Adin Hill made 31 saves to help give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-1 victory against the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.
Brayden McNabb scored with an assist for Vegas (31-15-4). Tanner Pearson, Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl also scored. Nicolas Roy had three assists, while Keegan Kolesar added two helpers of his own.
“Tonight was a better game [than the 4-2 loss to Dallas Stars on Friday],” Pearson said. “You don’t want to look too far ahead. You look at the next game and then focus on the game plan from there, but we definitely take some stuff that we did tonight.”
Hill Excellent In Net
Hill was called into action early in the first five minutes, having to stop multiple looks from the Panthers’ offense.
He was up to the challenge and kept the game 0-0 until McNabb scored at 5:26 of the first period. It was all downhill from there, as Hill looked to be rounding back into form.
“We survived the first few minutes there,” Hill said. “Then we got a big goal, and we carried the play the rest of the way.”
Third Line Powers Golden Knights
Between Roy, Kolesar and Pearson, the third line played a major factor in the first two goals for Vegas.
Kolesar created the first goal, driving to the net and delivering the right pass to McNabb, who one-timed it past Florida goalie Spencer Knight.
“Florida has a tendency sometimes to be backchecked and over-pursue the puck,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They want to get it out of your hands in a hurry. So, if you can buy yourself a little time, it brings the D in play in the middle of the ice and open, and [McNabb] happened to be in and found the net.”
Roy created the second goal, being patient, taking a hit and delivered a perfect pass to Pearson, who buried the shot from a sharp angle.
All in all, it was a strong night from the third line, who acted as a steadying force for the Golden Knights.
Hertl, Eichel Continue Streaks
Hertl extended his point streak to nine games at the last possible second with an empty-net goal at 19:31. He has 13 points during that stretch (seven goals, six assists).
Hertl wasn’t the only one to extend his point streak, as Eichel moved his to six games with his goal in the third period. Eichel has eight points (four goals, four assists) in that span.
