 4-2 Game # 47 2 4 By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- It doesn't take much to get Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jack Campbell fired up to play inside T-Mobile Arena. "You don't have to get amped -- you're in Vegas. It's showtime," he said. Campbell stopped 44 of the 46 shots he faced, Adrian Kempe scored two goals and the Kings surprised the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 on Thursday night. "It's pretty fun to play here and be in this city and the fans they have and team they have," said Campbell, whose first career win was also in Vegas, in 2018. "You don't have to try to psyche yourself up, it's just such a fun place to play." The Kings, who entered the game in last place in the Western Conference, used four first-period goals to set the tone before Campbell held off the Pacific Division co-leading Golden Knights the rest of the way. "He, for some reason, plays well here," Kings coach Todd McLellan said of Campbell. "And to come out of this building with a win, you're probably saying your goaltender played well because that's a quality team over there." The Golden Knights outshot the Kings 36-5 over the last two periods but were unable to overcome the four-goal deficit. It was the seventh time in 10 games the Golden Knights allowed at least four goals in a game, and fifth straight game Vegas allowed its guest to score the first goal of the game. It was also the third straight game in which the Golden Knights' opponent scored the first three goals of the game. Alec Martinez, Ben Hutton and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Kings. "You can't say enough about our start," said Campbell, who improved to 2-1-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average lifetime against Vegas. "When we score first, it's amazing how well we can play. I know they made a big push in the second period, but we showed a lot of character coming back in the third. It's just a big win." Los Angeles' victory coupled with Anaheim's loss to Dallas and allowed the Kings to leapfrog the Ducks out of the West cellar. Since opening the season 11-18-2 -- third worst in the NHL with 24 points -- Los Angeles is 7-6-2 with 16 points, tied for 10th-best in the league. "When we focus having a good start, it's amazing how well you can play," Campbell said. "Some games have gotten away from us early, especially on the road early in the season. We've kind of cleared that up as of late. We've turned the corner there, but to be a really good team in this league you gotta make sure you're bringing that every night." Reilly Smith and Max Pacioretty scored for Vegas. Malcolm Subban made 18 saves and dropped to 6-3-1 in his last 10. Martinez started the first period scoring barrage for Los Angeles when he gathered a failed clearing try off the boards by Vegas defenseman Deryk Engelland and sent a one-timer past Subban from the point. Hutton extended the lead less than two minutes later. He collected a pass from Toffoli and fired a slap shot a few feet in front of Martinez's goal, making it 2-0. Toffoli got in on the action when he scooped up the puck off a face off and fired a wrist shot past Subban's glove. Moments later it was Kempe burying a lingering rebound in the crease with 1.7 seconds left in the period. The Kings' four first-period goals tied for the most goals scored in one period against Vegas this season, matching Philadelphia, which did it on Oct. 21. Coincidentally, it marked the second time this season Los Angeles netted four goals in a period, which it also did on New Year's Eve against Philadelphia. "Same old story isn't it? No excuse, we can't be ready," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We were down 3, 4-0 in the game. The first period was awful. It's embarrassing" The Golden Knights clawed their way back into it, cutting the lead in half with two second-period goals, but it wasn't enough with Campbell playing outstanding in net. Kempe added his second goal of the game, and 10th of the season, with eight seconds left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 Merzlikins gets first shutout, Blue Jackets beat Vegas 3-0 Game # 48 0 3 By Associated Press Updated: 14 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- It’s only fitting Elvis Merzlikins earned his first career shutout at T-Mobile Arena. After all, the Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender was named by his late father after the iconic entertainer who once starred on Las Vegas Boulevard. Merzlikins made 27 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 Saturday night. "When I power napped, I was dreaming for idea. Why not? Would be fun to make first shutout of career, here in Vegas," said the 25-year-old rookie, who was filling in for injured starter Joonas Korpisalo. "It was just a dream. It feels good. But still now, I have to enjoy it then just move on." Merzlikins, who improved to 5-6-4 in 17 games, decorates different areas of his locker every game with religious pieces, the main one sitting at the top, a piece given to him from his grandmother in remembrance of his father. "I'm really superstitious. During the game, I talk all the time (to him)," said Merzlikins, who has almost no memory of his father, Vjaceslav, whom he dedicated his shutout to afterward. "I believe he is helping me from up there. I never kind of met him, because I was three years old. For me, it is really important because that is somebody is helping me from up there because I really believe in that." Elvis Merzlikins has started seven straight games for Columbus, and since taking the bulk of the starts with Korpisalo’s injury, he’s gone 5-2-0, with his five wins since Dec. 31 -- the second-most in the NHL. He has a .943 save percentage and 1.88 goals-against average since New Year’s Eve, which both rank fourth among goaltenders with a minimum of three games played. "He was solid," Columbus coach John Tortorella said of his young netminder. "He made key saves at key times. I think he just let the game come to him." David Savard, who ranks fifth in the league with 98 blocked shots, came up with five huge blocks to assist Merzlikins in the win. Since Nov. 6, the Blue Jackets' 2.26 goals-against average is best in the NHL, having allowed 70 goals in 31 games. Emil Bemstrom, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alexander Wennberg scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets are 11-2-4 since Dec. 9, one point behind Tampa Bay for most in the NHL during that span. Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves. First period woes continued for the Golden Knights, who allowed the first goal for the sixth straight game. Bemstrom scored on a power-play one-timer to make it 1-0 late in the first. The Golden Knights -- who ended a seven-game homestand losing three straight -- have been outscored 10-0 in the first period over their last four games. "There was no contact tonight," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "It was a soft game and we gotta play harder than that. It's a tough way to end our homestand, but it is what it is and we gotta move on. We gotta play a lot better than that to win." Vegas fell behind 2-0 for the fourth straight game when Scott Harrington's shot from the point was deflected by Dubois 2:06 into the second period. Columbus finished the scoring when Wennberg notched his first goal since Oct. 21. The Golden Knights continued to struggle on their power play, going 0 for 3. Since Dec. 5, Vegas has converted on 18.4% of its power plays (7 of 38) -- 21st in the league. The closest Vegas came to a goal was about two minutes into the third period, when T-Mobile Arena's entertainment staff prematurely blew the goal-horn and blasted smoke from the top of the glass at each end after Reilly Smith streaked in on the right side and clanked the puck off the crossbar. "I thought we came out and started the game good, the first five, six minutes," Gallant said. "We didn't score on our power play, they scored on their power play and the game changed after that." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Eichel's end-to-end rush sparks Buffalo's 4-2 win over Vegas Game # 49 2 4 By Associated Press Updated: 7 hours ago BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jack Eichel shrugged off a sloppy, turnover-filled second period to deliver a breathtaking goal in showing continued signs of how much he's maturing into the Sabres leader in his fifth NHL season. Rather than displaying tell-tale signs of frustration as he's done in the past, Buffalo's captain responded by scoring the go-ahead goal on an end-to-end rush 7:57 into the third period in a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. "I definitely made some bad turnovers," said Eichel, including one that led to goalie Linus Ullmark making an acrobatic save to stop Paul Stastny set up in the slot. "Give Linus credit. He made some huge saves for us," Eichel added. "But we just stuck with it. It's a gutsy win. We needed that win." Eichel put the game in his hands with Vegas caught in the Buffalo end. Building a head of steam, Eichel drove through the neutral zone to create a two-on-one break. Cutting to the left wing, Eichel burst past defenseman Shea Theodore, cut to the net and shifted from his backhand to forehand to flip the puck over Marc-Andre Fleury's glove. The goal was Eichel's career-high-matching 28th of the season and sixth game-winner. And it came in a game in which he added an assist to become Buffalo's first player in 27 years to reach the 60-point mark in 46 or fewer games. The last Buffalo players to have 60 points in fewer games were Alex Mogilny, who did it in 33 games in 1992-93, and Pat LaFontaine, in 34 the same season. Teammate Kyle Okposo could only marvel at how Eichel regained his focus. "I thought the way he came back in the third showed a lot of leadership on his part," Okposo said. "It showed a lot of character. When the game was on the line, he took it over, and that was great to see, special to see." Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists, and Okposo and Curtis Lazar, with an empty-netter, also scored. Ullmark finished with 24 saves, and the Sabres won for the fourth time in six games. The loss didn't sit well with the Golden Knights, who have dropped four straight. "It's tougher, especially when you're losing to teams you know that you're better than," forward Mark Stone said, referring to Vegas entering the game with four more wins and seven more points than Buffalo. "We're a better hockey team. We just have to find ways to put the puck in the net. We've kind of gotten stale the last bunch of games." Reilly Smith and Tomas Nosek scored for the Golden Knights, whose skid matches their longest streak without a point in the franchise's three-year history. Vegas lost four in a row during an 0-4-1 skid from Nov. 7-16. Fleury stopped 22 shots, while missing a chance to earn his 458th career win and move into a tie for fifth on the NHL list with New York Rangers Henrik Lundqvist. Fleury blamed himself for giving up the short side by anticipating Eichel to pass rather than shoot on the decisive goal. "You always think you can do much more," Fleury said. "I feel I opened up too much for him to get the goal there." In reality, the Golden Knights squandered too many scoring opportunities and were undone by a penalty-killing unit that allowed two goals on three opportunities. Jonathan Marchessault missed scoring into a wide-open net midway through the second period, while Chandler Stephenson had a shot beat Ullmark, only to have the puck slide through the crease and wide with under three minutes left. The teams traded one-goal leads in the second period, and Eichel's goal regained Buffalo's momentum after Smith tied the game at 2 with a power-play goal 1:43 into the third period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Golden Knights beat Senators in DeBoer's debut with Vegas Game # 50 4 2 By Associated Press 17 hours ago OTTAWA, Ontario -- Mark Stone scored a goal and picked up an assist in his return to Ottawa, leading Vegas to a 4-2 victory over the Senators on Thursday night in Peter DeBoer's debut as the Golden Knights' coach. