The Vegas Golden Knights bested the Pacific Division leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, and a 4-goal first period played a role in the team extending its point streak to 7 consecutive games. Vegas entered the game having won back-to-back games, and they really took it to Vancouver early. Anthony Mantha got things going with a goal 97 seconds into the game, his 22nd of the season, and his 2nd since joining the Golden Knights.
Jonathan Marchessault followed up that strike with one of his own nearly five minutes later, and the score remained 2-0 for nearly three minutes of action.
Vancouver showed some life when Nils Hoglander found the back of the net to make it 2-1 at the near halfway point of the period, but that was short lived as Jack Eichel broke through just 20 seconds later to restore the Golden Knights’ two-goal lead.
A little while later the Golden Knights were on the power play, and Noah Hanifin tallied his first goal since joining the team to make it 4-1.
The score remained that way for the remainder of the period, and Vegas headed to intermission with a decisive 4-1 lead. With 10 seconds remaining in the period Nikita Zadorov took a five-minute major for boarding, and that needless penalty hurt the Canucks in the second period.
With Vegas still on the power play early on in the second period, William Karlsson capitalized with his 26th of the season to push the lead to 5-1.
Quinn Hughes added a pair of goals between the second and third period to make it 5-3, but Brett Howden answered with a goal 24 seconds after Hughes’ second goal to make it 6-3 Golden Knights, and that score stood as final.
Logan Thompson picked up his 23rd victory of the season by making 27 saves, and he’s now won his last four starts. Vegas now sits with a record of 42-25-8 and 92 points, and have a 5-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings who occupy the second Wild Card spot. The Edmonton Oilers are second in the Pacific with 95 points, but they have two games in hand on the Golden Knights.
Vegas is off on Wednesday and Thursday, and they return to action on Friday in Arizona vs. the Coyotes before traveling to play the Canucks in Vancouver on Monday, and the Oilers in Edmonton on Wednesday, April 10th. This string of games could prove to be very important for seeding purposes, and the team deserves a lot of credit for how they’ve turned things around as of late.