The Vegas Golden Knights secured their second consecutive regulation win with a 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights, now 3-0-2 on the year, found themselves chasing once again but were able to mount yet another comeback to extend their season-opening point streak to five games.
Five different players scored for Vegas, and special teams accounted for three of the team’s six goals.
First period
For the fifth time this season and the 15th consecutive game (including the preseason and the final three games of last year’s second-round series against Edmonton), the Golden Knights yielded the first goal of the night.
It came off the stick of Tanner Jeannot just 2:05 into the contest, and it was the first of many goals in what proved to be a back-and-forth thriller.
The Golden Knights answered quickly, though, as Pavel Dorofeyev potted his sixth of the year at 3:35 of the opening frame. Mitch Marner set Dorofeyev up on the breakaway, and Dorofeyev made no mistake, pulling even with Shane Pinto for the most goals in the NHL.
With 3:16 left in the period, the Bruins grabbed their second one-goal lead of the game, as defenseman Nikita Zadorov scored from the point with traffic in front.
But, once again, Vegas had the response, this time off the stick of Cole Reinhardt for his first goal with the Golden Knights.
The two clubs went to intermission tied at 2-2.
Second period
Special teams took center stage in the middle frame.
But before a plethora of power plays on both sides, Jack Eichel scored his fifth of the season to give Vegas its first lead of the night. It was a fortunate bounce for Eichel, whose shot deflected off a Bruins stick before fluttering over Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman to make it 3-2 at 4:14.
The Golden Knights got the first power play of the game at 5:27. The previously perfect (14-for-14) Boston penalty kill went to sleep, however, allowing Mark Stone’s pass from down low across to Dorofeyev on the backdoor not once but twice. Somehow, both of Dorofeyev’s attempts stayed out, though Tomas Hertl got a piece of the puck on a rebound to make it a 4-2 game.
Vegas got another power play, and then Hertl drew his second high-sticking penalty of the period to set up 90 seconds of 5-on-3 power-play time for the home team.
The Golden Knights moved the puck very well and had multiple high-danger chances with extended, high-pressure zone time, but Swayman’s spectacular play prevented Vegas from taking a three-goal lead. Swayman also got some help from Zadorov, who denied Stone in front.
Then, it was Boston’s turn to have a go on the power play, and it took less than a minute for David Pastrnak to cash in. The dangerous Pastrnak delayed and changed the angle of his shot before beating Akira Schmid five-hole on a screen to make it 4-3.
The Golden Knights took another penalty later in the frame, giving Boston a prime opportunity to reset the score. Instead, it was the power kill that took advantage.
Stone picked off a pass, flipped the puck over to William Karlsson and then beat Pastrnak to the middle of the ice. Karlsson fed the puck back to Stone, who ripped one off the post. Karlsson followed the play to the net and put home the rebound for his first goal of the season.
Vegas’ struggling penalty kill picked up its first shorthanded goal of the year to give Vegas a two-goal lead through 40 minutes.
Third period
The Bruins took their third high-sticking penalty of the game early in the third, and Karlsson struck once again, this time on the power play. Karlsson collected a pass from Marner, skated down the wall, cut to the net and danced around Swayman for his second of the game. It was his 399th point as a member of the Golden Knights.
But the three-goal lead didn’t last long.
Just 1:46 later, Mark Kastelic scored right off the draw to make it 6-4.
The Bruins then pulled within one just 67 seconds after that, as Michael Eyssimont beat Schmid five-hole on a goal Schmid would like to have back.
But despite the narrowing of the lead, the Golden Knights didn’t stop pushing offensively. Vegas continued to get chances, several of which hit the post.
The Vegas penalty kill came up with a huge kill in the middle of the period after Hertl crashed into Swayman. Stone left the ice hunched over and bleeding after going into the boards but later returned to the game. It was the second frightening moment for Vegas, as Eichel had blocked a shot on an earlier penalty kill and appeared to be in terrible pain on the bench. Both finished the game.
Down by one, the Bruins pulled Swayman with 1:18 remaining in the third, but Boston was forced to take a penalty when Ivan Barbashev nearly broke free on a 2-on-1.
It was Vegas’ sixth power play, and a conservative effort allowed the Golden Knights to close out the 6-5 win.
This was the kind of game coaches hate but fans love.
Plenty of goals, plenty of action, plenty of excitement.
Not a lot of defense, not much discipline, some questionable goaltending and a wild and frenetic pace.
But the Golden Knights took care of business, and they created and produced a lot offensively. The two goals scored by Boston in the third period were ones Schmid should have had, so this was closer than it needed to be.
But the Golden Knights continued to push the pace offensively and were able to hold off the Bruins.
Despite surrendering five goals on 24 shots, Schmid improves to 5-0-1 as a member of the Golden Knights, which is the best record through six games in franchise history. Schmid made some key saves earlier in the game, including one on Pastrnak after Vegas’ extended power play failed to convert. Schmid is 3-0-0 this season, though it was a particularly rough outing (ironically) on the same day the Golden Knights signed Carter Hart to a PTO.
But Vegas did enough offensively to make up for an off night, particularly on special teams, as the Golden Knights scored two power-play goals and a shorthanded tally. Though the penalty kill gave up a goal to make it 4-3 in the second period, the Golden Knights came up with two important kills at the end of the second as well as midway through the third when Boston trailed by just one.
Vegas got offense from throughout the lineup, with members of each line chipping in offensively. It’s clear this team has plenty of offensive weapons, but the fact that so many different players are contributing this early on is a good sign. The chances are there; even Kaedan Korczak had a breakaway attempt on his way out of the box.
But the five forwards on the top power play were particularly dynamic.
Eichel scored a goal and an assist to set a franchise record for most points (11) through the first five games of the season. He leads the NHL in scoring, though he could have added even more to his point total as he continues to demonstrate a willingness to shoot. He recorded nine shots (Stone and Hertl both had six). Eichel has points in every game this season.
The same is true of Stone, who leads the league with nine assists after recording three more in Vegas’ third win of the year.
Marner and Dorofeyev had multi-point nights, and Hertl netted his first of the year in his best overall effort of the season.
Additionally, it was a fantastic performance by Karlsson, who scored two goals on special teams, including one on the power play and one on the power kill, which proved to be the game-winner.
The Golden Knights continue to collect important points, though they’ll eventually need to find a way to score first. They’ll have a chance to do so when they host the Flames on Saturday.