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Knights, who fired Gerard Gallant on Wednesday. Peter Stastny, Chandler Stephenson and Ryan Reaves also scored for Vegas. Stone, playing his first game in the city where he spent most of his first eight NHL seasons, was traded to Vegas last February. Stone received a video tribute during the first TV timeout, with Senators fans giving him a standing ovation. Stone took to the ice to thank the fans and gave them a thumbs up. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33 shots for Vegas, tying the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist for fifth place on the NHL's career list with 458 wins. Craig Anderson made 39 saves in his first game since Jan. 7, but the Senators extended their losing streak to nine games (0-5-4). Ottawa has scored just 19 goals through the winless drought. Vladislav Namestnikov and Connor Brown scored for the Senators. Vegas led 1-0 before Stone scored late in the second period on a wraparound effort. Vegas made it 3-0 early in the third as Stephenson scored a short-handed after Thomas Chabot had a giveaway. Ottawa got on the board one minute later when Chris Tierney found Namestnikov down low for a one-timer. Vegas made it 4-1 after Anderson was caught behind the net and couldn't get back in time to stop Reaves from picking up his sixth of the season. The Senators cut the lead in half as Brown scored on the power play. Vegas opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game when Stastny and Stone had a little give-and-go with Stastny beating Anderson for his 13th of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 Tatar scores in shootout, Canadiens beat Vegas 5-4 Game # 51 4 5 By Associated Press Updated: 15 hours ago MONTREAL -- Carey Price went from dejection to jubilation in a matter of minutes. Price and the Montreal Canadiens squandered a two-goal lead late in the third period, but Tomas Tatar scored in the fourth round of a shootout for a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. Vegas scored twice in the final two minutes to force overtime with Marc-Andre Fleury on the bench for the extra skater. When Price conceded the equalizer to Reilly Smith with 8 seconds left in regulation, he smashed his stick in anger. After an end-to-end overtime, Price stopped Smith with his pad in the fourth round of the shootout for the victory. The Canadiens goaltender jumped, raised his arms and swarmed his teammates in celebration. "It was important for (Price) to win that game," coach Claude Julien said. "That was all that mattered to him. It's frustrating that they scored twice in the final two minutes. It wasn't pretty, but it was exciting. We got two points and we'll take it." Max Pacioretty scored against his former team with a shot from the blue line through traffic with 1:57 left in regulation before Smith tipped Paul Stastny's shot past Price. "(Vegas) was carrying a lot of momentum at the end of that game," said Price, who made 31 stops for his fourth consecutive victory. "They were making a push. We pushed back well in the overtime and found a way to do it in the shootout." Nick Cousins scored twice, and Ilya Kovalchuk and Joel Armia each scored once for the Canadiens (22-21-7), who have won four of their last five games. Jonathan Marchessault, Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty and Smith each scored for the Golden Knights (25-20-6) in their second game under new coach Peter DeBoer. Fleury stopped 28 shots. "We're getting off to slow starts and teams are capitalizing," said Smith, who has 20 goals this season. "We have to find a away to turn that around. It's too hard to come back in every game." Down 4-2, Vegas scored twice in the game's final two minutes to force overtime with Fleury on the bench for an extra skater. Fleury made highlight-reel saves on Phillip Danault and Kovalchuk on odd-man rushes in overtime to force the shootout, where Kovalchuk and Tatar scored. Montreal took a commanding 3-0 lead on nine shots after the first 20 minutes. The Canadiens went ahead at 5:51 on Cousins' sixth of the year. Weise sent a backhand pass from behind the net to Cousins, who slid the puck under Fleury's outstretched pad. Kovalchuk was coming off a two-goal performance in Montreal's 4-1 victory in Philadelphia on Thursday, and the 36-year-old scored his fourth in a Canadiens uniform at 12:33. Fleury denied Kovalchuk's initial shot in close but he couldn't stop the Russian's second effort. The goal was Kovalchuk's first at the Bell Centre since 2011. His first three goals since joining Montreal came on the road. The Canadiens went up 3-0 when Armia deflected Brett Kulak's shot and beat Fleury between the pads for his career-high 13th of the season. The Golden Knights scored twice in the second period. Unguarded, Marchessault tallied from the slot on a pass from Smith from behind the net at 9:08. Ben Chiarot and Armia were unable to clear their crease and the veteran Stastny jammed a loose puck past Price to make it 3-2 at 14:47. Cousins scored his second of the game on a 2-on-1 with Weise at 9:40 of the third to give Montreal a 4-2 advantage. Fleury overcommitted to the shot, and Weise passed to Cousins for his seventh of the season. "We've been playing some pretty good hockey," Price said. "If we can continue to do that and understand what's making us successful, we have to carry that momentum after the break." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 Krejci has goal, assist for Bruins in 3-2 win over Vegas Game # 52 3 2 By Associated Press Updated: 16 hours ago BOSTON -- Down a goal entering the third period with a long layoff ahead, the Boston Bruins rallied their way to a win before the All-Star break. Jake DeBrusk tied it early in the third period and David Krejci got the go-ahead goal with 7:42 remaining, and the Bruins held on for a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. "We can enjoy the break a little bit more now," said Krejci, who had a goal and an assist in his return after missing two games with an upper-body injury. Krejci also assisted on Jeremy Lauzon's first goal of the season. Jaroslav Halak stopped 27 shots and picked up an assist as Boston entered the All-Star break with a win following a 1-2-1 stretch. With a bye week following this weekend's All-Star festivities, the Bruins don't have another game until Jan. 31. The Bruins can relax -- at least a little -- during the extended break with a record of 29-10-12, alone in first place in the Atlantic Division. "We know how we want to play. We know if we play good or bad," Krejci said. "At the end of the day, we've got 70 points. We're sitting on top of the division now, so obviously we're happy where we're at but we know that the (playoff) stretch is going to be the most important." Mark Stone scored 1:24 into the game for Vegas and Nicolas Hague added his first career goal. Nate Schmidt had two assists for the Golden Knights, who fell to 1-1-1 under new coach Peter DeBoer. "There was some good tonight, but we weren't good enough overall to come in to a place like this and win," DeBoer said. "Boston's a team where you have to do everything right." Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves, helping the Knights successfully kill five power-play opportunities for the Bruins in the first two periods. DeBrusk tied it on a wrist shot 4:26 into the third off a slick pass from Halak. Krejci then scored on his own rebound after tipping a point shot by Brandon Carlo. "They had the lead there and it seemed like they were pushing pretty good," DeBrusk said. "We understood that we just needed to tie the game and I thought we started off the third period actually really well." Hague one-timed a slap shot off a pass from Schmidt for a power-play goal 10:59 into the second period to put the Golden Knights up 2-1. "That's a goal scorer's goal. He's got an absolute bomb of a shot," Stone said. Lauzon, recalled from Providence of the AHL earlier in the day, got his slap shot past Fleury 11:40 into the first period to tie it at 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 Tuch's tiebreaking goal lifts Vegas over Carolina 4-3 Game # 53 4 3 By Associated Press Updated: 16 hours ago RALEIGH, N.C. -- Alex Tuch scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 2:28 remaining in the third period to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. The Hurricanes had tied the score with a goal by Sebastian Aho on a power play of their own just 70 seconds earlier. But Aho was called for a hooking penalty with 2:34 remaining, and the Golden Knights won a faceoff and scored the winning goal with just 6 seconds elapsed on the penalty. "That was a key moment obviously at 3-3 where they had all the momentum, and I liked our response," Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. "We got back on our toes, we started to attack, drew a penalty, scored on the power play. So big goal, big win, important start to the road trip." Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist in the opening 10 minutes as Vegas got off to a fast start after a nine-day layoff. Nate Schmidt and Paul Stastny also scored for the Golden Knights. Reilly Smith assisted on both first-period goals, and Vegas improved to 2-1-1 since DeBoer replaced the fired Gerard Gallant as coach. Aho and Teuvo Teravainen each had a goal and one assist, and Brock McGinn also scored for Carolina, which had won two in a row. Petr Mrazek made 33 saves as the Hurricanes overcame their slow start but couldn't finish. "It's terrible," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's not acceptable to play like that for two periods -- two and a half periods -- to be honest with you. They were good, I give them a ton of credit. They played desperate, they played fast. They did everything we said they were going to do and we just weren't ready to...match that, and that is what you get." With both teams playing for the first time since Jan. 21, the Golden Knights looked fresh while the Hurricanes were sluggish in the opening period. Vegas had 13 of the first 15 shots on goal, and Stastny opened the scoring by slamming home a goalmouth feed from Smith just 3:52 into the game. Marchessault made it 2-0 at 9:59 when he caught Carolina flat-footed during a line change, received a pass from Smith just past the Hurricanes' blue line and wristed a shot into the net on Mrazek's glove side. "It's a key time of year," Smith said. "I think we just came out with a little more jump than they did, and took advantage of the opportunity on a couple bounces that we were able to get in the first period." Teravainen halved the deficit with the only goal of the second period when he converted the rebound of a miss by Jordan Martinook. Schmidt extended the Vegas lead to 3-1 in the third period before McGinn and Aho quickly answered to tie it. The crowd came to life as the home team suddenly had an opportunity to win after trailing for almost the entire game. But the Golden Knights weren't rattled and struck back for the game-winner. "Obviously at 3-1 in the third period, you want to close that game out," Marchessault said. "But they're a hard-working team. You've got to give credit to them. They came back, but good teams find a way to win. And we did." