The Vegas Golden Knights got back in the win column with a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
After getting shut out Wednesday in Toronto, Vegas bounced back to improve to 12-6-2 on the year.
Notably, the win marked the 400th win of head coach Bruce Cassidy’s career.
Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves in his best performance of the season, and Vegas got goals from Jack Eichel, Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev.
After yielding the first goal in five straight games, the Golden Knights opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the first period.
Eichel set up Ivan Barbashev for a one-timer at the side of the net, which Senators netminder Linus Ullmark stopped. However, Barbashev collected the rebound and set up a wide-open Eichel for his sixth of the year.
Robert Hagg made his Golden Knights debut in place of the injured Alex Pietrangelo, who was a late scratch after a physically taxing game in Toronto. Hagg made an outstanding defensive play in the first period to save a goal, getting a stick on a Josh Norris wraparound at the side of a gaping cage. Hagg finished the game with two shots and five blocks in 8:59.
Overall, it was a solid start for the Golden Knights, who established a forecheck and maintained active sticks through 20 minutes to grab a 1-0 lead.
Samsonov made some big saves in the second, including on Tim Stutzle’s backdoor chance.
The Golden Knights rewarded him with some more goal support as Howden pulled within one of his career high in goals with his eighth of the year off a feed from Barbashev. Howden got just enough on it to beat Ullmark, giving Vegas a 2-0 lead.
Nic Roy and Keegan Kolesar had a 2-on-0 late in the period, and though Roy batted the puck out of the air, he was unable to elevate it over Ullmark’s outstretched pad.
Unlike Wednesday in Toronto, Vegas was able to get to the middle of the ice to generate chances, and the Golden Knights’ strong stick play continued to be an asset in the second as they outshot their opponent 12-8.
But Ottawa’s inevitable push in the final frame made things a little too interesting for Vegas’ liking.
The Senators capitalized on a power play 7:17 into the third as Adam Gaudette beat Samsonov off a behind-the-back feed through the crease. Samsonov had no chance on the goal, though he set up the power play by taking a holding penalty. Vegas was just two seconds away from killing it off when Gaudette ruined Samsonov’s shutout bid.
Exactly two minutes later, the Golden Knights restored their two-goal lead on a beauty from Dorofeyev, who received a centering saucer pass from William Karlsson before beating Ullmark for his 10th of the season. Prior to getting the puck to open ice, Karlsson collected the puck off his skate in the neutral zone before setting up the eventual game-winner.
However, the Senators responded to make it 3-2 at 12:38 as Drake Batherson scored on a rebound after Samsonov stopped the initial attempt from the slot.
The Golden Knights got whistled for too many men, setting up a critical shorthanded situation; however, the penalty kill came through with a clutch effort to preserve the one-goal lead.
Samsonov’s best save of the night came on a sprawling stop on former Golden Knights forward David Perron, who had net to shoot at.
The Senators pulled Ullmark with 90 seconds to go but were unable to net the equalizer.
In the end, the Senators outshot Vegas 18-5 in the third period, but Vegas did enough — and Samsonov was good enough — to hold on for the win.
Samsonov finished the game with a .950 save percentage after turning aside 38 of 40 shots. It was by far his best game of the season after struggling against Washington.
It was a strong bounceback effort by the Golden Knights after getting blanked in Toronto in the first half of the back-to-back. Vegas got off to a much better start and didn’t trail in the contest.
The third period almost got away from them, but the Golden Knights did what they had to do to get the win. In particular, the crucial penalty kill, the key stops by Samsonov, the timely Dorofeyev goal to add some insurance and a collective effort by a shorthanded roster to close out the win.
Vegas is now 11-1-1 all-time against Ottawa.
The win secures a key two points for the Golden Knights, who are now 1-1-0 on their five-game road trip, which picks up again Saturday in Montreal.