Forward William Karlsson scored the game-winning goal at 3:44 of the third period to help give the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
Brett Howden has a goal and an assist. Alex Pietrangelo also scored, while Adin Hill maded 20 saves to help Vegas improve to 21-8-3 on the season.
“Our first period I don’t think went the way we wanted it to tonight, but we turned it on in the second period,” Hill said. “We kind of dominated the play there in the second, and I thought we deserved the win, and we got it tonight.”
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Hill Bounces Back
Hill had one of his poorer performances in his last start against the Edmonton Oilers, where he allowed six goals.
He gave up the first goal of a game – a short shot by former Golden Knight Teddy Blueger. But he bounced back in a big way, making a huge stop on Pius Suter’s shot from the left side. Hill made a diving glove save to preserve the 1-0 game, which ended up being a critical moment early.
He made 13 more saves after stopping Suter, helping the Golden Knights earn the win.
“That save in the first was huge. I mean, everybody’s seen it,” Howden said. “Could have easily their momentum going to make it two. He really kept us in it that first period. There’s not much to say about it. It’s a pretty impressive save.”
Pretty Penalty Kill
It was a relatively clean game from both sides, as only three penalties were called. Both Vegas penalties were called for high sticks when the player was falling to the ice and couldn’t control their stick.
Vancouver came into the game with the ninth-best power play in the league (fifth-best on the road), but the Golden Knights managed to shut them out on both their attempts.
Since Nov. 25, the Golden Knights have only allowed two power-play goals (16-for-18), which has helped bring the Golden Knights to the middle of the pack in the PK category.
“We went over lots of their power plays and the looks they like to have,” Howden said. “But ultimately, I thought we did a good job of staying up on them and limiting them.”
Gritty Golden Knights
There were a lot of space in the rush chances department, so the Golden Knights had to find different ways to score goals.
The first goal by Pietrangelo was a seemingly harmless slapshot that found its way past Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen. The second goal came when Karlsson collected his own rebound and put it into the net.
The game-winner, in particular, was the type of goal Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy wanted to see, given that Vancouver’s defense shut down the rush game.
“We knew [rush chances] weren’t there tonight, so you’re going to have to take something inside sooner or later and kind of muck it around,” Cassidy said. “That’s what happened. It happened in Minnesota. Same thing: net drive by Karlsson, and we put a puck to the net. It happens to hit a body on the way. It wasn’t a fancy goal by any means.”
Just goes to show the versatility of the Golden Knights. They’re capable of scoring goals in a variety of fashions.
Paul Delos Santos is the Las Vegas sports insider for Dice City Sports. Follow him on X at @PaulDelos_.