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 Fleury makes 19 saves, Golden Knights beat Predators 3-0 Game # 54 3 0 By Associated Press Updated: 17 hours ago NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith scored, Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Saturday night. The Golden Knights have won two straight, including at Carolina on Friday night. Vegas held Nashville to its lowest shots on goal total of the season at 19 and ended the Predators' two-game winning streak. “I thought we were good, that was a really solid 60,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “We talked last night about building on the good things we did in last night’s game. I thought we did that tonight for 60 minutes. It started with our defensive play.” Fleury finished his third shutout of the season and 59th in his career, breaking a tie with Nashville's Pekka Rinne and tying Evgeni Nabokov for 18th all-time. Rinne stopped 36 of 38 shots. Prior to Saturday, Fleury last played Jan. 21. “The first period was a little slow, especially coming off of the break,” Fleury said. “Sometimes it’s good to see a few shots to get into it to get the rhythm back. That’s how it was. I can’t complain. The guys were playing so good in front of me.” Stephenson scored at 5:14 of the second period. In front of the Vegas bench, Mark Stone sent a pass to Stephenson to start a breakaway, and Stephenson beat Rinne high to the stick side. Rinne kept Nashville close even as Vegas outshot the Predators 14-2 in the first period. Nashville went 16:32 between shots on goal. Shots were 15-6 in the Golden Knights' favor in the second period. “Right now, the biggest thing is every game for us is playoffs,” Rinne said. “We’re battling for our lives and we’ve got to realize that it’s not going to be easy. But these games are massive.” Nashville’s best scoring opportunity came with 6:48 remaining in the second when Rocco Grimaldi’s backhand wraparound attempt slid across the crease. “There was not a lot of time and space and we didn’t fight for our time and space,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “When we did get out of our own zone and we went through the neutral zone and then we got in the offensive zone, our puck pressure wasn’t what it needed it to be as a five-man unit.” Roy scored at 11:16 of the third on a rebound of a wrist shot from Ryan Reaves from the top of the right circle. Roy’s skates were on the goal line as he lifted the shot just underneath the crossbar. The goal was Roy’s third of the season. “The angle was pretty tiny there, but it was a good shot from (Reaves),” Roy said. “I was lucky to get a goal there.” Smith added an empty-net goal at 18:58 of the third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 Stamkos leads Lightning to 4-2 win over Golden Knights Game # 55 2 4 By Associated Press Updated: 7 hours ago TAMPA, Fla. -- Steven Stamkos tipped in his 24th goal of the season in the third period and led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves and extended his streak of consecutive games without a regulation loss to 16 games, matching the franchise record set by Nikolai Khabibulin in 2002-03. “The record, that’s good, but a better place in the standings, even better,’’ said Vasilevskiy, who hasn’t lost a regulation game since Dec. 14 and helped the Lightning move in to second place in the Atlantic Division, seven points ahead of third-place Florida. Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli also scored, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists as Tampa Bay won its seventh consecutive home game, the second-longest active streak in the league. Alex Killorn added an empty net goal with 44.7 seconds remaining. Paul Stastny and Willilam Carrier scored for Vegas, which lost for just the second time in regulation in six games under new head coach Peter DeBoer. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 13 saves. Stamkos was in front of Fleury when Point wheeled around from the high slot and sent a shot on net that Stamkos deflected just inside the right post at 10:36, extending his scoring streak to seven games. “I was hoping (Point) would just spin and fire it because I knew I had good position in front of the net,’’ Stamkos said. “Anytime you do tip it you (are trying) tip it but it doesn’t always happen, but it was nice to see that one go in.’’ Point opened the scoring with his 19th goal of the season, scoring on a wrist shot from between the circles at 10:57 of the first period. Carrier pulled Vegas even at 15:42. He took a pass from Brayden McNabb and sent a wrist a shot past Vasilevskiy for his sixth goal of the season. Tampa Bay regained the lead late in the period on a double deflection. Ondrej Palat’s shot first hit the blade of Anthony Cirelli’s stick and then the shaft of Johnson’s stick, finding the back of the net at 17:57. Vegas failed to take advantage of three power-play chance in the second period as the league’s fourth ranked penalty kill unit limited the Golden Knights to one shot on goal and four total attempts during the 5:07 of total time with the man advantage. “You come in here and you’ve got to do everything right,’’ DeBoer said. “You’ve got to win the special teams, you’ve got to be opportunistic, you’ve got to work hard and try to limit them. We did a lot of those things, but there’s a reason their record is what it is. They don’t need a lot of looks to stick pucks in the net.” Vegas scored a tying goal early in the third period as Stastny tipped a shot from Jonathan Marchessault and tucked it inside the left post at 3:47. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 Stone, Fleury lift Golden Knights over Panthers 7-2 Game # 56 7 2 By Associated Press Updated: 19 hours ago SUNRISE, Fla. -- Mark Stone scored two goals and had three assists, Marc-Andre Fleury recorded the 460th win of his career and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 7-2 on Thursday night. Max Pacioretty had two goals and an assist, Nate Schmidt scored a goal and had an assist, and Shea Theodore and Jonathan Marchessault each also scored goals. Fleury stopped 23 shots to pass the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist for sole possession of fifth place on the NHL all-time list for victories. Stone tied his career high with five points. “He’s a good player every night, but that was another level tonight,” coach Peter DeBoer said. "Not just offensively, but defensively, too. I thought he was great.” Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist and Mike Hoffman also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed six goals on 29 shots before being relieved by Sam Montembeault with 11:07 left in the third. Montembeault made nine saves. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists. Leading 3-2, the Golden Knights put the game away with four goals in the third. They stretched their lead to 4-2 when Schmidt’s shot from the blue line bounced off Bobrovsky and went into the net 17 seconds in. Theodore scored a short-handed goal at 4:11 to make the score 5-2. Marchessault’s goal at 8:53 made the score 6-2 and chased Bobrovsky. Pacioretty’s second goal with 4:44 left made it 7-2. “At the start of the third, we think we have a shot, then we give up a goal and it went downhill quickly after that. Not fun to watch,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. With the score tied at 1, Stone’s second goal gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead. Stone used some slick stickwork in the slot and put the puck high into the net at 1:49 of the second. “That goal to start the third period really deflated their bench and gave us all the momentum to take over the game," Stone said. Trocheck tied it at 2 on his wraparound goal at 11:52 of the second when he came from behind the net and tucked the puck just inside the post during a power-play. “It’s a 2-2 game against one of the best teams in the league,” Trocheck said. “We come out that next shift, that’s one of the most important shifts of the game, we get outworked on that one. Fourth goal, get outworked again. Fifth goal, bad play, penalty kill. Every goal we gave up, they outworked us.” Vegas answered 26 seconds later on Pacioretty’s goal. Pacioretty grabbed the puck in the slot and pounded it against Bobrovsky’s pads until it trickled through to make it 3-2. Stone gave Vegas a 1-0 lead 2:15 when he grabbed a rebound in the low slot and poked the puck past Bobrovsky. Hoffman tied it at 1 on his power-play goal. Trocheck passed from in front of the crease out to Hoffman in the right circle and his shot beat Fleury at 16:22 of the first. Vegas challenged for goalie interference by Trocheck, but the goal stood. Florida’s Brett Connolly missed a penalty shot at 6:40 of the second. Fleury became the second goaltender to make at least 20 penalty shot saves, joining Roberto Luongo (29). