The Vegas Golden Knights secured yet another come-from-behind win as they knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena. It was the club’s 11th one-goal win of the season.
Vegas got goals from Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson and Brett Howden, while Adin Hill — who played a key role in the win with a 10-save opening frame — made 20 saves on 21 shots for a .952 save percentage.
The Golden Knights were without Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy, who are both considered day-to-day. Tanner Laczynski made his Golden Knights debut, and Cole Schwindt returned to action for the first time since Dec. 4. The two eventually skated on a line with Alexander Holtz, putting together some solid shifts.
But it took a little while for the Golden Knights to get going.
Instead, it was former Golden Knights forward Teddy Blueger who opened the scoring for Vancouver on a rebound goal 8:15 into the contest. There was a little contact in the crease, but the Golden Knights elected not to challenge and risk going shorthanded.
Shortly after surrendering the go-ahead goal, Hill made a sensational save — one of his best of the season — to keep it a 1-0 game in the first, robbing Pius Suter with a diving glove save.
Hill helped Vegas survive a rough first period in which they were outshot 11-5 and trailed in shot attempts (24-9), scoring chances (12-4) and high-danger chances (7-2) with just a 17.66 percent expected goal share.
But Vegas flipped the script in the second period, leading 9-2 in shots, 25-7 in shot attempts, 11-5 in scoring chances and 5-1 in high-danger chances.
This time, the Golden Knights potted the lone goal of the frame to even the score at 1-1.
It was a tightly-defended, low-event period, with just two shots through the first 10 minutes. But Vegas picked up the pace from that point on and finally broke through in the final 2:25 on an unscreened shot from Pietrangelo, who snapped a 14-game goalless drought with his third of the year.
Early in the third period, the Golden Knights had a glorious chance with Canucks netminder Kevin Lankinen down, but Vegas was unable to capitalize in the scramble.
A few minutes later, however, Karlsson gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the game with the eventual game-winner. It was an outstanding shift by Karlsson, who won a battle along the boards, drove to the net and put home his own rebound for his sixth tally of the season.
Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev had a great look on a 2-on-1, but Lankinen took care of Dorofeyev’s bid off a perfect saucer feed from Eichel.
The Golden Knights went to their first power play of the game moments later when Noah Hanifin activated on the rush and forced the Canucks to pull him down. It was Vancouver that had the prime scoring opportunities on Vegas’ casual man-advantage, but Hill made a pair of timely saves to maintain the one-goal lead.
The Golden Knights took complete control of the game late in the period, pinning the Canucks in their end and preventing them from getting the extra attacker on the ice. Once Vancouver did pull Lankinen (in the final minute of regulation), Vegas recovered the puck immediately to set up Howden for the empty-net goal. It was the Golden Knights’ third unanswered goal, and it sealed the 3-1 win.
It was far from a perfect 60-minute effort, but the Golden Knights made the most of their chances, got quality saves from Hill and took care of business after falling behind to come away with two points for their sixth win in seven games this month.
Hill kept Vegas in the game in the first before Vegas slowly but surely got to its game.
Once again, the Golden Knights played a solid defensive game after the first period; their shutdown effort late in the game was particularly noteworthy, but Vegas didn’t allow much of anything in the final 40 minutes. In fact, the Canucks generated just two high-danger chances in the second and third periods. When Vancouver did break in, Hill was there to clean things up.
By the end of the night, the Golden Knights’ line combinations looked comfortable and confident. Tomas Hertl, Tanner Pearson and Keegan Kolesar had several chances, and the Karlsson line with Howden and Victor Olofsson showed obvious chemistry.
Not surprisingly, the top line was the club’s best, and Dorofeyev was a perfect complementary piece to the Eichel-Stone combination. The trio led 14-4 in Corsi, 7-1 in shots and managed an 85.92 percent expected goal share in 14:03.
Dorofeyev and Olofsson may not have found the scoresheet, but the two continue to be key components of Vegas’ offense.
The Golden Knights will host Chandler Stephenson and the Seattle Kraken on Saturday and the Calgary Flames on Monday before heading into the holiday break.
