The Vegas Golden Knights (26-16-14) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks (18-33-6) Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights scored the first two goals of the game and never trailed, and their two goals in the span of 60 seconds early in the third period helped close out the win in the peniultimate game ahead of the Olympic break.
Kai Uchacz made his NHL debut in place of the injured Jonas Rondbjerg, playing 11:49 and recording five hits. But Akira Schmid, who will represent Switzerland in the upcoming Olympics, stole the game with a diving glove save in the second period that will be a “Save of the Year” finalist.
The game marked the final time the Golden Knights would wear the original gray jerseys as part of the regular rotation, and they found a way to make it count, securing a critical two points.
Neither team lit the lamp in the opening 20 minutes, though the Golden Knights had a glorious chance when Jeremy Lauzon came out of the penalty box. However, Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen made a big stop for the Canucks to keep it scoreless.
Unlike the recent trend, the Golden Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period rather than falling into a two-goal hole.
Bruce Cassidy put Mark Stone back on the top line to start the second period, and it paid off quickly. In fact, Jack Eichel got things started with his 20th marker of the year just 5:09 into the middle frame.
Eichel snapped a five-game goalless drought with a well-placed snipe over the pad of Lankinen.
Cole Reinhardt followed suit with a fantastic individual move just 1:25 later. It was an impressive shift by the fourth line, particularly for Reinhardt and Braeden Bowman, who set up his linemate in front of the net.
Cassidy praised the two for making the right plays in the neutral zone leading up to the goal.
“[Reinhardt] made a smart play,” Cassidy said. “Got it to a safe place where Bowman wins a race, then wins the battle. Now Reinhardt wins his race into the middle of the ice, they duplicate, and all of a sudden you’re on a breakaway.”
But the Canucks answered just 37 seconds later, as defenseman Elias Pettersson cut Vegas’ lead in half at 7:11.
It was one Schmid would like to have back.
Fortunately for him, however, it took just 28 seconds for the Golden Knights to restore their two-goal lead.
For the fourth game in a row, Ivan Barabashev found twine, netting what proved to be the game-winner with his 16th of the season.
The Golden Knights led 3-1 after the two clubs combined for four goals in the span of just 2:30.
The Canucks threatened to pull within one when Pierre-Olivier Joseph had a wide-open net and Schmid appeared down and out. However, the Vegas netminder dove across the crease to make a sensational stop, committing highway robbery on the Vancouver defenseman.
The play was reviewed to determine if the puck crossed the goal line, though Vegas could have challenged for goaltender interference. In the end, that didn’t prove necessary, as Schmid’s spectacular effort kept the puck out of the net.
The Golden Knights seemed poised to take that two-goal lead into the locker room, but Joseph got his revenge with a weak shot from the point that somehow found its way into the back of the cage. This made it a 3-2 game with just nine seconds left in the period.
It was a disappointing finish for the home team, making it paramount for the Golden Knights to come out strong in the third period.
To their credit, the Golden Knights got right down to business, scoring two quick goals a minute apart in the first 3:31 of the frame.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored his 25th of the year at 2:31 off a feed from Mitch Marner from the wall.
The Golden Knights struck again 60 seconds later when Alexander Holtz and the third line joined in on the fun. Keegan Kolesar’s wraparound bid bounced to Holtz, who made no mistake.
The two insurance markers gave Vegas a three-goal lead, which they held on to the rest of the way to come away with a much-needed two points.
It wasn’t a perfect effort, but the Golden Knights did what they had to do to stop the bleeding from the five-game losing streak.
“We got the first goal. That’s always good,” Eichel joked. “I don’t think by any means it was our best game, but we found a way to win, and that’s what matters. … It was good to come out in the third and get a few insurance goals and win the game.”
The Golden Knights got goals from all four lines, and Schmid made his presence felt with key saves throughout the night, none more significant (or memorable) than his second-period showstopper.
Schmid said he didn’t see much on the play. “I kind of got stuck there, so you know you just kind of throw whatever you have over there, and lucky enough I got the puck. … You don’t really think, you just kind of hope you get a piece of it.”
The miraculous save may not have saved the game, especially since Joseph scored before the end of the period, but it was a defining moment in the contest, and it still played a role in helping the Golden Knights come out on top.
“It’s a huge save,” Eichel said. “He’s made some huge saves this year for us, and that was a highlight-reel save. … Sometimes it’s a timely one, and that was a pretty timely one for us. Tons of credit to him.”
Cassidy also discussed the importance of the save.
“Big saves get everyone going,” Cassidy said. “The bench gets excited, obviously people on the ice do because there’s been a breakdown somewhere, so they know the goalie’s had their back and they can move on. And then for the team, obviously the way things have been going lately, it’s been a grind for us to extend leads or get that timely save, so I thought it helped in both aspects.”
The Golden Knights still gave up a deflating goal in the final 10 seconds of that same period, which could have shifted the momentum. Instead, the Golden Knights took back control right away in the third.
“The end of the period was a tough one,” Cassidy said about Joseph’s goal, though he recognized that the Golden Knights didn’t let things unravel from there. “It was good to start the third period on our toes, not give [the Canucks] life. That was important.”
Eichel said he liked the team’s effort in the final frame, especially after the late goal.
“Any time the other team scores, you want to have a response, so it’s good to find a way to get the goal back after you give one up,” Eichel said. “Credit to the guys, sticking with it, finding a way in the third period, getting a couple goals and putting the game away.”
Uchacz did not look out of place in his first taste of NHL action.
“I thought he did a good job,” Cassidy said. “He was trying to be physical when he could. Competed hard in the circle. … Good for Kai. He’s got one under his belt now. He’s done good work down in Henderson, and ideally for an organization, if you can reward the guys that kind of work their way up and play hard down there, that’s what we want to do if we can. So good on them,” he said, referring to Uchacz, Bowman and goaltender Carl Lindbom.
Uchacz said it was a “dream come true” to make his NHL debut and to do so in front of his family members, many of whom were in attendance.
“It was awesome,” he said. “[Our line was] able to kind of keep it simple, play behind them. I thought it was a good start. I was able to get on the forecheck all night. Third period, I found I was able to get a little physical. Forecheck, get some hits. That’s something I like to bring to my game.”
Uchacz said Bowman and Reinhardt helped him settle in. “Both those guys were chatting with me all night, supporting me, talking, and it was awesome,” he said.
The reunited top-line trio of Eichel, Barbashev and Stone was particularly dominant, scoring twice in the first eight minutes of the second period and finishing the game with a 16-1 edge in Corsi and 10-1 advantage in shots to go along with a 97.03 percent expected goal share. Not to mention the fact that the line outscored the opposition 2-0, including the game-winner.
This was a must-win game that could have been a trap, though the Golden Knights came away with the two points they had to have. That being said, the Canucks are the worst team in hockey, and they demonstrated why for large stretches of this game.
Even so, a win is a win, and the Golden Knights have struggled to find them lately. For this to truly count, though, the Golden Knights will have to follow it up with another strong showing tomorrow against the Los Angeles Kings, who recently acquired Artemi Panarin (though he is not expected to be in the lineup).
The Kings are a totally different beast, so the Golden Knights need to build on this performance and head into the Olympic break with four out of four points in this back-to-back set.
“We just gotta go in and play our game,” Eichel said. “It seems like every time we play [Los Angeles], it’s a tight match. They defend well, they have some good offensive talent, obviously added someone today, so we’re gonna need our best effort tomorrow. Come back and find a way to win, and that’s really it.”
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Photo via Golden Knights