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 Carolina tops Vegas in shootout, spoils DeBoer's home debut Game # 57 5 6 SO By Associated Press Updated: 16 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- For a brief moment, after the jumbotron inside T-Mobile Arena played a highlight reel and Erik Haula's name was announced the same way as when the forward starred for the Vegas Golden Knights, the veteran got a bit emotional as an announced crowd of 18,417 gave him a standing ovation. Then it was back to business. Haula had a goal and an assist, Andrei Svechnikov and Justin Williams scored in the shootout, and the Carolina Hurricanes notched a 6-5 victory over Vegas on Saturday night. "It felt good," Haula said. "The reception from the fans, obviously a big thank you to the Golden Knights making me feel welcome. This will always hold such a special place in my heart." Carolina erased a two-goal deficit twice in the third period, scoring four goals in the final frame. "Games are a little crazy sometimes and just little sparks can get your team going," said Haula, who snapped a nine-game drought without a point. "In the third there, I don't know what happened. We were a different team and we played well, we played how we want to play." Martin Necas, Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and Haydn Fleury scored in regulation for the Hurricanes. James Reimer made 31 saves, including 12 in the third period, when the fireworks began. With Vegas leading 3-1, Aho punched in a loose rebound from his initial shot, sneaking the puck between Marc-Andre Fleury and the post. Less than a minute later, Vegas' Chandler Stephenson broke free on a breakaway and notched his second short-handed goal of the season to push Vegas back in front by two goals. The lead wouldn't last, though, as Haula ignited the Hurricanes and triggered three unanswered goals before Vegas' Cody Eakin tied it at 5-all with his first goal since Nov. 23. Both teams had opportunities in overtime, particularly Carolina, when Svechnikov hit the crossbar and Brett Pesce hit the post. With less than a minute remaining, Fleury stopped Aho on a breakaway, while Reimer stopped Shea Theodore's one-timer. Carolina, playing its third road game in five nights, came back from a two-goal deficit for the second straight game, as it defeated Arizona 5-3 on Thursday after falling behind 2-0. The win moved the Hurricanes into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 67 points, one point back of the New York Islanders. Carolina will conclude a four-game road trip by riding a 5-2-1 win streak into Dallas on Tuesday. "There's no quit in our team," said Aho, who has recorded a point in six straight games, including a goal in each of the last five. "They played really good (in the) first period and we were kind of off maybe. But we went to work and we never stopped believing. And when we got the one, you could feel it on the bench we would get a second one and another one, and that's a good feeling to have." The loss spoiled the home debut of Vegas coach Peter DeBoer, who was hired Jan. 15 and coached his first seven games with the Golden Knights on the road. Vegas was also playing its first home game in 28 days after two four-game road trips that sandwiched the All-Star break and the team's midseason bye week. Max Pacioretty, Jon Merrill and Theodore also scored for Vegas. Fleury made 29 saves. The Golden Knights committed two costly penalties in the third period, and Carolina, which came in with the 12th-best road power play, scored both times. Vegas, meanwhile, came in with the league's third-best home power play and went 0 for 2. "Strange game," DeBoer said. "I was worried a little bit about the game coming off the road. I thought we really started well, I liked our first period. ... I thought the second and third we didn't manage the game well. They pushed and we turned pucks over and took some penalties. Some uncharacteristic things. We've been playing some real solid hockey for a while and the second and third, I thought, we were our own worst enemy." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Fiala has goal, 2 assists, as Wild beat Golden Knights 4-0 Game # 58 0 4 By Associated Press Updated: 6 hours ago ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kevin Fiala's potential has largely gone unfulfilled, a fast-skating, slick-handed forward with not nearly enough goals to match his skills. He's only 23, though, and a recent landing on Minnesota's first line has helped bring out his best. Fiala kept up his recent surge for Minnesota with a goal and two assists, and the Wild matched their season high with three power-play scores on the way to a 4-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. "I hope he can be like this every night. I mean, if he can, then great, he's come of age," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's just that right now, he's in a good place, and I don't want to bug him." Fiala, who arrived in Minnesota around the trade deadline last season in a deal with Nashville for Mikael Granlund, has five goals and five assists in the last five games. "This year we're such a bigger family, closer to each other, like each other more," Fiala said. "It's more fun this season for sure to come to the rink." Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise scored with the man advantage, giving the Wild an NHL-leading 15 power-play goals in 33 opportunities over their last 11 games. Parise has six during that span, also the most in the league. The majority of those contests have been at home, where Minnesota has the third-best power-play conversion rate in the NHL (27 for 93) at 29%. Alex Stalock stopped 26 shots for his third shutout of the season, making him 12-5-3 in his last 20 decisions as he keeps pushing to become the team's top goalie. The Golden Knights had 12 goals in their previous two games. "They were just hungrier than we were around our net," coach Peter DeBoer said. Marc-Andre Fleury, making his 10th start in the Vegas net in the last 11 games, was pulled after stopping 16 shots through two periods. Malcolm Subban relieved him. The Wild went on their first power play just 3:37 into the game. Eric Staal's shot glanced off the right post and rolled along the goal line behind Fleury before Brayden McNabb knocked it away. The crowd roared as if the puck had crossed over, but no replay review was initiated. With some players believing they'd scored, Reilly Smith started a breakaway for the Golden Knights that Stalock denied with a backhanded save. Unfazed, the Wild took the lead with seven seconds remaining on the man advantage when Eriksson Ek knocked in his first career power-play goal. "I think everybody in the building could see that we weren't ready to play tonight," Smith said. "We've got to change that and change that quick." Spurgeon scored about seven minutes later, swooping in for a rebound of a shot by Fiala. The Golden Knights have given up a whopping 62 first-period goals this season in 58 games. Fiala, who tied Mats Zuccarello and the just-traded Jason Zucker for third on the team with 14 goals this season, matched his career high with three points while playing with Staal and Parise. Zucker was dealt on Monday to Pittsburgh for left wing Alex Galchenyuk, a prospect and a draft pick, but the Wild didn't flinch and won for the seventh time in 10 games. The Golden Knights entered the night in control of third place in the Pacific Division, but they're now just four points ahead of Wild, who have played two fewer games than them in the crowded Western Conference wild-card race. Despite dealing the productive Zucker, general manager Bill Guerin said he still expects the Wild to contend to the end for the playoffs. "Not only a locker room-favorite guy, but a community and city and a state favorite got sent out of here," Stalock said. "That kind of sends a little wave through the locker room. I think we know we have almost like a deadline. We need to prove that we want it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) Marchessault's OT goal lifts Golden Knights past Blues 6-5 Game # 59 6 5 OT By Associated Press Updated: 13 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Zach Sanford had the best game of his young NHL career -- even if his thoughts were understandably far from the ice. Sanford scored four goals in St. Louis' 6-5 overtime loss to Las Vegas on Thursday night, the Blues' first game since teammate Jay Bouwmeester collapsed from a cardiac episode on the bench during a game earlier in the week. Emotions ran deep for Sanford, St. Louis' 25-year-old first-line wing whose father died of a heart attack in 2018 and was missing from the Blues' annual father's trip. His big scoring performance helped get everyone's minds back on hockey a bit, even in defeat. "I didn't know how they would come in after going through something like that," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “That's something that's traumatic. It's traumatic watching it as an outsider, I can't imagine being there. I give them a lot of credit, I thought they came out and they were ready to play. "They didn't look distracted and they really played a good game considering the circumstances.” Jonathan Marchessault's power-play goal in overtime lifted the Golden Knights to the victory as Vegas tied a franchise record with four goals with the man-advantage -- including two by Marchessault and one each by Max Pacioretty and Nate Schmidt. Pacioretty also had an even-strength goal, as did Alex Tuch. Malcolm Subban, making just his third start in 2020, made 19 saves for Vegas. "The crowd was awesome for us," Marchessault said. "We wanted to get them on our side again. We owed them a couple of wins there. It’s good to get the first one." But on a night the Golden Knights notched a much-needed win after being shut out in Minnesota on Tuesday, improved to 5-3-2 under DeBoer and continued to fight for a playoff spot in the jam-packed Pacific Division, thoughts were heavy. The Blues' game Tuesday night against Anaheim was postponed after the 36-year-old Bouwmeester collapsed on the team's bench in the first period. A defibrillator was used on the veteran defenseman before he was taken to a hospital, where he continues to undergo tests. St. Louis, mired in a 2-6-2 slide, hit the ice for the first time since the scary incident and got off to a fast start with their teammate on their minds. Sanford opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the game when he fired a shot from the circle that beat Subban. Sanford's father Michael died in his sleep in 2018 and never got to see his son play in an NHL regular-season game in person. And the only father's trip Michael Sanford was able to attend, his son was recovering from a dislocated shoulder in 2017. Sanford's lifelong friend from New Hampshire, Brett Glendye, is on the trip. "I'm glad he could be here and enjoy this with me and thanks to him for coming out," said Sanford, who now has 13 points in his last nine games. "Obviously I'd really want to have (my dad) here. I think he was watching over tonight and maybe helping out a little bit, too." After Sanford's first goal, the Golden Knights fired right back as Pacioretty scored back-to-back goals to give Vegas a 2-1 lead. Mackenzie MacEachern also scored for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 46 saves. Binnington came in 2-0-0 against the Golden Knights and had allowed just three goals in two starts against them. It marked the 10th straight game the Blues allowed three or more goals, and seventh time in that span they allowed four or more. St. Louis ranked fourth in the NHL in goals-against through Jan. 13, allowing just 2.60 goals per game. In the 10 games since then, the Blues rank 31st in the league, allowing 3.82 goals per contest. The Golden Knights were just 3 for 26 on the power play in their first nine games under DeBoer, but finished 4 for 5 on Thursday night. "That was a tough one, especially having the lead multiple times," St. Louis alternate captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "Got to find a way to shut the door. It was tough. Some things we did well, but we didn't play a great game, we gave up way too much. I don't think the calls went our way a lot. I don't think it was officiated great tonight, but still they had some good bounces on the penalty kill and on their power play gave them confidence. It killed us." Edited February 14, 2020 by Brewin Flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 Fleury gets 60th career shutout, Vegas blanks Islanders 1-0 Game # 60 1 0 By Associated Press Updated: 14 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said he missed the gold goalie pads Marc-Andre Fleury was set to sign and let the team auction off for charity. For the past couple of weeks, he had been pushing the veteran goaltender to dust them off. "Schmidty talked to me about it, so I found them in the closet; there's (been) a lot of goals scored lately, so I said might as well bring them out and see what they can do," Fleury said. All they did was help Fleury get his 60th career shutout as Reilly Smith scored late in the second period, and the Golden Knights beat the New York Islanders 1-0 on Saturday night. "About time, right?" said Fleury, who improved to 26-11-6 with five shutouts in his career against the Islanders. "I don't know if it was the gold pads, but I think my teammates played awesome. They had the puck a lot ... (and) when they were in our zone they defended well." The wins are the third-most against any opponents for Fleury, while the shutouts are tied for second-most. Fleury's fourth shutout this season helped Vegas keep pace with Edmonton for second in the Pacific Division with 68 points. However, the Oilers, who beat Florida 4-1 on Saturday, have two games in hand and face the Golden Knights three more times this season. "I think a lot of guys stepped up defensively; I think we had a lot of key blocked shots, especially on the (penalty-kill), I thought we really limited that," Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore said. "Things are coming down pretty tight in the standings and guys are really stepping up, guys are getting in the lanes. (Fleury's) been playing great back there and that's always nice to have." Vegas is now 6-3-2 since coach Pete DeBoer replaced the fired Gerard Gallant on Jan. 15. Semyon Varlamov finished with 42 saves for the Islanders, who were shut out for the second straight game after being blanked in Nashville 5-0 on Thursday. New York is clinging to third place in the Metropolitan Division, just one point in front of Columbus and Philadelphia. Until Smith's goal with 34 seconds left in the second, the most exciting moment took place just 3 seconds into the game when fourth-line bruisers Ross Johnston and Ryan Reaves dropped gloves at the opening puck drop and sent the announced crowd of 18,444 into a frenzy before the first shot on goal. Johnston and Reaves traded several haymakers to the delight of a sold-out crowd. Reaves said the two agreed to fight specifically because British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury was at the game. "He asked me to go, I said, 'well let me go run somebody first' and he goes 'no Fury's here' and I was like 'yeah that's true, we'll do it," Reaves said. "I like to get one shift in me, but it's alright. Those are fun ones, especially a big boy like that." With Vegas fighting for a playoff spot, the Golden Knights' motivation exponentially increased after the scoreless and physical first period that included two fights and a combined 25 hits. The second period didn't match the physicality, but did include a highlight save when Vegas' Paul Stastny fired a backhand at what appeared to be a wide-open net, but his shot was stymied by Varlamov, who got his blade over in time to keep the game scoreless until Smith's 22nd goal of the season gave Vegas momentum for the third period. After giving up five goals to the St. Louis on Thursday, when the Golden Knights allowed several second and third shots on Malcolm Subban, they did a much better job in keeping New York's opportunities limited. "We talked about giving up five even-strength goals last game," DeBoer said. "We wanted to clean that up. Coming down the stretch, playing playoff hockey, you have to win 1-0, 2-0." Vegas, which leads the NHL in shots per game with a nightly average of 34.6, outshot the Islanders 43-19. "We needed more chances," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "But you're not going to get any chances when you spend the whole second period in our end." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Vegas beats Caps for 3rd straight win; Ovi stuck on 698 Game # 61 3 2 By Associated Press Updated: 8 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Marc-Andre Fleury looked out at Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and the veteran goalie had just one thought regarding Ovie's bid for a historic goal. "Not today, not today," Fleury said. Max Pacioretty scored his team-high 27th goal, Fleury made 24 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat Washington 3-2 Monday night. Ovechkin remained stuck on 698 career goals after being held without a point for the fifth consecutive game, his longest drought of the season. Ovechkin has 24 career goals against Fleury, tied for the most he's scored against a single goaltender in his career, along with the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist. "I'm sure he'll get it soon," said Fleury, who earned his 462nd win to move three victories ahead of Lundqvist for fifth on the career list. "I'm just happy I'm not gonna be the goalie on SportsCenter, 48 times showing that goal." Nick Holden and Reilly Smith also scored for the Golden Knights. It was Vegas' third straight victory, including two over the last two Stanley Cup champions. The Golden Knights also improved to 7-3-2 since coach Pete DeBoer took over for Gerard Gallant, who was fired on Jan. 15. When DeBoer took over, he said there would be non-negotiables he wanted to see from the Golden Knights, including a commitment to playing 200-feet of hockey nightly, making the extra effort to block shots, defending well and keeping pressure on opposing goalies. Under DeBoer, the Golden Knights came into the game ranked No. 1 in the NHL with 37.2 shots and 26.6 shots allowed per game, fourth with 102 takeaways and seventh with 3.45 goals per game. "We're real close, there's always an adjustment period," DeBoer said. "I think these guys have really embraced what we're asking them to do and they're getting rewarded for it, which helps speed up the process. "I like how we're defending. I think we're going to be able to score goals. I don't think that's going to be an issue. If we can defend well and Flower plays the way he's played we got a chance to win every night." The Capitals have lost four of five and are on the brink of dropping to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, while Vegas moved into a first-place Pacific Division tie with Edmonton, which has two games in hand and faces the Golden Knights three more times this season. T.J. Oshie scored both goals for Washington in the third period. Braden Holtby made 26 saves. It marked the sixth straight game the Capitals allowed the first goal. "You can't say one word or write something on the board that will kind of get that going," Oshie said. "That has got to be the guys in the room here ... all the leaders. It's on us to have the boys ready and prepared to go." Vegas got on the board in the opening minutes of the game when Holden tipped a pass from William Carrier for his fifth goal of the season. Smith made it 2-0 later in the period when he sliced into the slot and chipped in Jonathan Marchessault's pass over Holtby's shoulder. Pacioretty made it 3-0 when his one-timer slipped under Jonas Siegenthaler and past Holtby. Oshie ruined Fleury's bid for a second-straight shutout when his wrist shot from the right circle went far side, top shelf of the 11:13 mark of the third period. Two minutes later, Oshie cut the deficit to one goal when his blistering one-timer on the power play put the Capitals back in the game. But Vegas' defense was stellar down the stretch, as Fleury stopped five shots and his teammates blocked four others after Oshie's second goal. "I think we're playing really good defensively, maybe it's our best defensive games all year over the last week or so," Smith said. "We're limiting teams to around 20 shots, or under 20 shots over the last two weeks. We've done a great job keeping pucks to the outside and limiting teams to second opportunities. "It's great for our team, it takes an effort and everyone to buy in." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 Vegas stops Tampa Bay's 11-game streak with 5-3 win Game # 62 5 3 By Associated Press Updated: 6 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Hours before making his Vegas debut, Alec Martinez sat on the team bench, gazing onto a clean sheet of ice while collecting his thoughts inside an empty T-Mobile Arena, a place he called the loudest venue in the NHL. The crowd of 18,376 roared when he was announced in the starting lineup. "It's obvious I was pretty emotional at the beginning there, feeding off the fans," the veteran defenseman said. "I had to tell myself to settle down a little bit." Martinez settled in nicely with a goal and an assist, and the Golden Knights stopped Tampa Bay's 11-game win streak with a 5-3 victory over the Lightning on Thursday night. It marked the first time in 23 games Tampa Bay allowed more than three goals and the fourth time in seven games Vegas scored five or more. "It's pretty incredible to be able to play with a hockey club of this caliber. I kept saying on the bench 'This is a fun group to play with," said Martinez, who was acquired in a trade with Los Angeles on Wednesday. "It's a little different when you're on the same side, you kind of take notice at certain things that maybe you wouldn't when you're, obviously, on the other end of things." Martinez tied the game late in the first period, delighting the electric crowd. It was Martinez's second goal of the season; he also scored at Vegas on Jan. 9. Paul Stastny, Mark Stone, Ryan Reaves and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves while improving to 21-13-4 against Tampa Bay. Vegas earned its fourth straight win and improved to 8-3-2 under coach Pete DeBoer, who took over for the fired Gerard Gallant on Jan. 15. The win pushed the Golden Knights into first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of Edmonton. Vegas' streak also includes victories over playoff contenders St. Louis, Washington and the New York Islanders. "That should give the group confidence because everyone's playing really good hockey right now," Pacioretty said. "When you look at the process, it's been there for the most part. We've given ourselves an opportunity to be in the hunt down the stretch, and this is the hard time of year." Under DeBoer, the Golden Knights rank first in the NHL with 36.2 shots per game and 26.7 shots allowed, fourth with 3.54 goals per game, and 12th in allowing 2.85 goals per game. "I think our group is starting to believe in each other and playing with some confidence," DeBoer said. "It was a good team win for us." Especially coming against Andrei Vasilevskiy, who hadn't lost in regulation since Dec. 14 against Washington. Vasilevskiy, who entered with a franchise-record point streak of 21 games (19-0-2), stopped 28 shots. Steven Stamkos had two goals for Tampa Bay, and Kevin Shattenkirk also scored. Tampa Bay jumped in front when Shattenkirk's blind pass deflected off Vegas defenseman Nick Holden's skate and past Fleury 7:02 into the first. Martinez's one-timer tied the game, and Stastny got the lead for Vegas when he deflected Reilly Smith's shot