The Golden Knights third period troubles have been well documented, as they’ve struggled to hold onto leads in the closing stanza.
That wasn’t the case Thursday night in Vancouver, as Vegas scored three times in the final 20 minutes to notch an impressive 5-2 win over the Canucks.
The Golden Knights led 2-0 after one period thanks to goals by David Perron and WIlliam Karlsson, but Vancouver would rally. The Canucks scored a pair of goals in the second to tie the game heading into the third period, and Vegas dominated from that point.
The game winning goal came with 13:33 remaining and was sparked by a great hustle play by James Neal. The 30-year-old forward stole the puck behind the Canucks’ goal and chipped it in front of the net to Perron. Perron calmly fed the puck across the ice to Erik Haula, who slapped it into the net to make it 3-2.
Jonathan Marchessault iced the game with a goal on a breakaway after another turnover by Vancouver, and Reilly Smith ended the game with an empty net goal.
Perron’s goal and assist stretched his career-long point streak to six games. He has two goals and seven assists during that span.
The win elevates the Golden Knights to 11-5-1 on the season and they will return to Las Vegas for a Sunday game against the division-leading Los Angeles Kings.
Golden Knights and Canucks tied after two periods
The Golden Knights had played nearly flawless in their own zone through the first 32 minutes in Vancouver, but it ended when Oscar Lindberg slid a puck right in front of his own goal.
Canucks’ forward Brock Boeser took the pass and buried it into the Golden Knights’ net behind Maxime Lagace to cut Vegas’ lead to 2-1.
Minutes later the Canucks tied the game 2-2 when a puck slid through a crowd in front of the net and onto the stick of Bo Horvat, who put it into the goal with 2:42 left in the second period.
The Golden Knights outshot Vancouver 12-6 in the middle stanza. Lagace made an outstanding save on Brandon Sutter, who walked in on a breakaway but couldn’t beat Lagace’s pad.
Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt briefly left the game after a puck was deflected into his face, but he later returned with a gash on his chin.
It’s the first time this season the Golden Knights have entered the third period with a tie.
Golden Knights lead 2-0 after first period
David Perron extended his point streak to a career-long six games Thursday night when he glided around the Vancouver defense and fired the puck into the bottom corner of the net.
The goal was Perron’s eighth point in the last six games, and gave Vegas an early 1-0 lead over the Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Later in the period William Karlsson scored his seventh goal of the season to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead after a spectacular individual performance by Alex Tuch. Tuch started the shift with relentless forechecking that resulted in a turnover, then bullied his way through the Canucks’ defense to the back of the net. From there, Tuch passed it to Karlsson in front of the goal, who lifted the puck into the top of the net.
The Canucks outshot the Golden Knights 10-7 in the first period but none threatened goaltender Maxime Lagace.
Vegas looked much sharper through 20 minutes after the disappointing effort on Tuesday night in Edmonton, and lead 2-0 after one period.
Pre game
When the Golden Knights raced out to the best start by an expansion team in NHL history, they bought themselves a lot of leeway. Because of that 8-1-0 start, Vegas has remained in second place in the Pacific Division standings despite going 2-5-1 since.
Tonight the slack in the rope runs out, as a loss in Vancouver could send the Golden Knights tumbling from second to fourth in the division, with the opportunity to fall as low as sixth before their next game.
Vegas will start Maxime Lagace in goal. The rookie was pulled from Tuesday night’s 8-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers after giving up seven goals on 29 shots. Lagace has a save percentage of .931 at T-Mobile Arena this season, but only .849 on the road.
Starting in goal for the Canucks is Jacob Markstrom, who has lost three of his last four starts and given up at least three goals in each of them.
It will be strength against strength tonight, as the Golden Knights’ No. 4 ranked offense (3.5 goals per game) goes up against the Canucks’ No. 5 ranked defense (2.6 goals per game).
Vegas should get an added offensive boost with Shea Theodore in the lineup in place of Jon Miller. Theodore has recorded only one assist in his three active games since being called up from the American Hockey League, but will likely play on the power play tonight and gives the Golden Knights an extra weapon on the blue line.
Prediction : Golden Knights 5, Canucks 3
Season record for predictions: 9-7
Puck drops: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink Prism 1760, Dish Network 5414)
Betting line: Golden Knights plus-130, Total 6 minus-115 to the under
Golden Knights (10-5-1) (3-4-1 away)
Coach: Gerard Gallant
Goal leader: James Neal (10)
Assist leader: David Perron (10)
Expected goalie: Maxime Lagace (2-5-1, 4.13 goals against average)
Vancouver Canucks (9-7-2) (3-4-2 home)
Coach: Travis Green
Goal leader: Bo Horvat and Derek Dorsett (7)
Assist leader: Brock Boeser (10)
Expected goalie: Jacob Markstrom (5-6-2, 2.52 goals against average)
Golden Knights game day roster
Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Oscar Lindberg, Brendan Leipsic, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, David Perron, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch.
Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Brad Hunt, