The Vegas Golden Knights extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-0 shutout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights followed up Wednesday’s one-sided effort against Toronto with another lopsided win, scoring at least one goal in all three periods to improve to 24-6-3 on home ice.
It was the first game following Friday’s trade deadline, and Reilly Smith skated in his 400th game in a Vegas sweater as he kicked off his second tour of duty with the Golden Knights after being acquired from the New York Rangers on Thursday. He is one of five players in franchise history to reach that milestone.
The night also marked the 600th career game for Jack Eichel, who set a new career high with his 55th assist of the season, giving him 75 points on the year. He is now just three shy of tying the Golden Knights’ single-season record of 78, held by William Karlsson from the inaugural campaign.
Vegas’ play improved throughout the course of the game, and Ilya Samsonov recorded his second shutout of the season with a 22-save effort. He was strong early, stopping all nine shots he faced in the first period before the Golden Knights took over the game.
Tanner Pearson opened the scoring just under 13 minutes into the opening frame off an excellent pass by Mark Stone, who recorded a game-high three points in the contest.
Eichel had a great chance to double Vegas’ lead on the power play towards the end of the period, but Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic made a fantastic save on the one-timer.
However, Vegas did add to its lead on Ivan Barbashev’s 19th of the season 4:38 into the second period. It was the Golden Knights’ second goal on just nine shots.
The Golden Knights were outshot 18-15 through 40 minutes but led 2-0 where it counted. From there, they doubled that lead by scoring on each of their first two shots in the third period.
First, Brandon Saad scored his 10th of the season and third with the Golden Knights to make it 3-0 just two minutes in.
Vegas struck once again just 54 seconds later to make it 4-0 when Stone recorded his 17th of the year for his third point of the game. It was a slick finish to complete a pretty passing play by the top line, with Eichel recording the secondary helper.
It was the second goal of the game for the Stone, Eichel and Pearson line, which combined for six points and looked impressive once again. Stone, in particular, was phenomenal all night.
The Golden Knights turned the pressure up in the third period, outshooting Pittsburgh 12-4 with a 9-2 edge in high-danger chances and a 78.38 percent expected goal share. Vegas confidently closed out the win to improve to 38-18-6 on the year and restore their six-point lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division standings.
Much like Wednesday’s game against Toronto, the Golden Knights relied on strong goaltending early before taking over the game. The third period was a clinic.
Samsonov wasn’t overly tested, but he made timely saves early on, and it was an important win for him.
In the end, Smith recorded one shot in 14:19 and generated two high-danger chances, finishing sixth on the team with 0.23 individual expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick. He got 1:42 of ice time on the power play but did not have an opportunity on the penalty kill since Vegas stayed out of the box.
Smith said that the game “definitely lived up to everything I expected,” admitting that he still had some jitters even after the game but that it was “pretty special” and he was “just trying to soak it in.”
He said he was “trying to catch up to speed as quickly as possible. The system’s a little different. There’s things that’ll definitely get better. Just overall as a game, I think it went pretty well. I think our team did a great job just keeping the puck going north and making the most of our chances.”
Vegas continues to improve its game and remains red-hot coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The Golden Knights have won five of six since returning and are winners of seven of their last eight overall.
The Golden Knights are a perfect 4-0-0 on their current five-game homestand, which they will wrap up on Sunday against Los Angeles before hitting the road for a four-game swing starting Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.