to the far side early in the second period. Stamkos answered on the power play with a one-timer over Fleury's stick, but Martinez helped Vegas take the lead for good about a minute later. Martinez started an odd-man rush when he poke-checked the puck from Tampa Bay's Braydon Coburn at the blue line. Pacioretty raced into the zone and fed Stone, who deked Vasilevskiy with a forehand-to-backhand maneuver. "We didn't manage the puck and to give them a breakaway to a pretty darned good player, that's the stuff we hadn't been doing in the run we're on," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "And obviously the first minute of the third was the backbreaker for us." Vegas added a pair of goals less than a minute into the third. Reaves blocked a pass from Coburn, skated into the zone and blasted a shot past Vasilevskiy 10 seconds into the period. Pacioretty pushed the lead to three with his 28th goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Golden Knights win 5th straight with 5-3 win over Florida Game # 63 5 3 By Associated Press Updated: 15 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Reilly Smith scored two goals, Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Saturday night. The Golden Knights completed a five-game homestand 5-0-0 and catapulted to the top of the Pacific Division, where they lead Vancouver by two points and Edmonton by three. The Canucks and Oilers have two games in hand on Vegas, which faces Edmonton three more times and Vancouver twice. "Every night there's someone new stepping up and I think that's a big key to that homestand and picking up a lot of wins," said Smith, whose empty-net goal with a little more than a minute remaining was his career-high tying 25th goal, which he originally set during the 2015-16 season, when he played with the Panthers. "Those are things that really give our team a boost. When we're rolling with all four lines we're a tough team to beat." William Carrier and Max Pacioretty also scored, while Tomas Nosek had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, who had 10 players with points. Vegas improved to 9-3-2 under coach Peter DeBoer, who replaced fired Gerard Gallant on Jan. 15. The Golden Knights' five-game win streak is their highest of the season. Vegas' analytics have improved dramatically under DeBoer, as the Golden Knights rank No. 1 with 36.4 shots per game, have the second-fewest shots allowed per game (27.3), the second-most goals per game average (3.64), the third-most goals scored (51) and have the fifth-most points (20) since his first game as coach on Jan. 16. The other thing they've done well, something they struggled with prior to DeBoer's arrival, is staying focused and calm when falling behind in games. It's a small sample size compared to the Golden Knights under Gallant, but their win percentage was just .296 (8-14-5) before the coaching change after allowing the first goal and is .500 (3-2-1) under DeBoer after allowing the first goal. "It's (been) building confidence in your group and the only way to do that is to have success," DeBoer said. "We've started well, there's been some other games we've gotten behind. There's been a real calmness to the group, but they know that we can put some pressure on the other team and we're not out of games. They have that ability to score and get back in games pretty quickly." The Panthers, meanwhile, are four points out of the Eastern Conference wild-card race after dipping to 3-7-0 in their last 10. "We started fine, but once the game kept going, they got the momentum," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. "They outskated us, they out chanced us, put pucks on the net. You need a full 60-minute effort. They worked really hard. We just need to match their work ethic." Mike Hoffman, Evgenii Dadonov and Aleksi Saarela scored for the Panthers. Sam Montembeault, making just his 24th career start, made 34 saves. Florida took an early 1-0 lead when Hoffman kicked a rebound to his stick and knocked it past Fleury just 3:28 into the game. It was Hoffman's 24th of the season, second-highest on the team. Nosek tied the game when he gathered a loose puck in the slot and sent a wrist shot under Montembeault's pads midway through the first. Dadonov gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead just 42 seconds into the second period with his team-high 25th goal. With a beautiful display of passing, Barkov took Keith Yandle's pass and fed Dadonov, who chipped it past Fleury for the 200th point of his career. Carrier got his seventh goal of the season when he lasered a wrist shot from the circle that caromed into the net off of Montembeault's glove. Later, with 52 seconds left in the second, Shea Theodore stole the puck from Aaron Ekblad and raced in on a 2-on-0 rush with Pacioretty, who fired a shot off the side of Montembeault's torso, making it three straight goals that went off Florida's goalie. Smith matched his jersey number by scoring 19 seconds into the third period, as he buried Jonathan Marchessault's pass top shelf for his 24th goal of the campaign. Saarela cut into Vegas' lead when he punched in a shot over a cluster of players in the crease. Vegas coach Peter DeBoer challenged the goal, thinking Hoffman interfered with Fleury. But after review, it was ruled Hoffman was pushed into Fleury by Vegas defenseman Nick Holden. Smith iced the game with his career-high tying goal into an empty net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 Karlsson's hat trick, Theodores OT goal lifts Knights to win Game # 64 6 5 OT By Associated Press Updated: 4 hours ago ANAHEIM, Calif. -- William Karlsson and the Vegas Golden Knights have the NHL's longest current winning streak, and they've built it in all sorts of ways. Blowing a two-goal lead in the third period wasn't what they had in mind. No matter -- no slowing Vegas on this roll. Karlsson got his third career hat trick, Shea Theodore scored in overtime and the Golden Knights extended their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 6-5 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Theodore's winner 3:50 into OT came after the Golden Knights squandered a two-goal lead late in the third period. Mark Stone assisted on the goal to complete his second four-assist game during the winning streak. Stone started the rush by intercepting Ryan Getzlaf's pass. He passed it to Theodore, who skated up the right side of the ice before releasing a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle to beat goaltender John Gibson. “I think we’ve just played good hockey. We’ve really tightened up our systems,” said Theodore, who has nine goals this season. “I think we are sticking to that and really starting to feel that pressure of the end of the season.” Karlsson hadn't scored a goal in his last 20 games coming into Sunday but broke out of that in a big way. His snap shot 19:03 into the second period while Gibson was screened was his first goal since Dec. 13. Nick Ritchie scored twice, including a tying goal 21 seconds into the third period before Karlsson put Vegas ahead 4-3 6:28 into the third with a shot from the faceoff circle. Karlsson completed his hat trick at 11:05 with a backhand past Gibson's glove after getting a pass from Reilly Smith in front of the net. “Yeah, not bad. It feels like it’s been forever,” Karlsson said. “I'm very happy for those three goals and the two points.” Vegas' 5-3 lead appeared safe until Adam Henrique forced overtime with goals 1:42 apart. Both came when the Ducks brought on the extra skater. Henrique brought the Ducks within a goal with 2:57 remaining when he knocked in a rebound after Nick Ritchie was stopped by Vegas' Malcolm Subban, then sent it to overtime with 1:15 remaining when the Ducks crashed the net. “It was a fun one to be a part of. We haven’t had many of those this year,” Ritchie said. “We’re not really a team that plays a shootout style, but it turned into that.” Alec Martinez -- who was acquired from Los Angeles on Tuesday -- had a goal and an assist for Vegas, and Max Pacioretty added two assists. Patrick Brown also scored and Subban made 25 saves for the Golden Knights, who have vaulted from third place to leading the Pacific Division during their winning streak. Ritchie and Henrique each had their first four-point games (two goals, two assists) for Anaheim, which has dropped five of its last six. Devin Shore also scored, and Gibson stopped 22 shots. Brown opened the scoring when knocked in a rebound at 12:49 of the first period after Ryan Reaves circled the net and dumped it into the crease. Gibson stopped Gage Quinney's attempt with his right blocker before Brown put it in for his first goal of the season and second of his career. Brown was called up on Sunday after Nicolas Roy was injured during Saturday's win over Florida. The Ducks evened it with 1.3 seconds remaining in the first when Shore was in the high slot and redirected Brendan Guhle's slap shot. Half of Shore's four goals this season have come against Vegas. Ritchie gave the Ducks the lead midway through the second when he took advantage of a turnover near the Knights' net and knocked in a wrist shot after Nick Holden was unable to clear it. Martinez tied it at 2 five minutes later with a one-timer during an odd-man rush for his second goal since being traded by Los Angeles to the Golden Knights on Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 Cousins, Fleury lead Golden Knights past Oilers 3-0 Game # 65 3 0 By Associated Press Updated: 3 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- When Nick Cousins learned the Vegas Golden Knights acquired him from Montreal at the NHL's trade deadline Monday, the first thing he did was check the standings. "In first place, they've had a good team, they're always hard to play against and I'm just excited to contribute any way I can," he said. So, roughly 11 hours after landing in Las Vegas, Cousins scored in his Vegas debut and the Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Wednesday night in a matchup of two of the Pacific Division's top teams. "In the first period there, my head was spinning a little bit with all the travel and stuff like that and just trying to get accustomed to everything," said Cousins, who became the 10th player in Golden Knights history to score in his team debut. "I thought in the second period, as the game went on, I started moving my feet, started making a little more plays and hanging on to the puck a little bit more. And when I do that, that's when I'm at my best." Cousins knocked home a rebound on a power play for his sixth overall goal to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead midway through the third period, while providing them with all the momentum they'd need from that point. Max Pacioretty and Shea Theodore also scored for Vegas, which won its seventh straight game and increased its lead to four points ahead of the Oilers and Vancouver, each with 74 points. