The Vegas Golden Knights returned to action after the extended 4 Nations Face-Off break and picked up where they left off, securing their third consecutive win with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
It wasn’t a complete 60-minute effort, but the Golden Knights took care of business to collect an important two points.
In his first game at The Fortress, Brandon Saad scored the game-winning goal just 18 seconds into the third period. Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl also scored for Vegas, and Adin Hill stopped 33 of 34 shots for a .971 save percentage. He was particularly sharp in the third period during Vancouver’s push for the equalizer, turning aside all 19 shots he faced.
The Golden Knights outshot the Canucks 13-5 in the opening frame, but both Hill and Canucks netminder Kevin Lankinen were perfect through 20 minutes. Lankinen was excellent for Vancouver and was the difference early, especially given Vegas had three power plays in the first.
The Golden Knights carried the better of the play in the second period as well, but it was Jake DeBrusk who opened the scoring with his 20th of the year at 6:22.
The Golden Knights finally solved Lankinen just over 11 minutes into the period on Barbashev’s first goal since Dec. 14, making it a 1-1 game.
Saad then gave Vegas its first lead of the night when he scored 18 seconds into the third period. It was his first goal in front of the Vegas faithful and his second in five games as a member of the Golden Knights. Saad scored three goals in his previous 29 games with St. Louis before signing in Sin City.
The Canucks poured on the pressure for the rest of the period, testing the Vegas defense and Hill with 19 shots and 35 shot attempts.
It appeared as though the Canucks had tied the game at 2-2, but former Golden Knights forward Teddy Blueger made blatant contact with Hill in the crease, leading the referees to waive off the goal.
Hill’s best sequence of the night came just over midway through the third when he made three excellent saves to preserve the 2-1 lead.
Vegas had to dig deep in the third, but an empty-net goal by Hertl iced the win with 31 seconds remaining. It was Hertl’s 22nd goal of the season.
The Golden Knights (34-17-6) are now in first place in the Pacific Division with 74 points after Edmonton suffered a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. However, Edmonton (72 points) has a game in hand and will be in action tomorrow against Washington.
Interestingly, the Golden Knights skaters who participated in the 4 Nations tournament (i.e., Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Noah Hanifin) weren’t noticeably sharper than the rest of the team. That being said, the Eichel line was Vegas’ most effective. Eichel, Barbashev and Victor Olofsson finished with a 16-7 edge in Corsi, 8-2 lead in shots and a 90.46 percent expected goal share in 9:36.
Hill, on the other hand, delivered an impressive performance after backing up Jordan Binnington in Montreal and Boston. It was Hill’s second straight win after going 1-2-2 in his previous five starts, yielding four goals in each of the four losses. He is now 21-10-4 on the year.
Tanner Pearson was activated off injured reserve prior to the game; he recorded one hit in 10:12 in his first game since Feb. 2.
The Golden Knights will face another division opponent when they hit the ice Tuesday in Los Angeles before wrapping up the month against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