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves to earn his 61st career shutout, tied for 17th all-time with Turk Broda. The 16-year-veteran netminder is now 5-0-0 in his last five starts. "I feel you're always more comfortable when you're winning, right?" Fleury said. "You stop worrying about mistakes or looking for mistakes in your game. I haven't changed the way I play; it's been going well, my teammates have been playing great in front of me so that helps me a lot and makes me look better. A lot of my success comes from our team game." While the Golden Knights are fourth in the Western Conference, six points back of defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis, just six points separate the top four squads in the Pacific. But it's Vegas that has emerged as the hottest team in the division, as it improved to 11-3-2 under Peter DeBoer, who replaced the fired Gerard Gallant on Jan. 15. Since then, the Golden Knights are tied with two others for second-most points (24) in the league, and are tied for first with 60 goals scored and with a 3.75 goals-per-game average. They also rank first in shots per game (35.7) and third in shots allowed per contest (27.6). "We're finding a lot of different ways to win," Vegas veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "There are nights that we go out there and dominate offensively. Tonight I thought we played really well defensively and that led into our offense." After chasing Edmonton's speedy forwards in the first period, and being outshot 12-9, the Golden Knights turned the tables in the second period by pushing the tempo after clearing pucks in front of Fleury and creating opportunities for themselves in transition. "We didn't capitalize, I thought we played a real good first period," Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. "We wanted to come out and get a good jump. And then come out of the period down one and then they put a hard push on the second period, really pinned us in their end for long periods of time. Chasing the game, the fatigue factor came in and we just couldn't get ourselves back into it." Vegas was exceptional on special teams, stopping the Oilers' league-best power play on all three of their opportunities. At the other end, the Golden Knights were 1-for-3 on the power play. Edmonton is 18-13-3 on the road and lost for the first time when playing on the second of back-to-back nights, dropping to 6-1-0. Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves for the Oilers. Pacioretty put Vegas on the board when he skated in on the right side, past Josh Archibald, and lasered a wrist shot over the shoulder of Koskinen. It marked the fifth 30-goal season in Pacioretty's career, and first since 2016-17. Theodore extended Vegas' lead to 3-0 when he took a pass from Alec Martinez off a draw and fired a shot from the point past Koskinen. It was Martinez's sixth point in four games, since being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 19. Game notes Oilers forward Andreas Athanasiou left with a lower-body injury after one shift in the third period and did not return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 Smith scores twice, Golden Knights beat Sabres 4-2 Game # 66 4 2 By Associated Press Updated: 14 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Reilly Smith scored twice, Robin Lehner stopped 32 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Friday night. William Karlsson and Nicolas Roy also scored to help Vegas get its franchise-record eighth straight win and open a six-point lead ahead of Vancouver and Edmonton in the Pacific Division -- the largest lead in the division by any team this season. The Golden Knights improved to 12-3-2 under coach Pete DeBoer, and 21-10-4 at home. Karlsson got the Golden Knights' offense charged in the third period when Max Pacioretty gathered the puck after his own miss and dished to the slot from behind the net. Karlsson was streaking in alone and one-timed the puck past Hutton, making it 2-1 at 3:06. Lehner, making his first start since Feb. 19, gave the announced crowd of 18,404 plenty to cheer about in his Vegas debut after being acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline on Monday. Offering an opposite style to athletic and acrobatic starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Lehner used his big body and methodical skills. "Obviously our team plays well structurally," Lehner said. "Going from team to team, you play a little different. I've got to get back to the same habits I had two years ago with Long Island, so I've just got to get some time on the ice, but I felt good." Lehner improved to 17-10-5 this season and 4-2-2 lifetime against the Sabres, whom he played for from 2015-18 "He had a lot of good saves and looked really good there," Karlsson said of fellow-Swede Lehner. "What I noticed was his calmness. He was calm all the time, he had good (rebound) control and just overall a real good game. We just tried to clear (pucks) as much as we did." Buffalo captain Jack Eichel had recorded three two-point games in four career meetings with the Golden Knights, totaling three goals and three assists in those matchups, but Lehner kept him off the stat sheet on Friday. "Lenny's a goalie that's going to make the first save a lot of the time," Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe said of Lehner, his former teammate. "That's kind of his M.O., is making that first save. We needed more second opportunities to get by him tonight." The Sabres' Carter Hutton struggled when his overzealous nature to play the puck in front gave Vegas high-danger chances. Like on Vegas' third goal, when he was caught out of position on one side of the goal and allowed Smith to circle around the back of the net and wrap around an easy goal. "I was just trying to find an angle at the net and wasn't seeing anything, so I just tried to wait for something else to open up and thankfully it did," said Smith, whose 27 goals are a career high. "They were pretty stingy defensively and we were just waiting for opportunities ... if we're frustrating them by just getting pucks deep and making them come 200 feet all the time, sooner or later they're gonna give us some chances." Hutton finished with 24 saves while Dominik Kahun and Jeff Skinner scored for the Sabres, who are in danger of missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season and would extend the NHL's longest active playoff drought. Kahun wasted no time in his debut with the Sabres, after being acquired from Pittsburgh on Monday. Jimmy Vesey, playing in his 300th NHL game, capitalized on the forecheck by swiping a pass from Vegas' Zach Whitecloud. He then found Marcus Johansson, who dropped off the puck for Kahun, who found the top of the net far side for his 11th goal of the season. The Golden Knights tied it later in the first, when Nick Holden created a turnover near the neutral zone, and then led a rush across the blue line. Holden dished it to Nick Cousins, whose patience paid off for a perfect pass to Roy, who followed with an absolutely filthy deke on Hutton for the backhand-to-forehand goal. Smith scored an empty-net goal, and Skinner scored for Buffalo late to provide the final margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 Kopitar scores twice, Kings win in Vegas, 4-1 Game # 67 1 4 By Associated Press Updated: 3 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Anze Kopitar scored twice, rookie Calvin Petersen made 42 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Sunday night. The Kings improved to 6-2-1 in their last nine games, a winning stretch that came on the heels of a 1-9-1 skid that spanned from Jan. 11 to Feb. 9. Los Angeles, which is in last place in the Pacific Division, snapped Vegas' franchise record-tying eight-game win streak. The Golden Knights hadn't lost since a 4-0 defeat in Minnesota on Feb. 11. "Obviously, they were kind of hot, so we wanted to come in here ... and have a good performance," Petersen said, "and I think everybody did their job." It marked the third straight game Golden Knights fans were treated to an exceptional goaltending performance, after Marc-Andre Fleury registered the 61st shutout of his career and Robin Lehner won his debut with Vegas. This time, however, the announced gathering of 18,419 watched Petersen improve to 2-0-0 against Vegas. Petersen was brilliant in stifling the Golden Knights' normally potent offense that clearly was missing Mark Stone, who is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Of his 42 stops, 19 came in the third period. "I made the saves I needed to make, and it worked out," Petersen said. It was the second straight game Petersen held a playoff-contender to just one goal, after beating Pittsburgh on Wednesday, when he stopped 36 shots. The 25-year-old was making just his sixth start of the season -- all since Feb. 8. "We're playing for pride and we're playing for jobs next year, especially for the young guys," said Petersen, who is 3-3-0 with a 2.68 goals-against average and .926 save percentage this season. "It's a great opportunity to get games in and play an important role. We're trying to establish a foundation for next year and years to come, so I think it's a really important time for us." Trevor Lewis and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings. Shea Theodore scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 13 saves. Fleury came in riding a 5-0-0 win streak since Feb. 15, along with a 1.60 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage, but Kopitar cooled off the 16-year-veteran netminder by putting the Kings on top with two first-period goals, including one on the power play. "They're a good home team and any time you can get on the board first, it's beneficial," said Kopitar, who leads the team in goals (20), assists (39) and points (59). "We've played some good hockey lately. There's certainly room for improvement. Tonight, Cal was outstanding, obviously. We were able to beat them on special teams, so that's always huge." The Kings were 2 for 2 with a power-play unit that came in ranked 24th in the league, but victimized a Vegas team that entered with the fourth-worst penalty kill on home ice. After Lewis' nifty spin move around Vegas defenseman Nick Holden beat Fleury far side over his glove to make it 3-0 midway through the second, Vegas got its first goal late in the period. Max Pacioretty clanked a blistering slap shot off the post that rang as loud as any shot ever taken at T-Mobile Arena. Los Angeles' Ben Hutton tried clearing the rebound, but Theodore intercepted the puck in the high slot and beat Petersen before he could recover. After former King Alec Martinez was called for goaltender interference, LA capitalized on the power play again. After stopping Adrian Kempe's slapper from the right circle, Fleury couldn't control the rebound and Iafallo cleaned up the rebound to push Los Angeles' lead back to three goals at 4-1. It was a stark difference from the Golden Knights who finished the month of February with a 10-2-1 record and an .808 points percentage that led the NHL. "I don't know if it was kind of lackadaisical just because we've been winning, but we can't think like that," Vegas forward Paul Stastny said. "We can't look at what we've done in the last couple of weeks. I think our mindset's got to be every game, no matter who we're playing, whether we're playing a top team in the West or a bottom team in the East or vice-versa. "These points are so important for us." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 Lehner gets first shutout of season, Vegas beats Devils 3-0 Game # 68 3 0 By Associated Press Updated: 4 hours ago LAS VEGAS -- Marc-Andre Fleury has been the face of the Vegas Golden Knights since the team joined the league in 2017. Since Robin Lehner was acquired in a trade last month, Vegas coach Pete DeBoer has insisted the Golden Knights have two starting goaltenders. "It's tough, but it's a luxury," DeBoer said. "I think the new NHL, you see everybody's trending towards more rest, fresher guys, using two goalies and it's a great luxury for a coach to have." With two starts under Lehner's belt, DeBoer's enjoying that luxury. Lehner stopped 27 shots in his 300th career game, William Karlsson scored his 100th career goal and the Golden Knights beat the New Jersey Devils 3-0 on Tuesday night. "They traded for me here for a reason, and I'm just doing my best," Lehner said. "It's a great opportunity playing with Fleury. I got the same opportunity with (Chicago's Corey) Crawford and a bunch of other goalies throughout my career and I'm just trying to do the best with the opportunities I'm gonna get." Lehner recorded his first shutout of the season and improved to 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage since joining the Golden Knights. After allowing a goal on the first shot he faced as a Golden Knight, he beat Buffalo in his first start for Vegas. "It'd be tough to let in the first shot again," Lehner said. "It's another step. I'm feeling better and better. The guys played great today, too. ... Just gotta keep building and getting back to my old game. ... It's just gonna get better with time, more practices, getting to know they systems a bit. When I feel comfortable I will be a lot more calm. ... It's easier with the system here." Max Pacioretty scored his team-high 31st goal of the season for Vegas, while Ryan Reaves moved within one goal of tying a career-high with his eighth of the campaign. The Golden Knights improved to 13-3-2 under DeBoer, who took over on Jan. 15 for fired Gerard Gallant. The Devils, meanwhile, hadn't been playing like the 14th-place team in the Eastern Conference of late. They had picked up at least a point on each of the previous four games of their road trip (2-0-2) and overall had earned a point in six straight. Until they ran into arguably the hottest team in the Western Conference. "It was a disappointing effort," said coach Alain Nasreddine, whose Devils have just four regulation losses in 18 games (9-4-5) since the All-Star break. "If you look at our game in general, our execution was atrocious. Our level of focus wasn't great, and our execution cost us a lot of problems." New Jersey's Mackenzie Blackwood, who went 6-0-1 with two shutouts, had a .967 save percentage and a league-best 1.27 goals-against-average during the month of February, made 29 saves. In his two starts against Vegas this season, Blackwood is 0-2-0 and has allowed seven goals. After a flawless first period by both goaltenders, the Golden Knights awakened an announced crowd of 18,290 when Karlsson gathered a loose puck near the high slot in New Jersey's offensive zone, and sent a perfectly placed no-look, backhand pass to Pacioretty, who raced in and beat Blackwood with a wrister from the top of the left circle 45 seconds into the second. Karlsson increased the lead 37 seconds into the third period. Nicolas Roy carried the puck into the slot before dishing to Karlsson, who rifled a one-timer past Blackwood to hit the century mark for his career. After a 20-game drought without a goal, Karlsson has five goals and two assists in the last five games, including a hat trick and two goals during the team's homestand. "It's a little easier to play now that I don't have that goal drought hanging over my shoulders," Karlsson said. "It's nice to get a couple of goals here, play and have fun." Reaves punched in a loose puck during a scramble in front of Blackwood later in the period to provide the final margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 Hellebuyck gets 6th shutout, Jets top Golden Knights 4-0 Game # 69 0 4 By Associated Press Updated: 15 hours ago WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season, leading the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night. Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers each had a goal and an assist, Kyle Connor got his team-leading 36th goal and Mathieu Perreault also scored for the Jets. Hellebuyck was sharp, turning the Golden Knights away on several good chances while tying his career high for shutouts, set during the 2017-18 season. He also was helped by three shots hitting posts. "It's a great milestone, but it's a testament to the guys in front of me and how well we've been playing," Hellebuyck said. "When we bring it, we know we can shut teams down. I thought tonight was a good game." It was the second game of a three-game homestand for the Jets, who have won five straight at home to improve to 19-14-3 at Bell MTS Place this season. "That felt like a typical Winnipeg game," Hellebuyck said. "When our crowd gets into it like that, it's so easy to get some momentum and really carry and push our pace on them. I'm just having a lot of fun and taking every moment in like it might not happen again. So, I'm enjoying it." Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 shots in the loss. "It's hard to create desperation," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "That's a desperate team over there. You look at the standings, they need every single point. I don't know if we feel maybe we don't, which would be a mistake on our part." Winnipeg jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period, starting when Ehlers scored just 32 seconds in. He stickhandled his way behind the Vegas net, then attempted to pass to Laine in front. Instead, the puck went in off the stick of Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves. Laine did get an assist on the goal. "Playing that kind of game against Vegas is hard," Laine said. "They have a really good team. It's not easy to get points from them. It was huge for us because every point matters from now on." Laine gave the Jets a 2-0 lead on the power play at 4:41 of the period. With Nick Cousins off for tripping, Laine pounced on a long rebound off Neil Pionk's point shot and fired the puck past Fleury. Blake Wheeler also assisted. Late in the first, Jack Roslovic intercepted a pass inside his own blue line, skated the length of the ice and made a perfect pass to Connor, who beat Fleury cleanly at 18:10. Connor has scored in five consecutive contests. "(The Jets' start) was everything," DeBoer said. "It was the game. You've got one team that started like they're fighting for their playoff life, and we didn't. The game was over in the first period." Perreault made it 4-0 during a second-period power play. With Jonathan Marchessault off for hooking, Perreault pounced on a loose puck in front of the net and shot it past Fleury. "We started to play in the second period and cleaned up some of the stuff we wanted to do," DeBoer said. "The first period was unacceptable. That's what happens when you're playing desperate teams with great goaltending. When you get in a hole like that, it's hard to come back." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Theodore's scores late, Golden Knights beat Flames 5-3 Game # 70 5 3 By Associated Press Updated: 16 hours ago CALGARY, Alberta -- Shea Theodore scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:10 remaining and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 Sunday night. On the go-ahead goal, Theodore's shot deflected off Calgary's Andrew Mangiapane's stick and past Rittich into the top corner for his 12th. The Flames tied the score earlier in the third period after trailing 3-0 in the second. "That was big," Theodore said. "When a team ties it up late, if anything you don't want to give anybody in the division points. It was a lucky play, but it was a big play. Sometimes you just throw it to the net and good things happen." Nick Holden had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, who regained top spot in the Pacific Division over idle Edmonton. Tomas Nosek, Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas. "Points are so tight this time of year, especially with a back-to-back here and then Edmonton (Monday) night," Theodore said. "I think getting some confidence from tonight and building off that is going to be key going down the stretch." Making his third start for Vegas since being acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, Robin Lehner made 19 saves to improve to 3-0-0 with his new team. "I'm still adjusting a little bit," said Lehner, who improved to 3-0 with his new team. "It was a big two points and we've got to keep building. We battled hard and didn't give them too many chances. They got a break (on the tying goal) and made a pretty good play. It was big, but I thought we played to our structure and battled hard." Marchessault capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 18 seconds left for his 21st. Milan Lucic had a goal and an assist for the Flames, who had won three straight. Dillon Dube and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Calgary. David Rittich had 27 saves to fall to 0-6-1 in his last seven home starts. "Up until the last few minutes of the game, we did exactly what we needed to do," Lucic said. "It's just a tough tip off our own stick right underneath the bar. I mean, he shoots that 100 times, I guarantee you it's not going in 99 out of 100, so it's just a tough one after working ourselves back into the game after being down 3-0." Trailing 3-0, Lucic got the Flames on the scoreboard as he snapped a shot through Lehner's legs at 8:23 of the second period. It was his eighth. Dube pulled Calgary within one 8:09 later as he beat Lehner over his blocker on the power play for his sixth. Tkachuk tied it with 3 minutes remaining in regulation when he took a pass from Mangiapane before lifting a backhand shot past Lehner. "We battled back from their lead and I think did some good things tonight, so we've got to build on that," Dube said. "There's no time to dwell at this time of the year with how tight it is." Nosek opened the scoring at 5:24 of the first period when he deposited a rebound past Rittich, who stopped the initial shot by Ryan Reaves but couldn't get back into position in his net to deny the follow-up attempt. Vegas then went up 2-0 at 11:49 when Holden took a pass from Nick Cousins and snapped a quick shot past Rittich. Calgary appeared to pull within one with a little more than four minutes to go in the opening period when Mikael Backlund swatted a rebound past Lehner, but the goal was disallowed after replays showed Backlund interfered with the goalie before scoring. "After we had that disallowed interference goal, we stared to get on the forecheck, started to get on the body and started winning more puck battles and I felt that's what we weren't doing in the first 15 minutes of the game," Lucic said. Pacioretty put the Golden Knights up 3-0 with a power-play goal at 3:39 of the second when he one-timed a pass from William Karlsson past Rittich. 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.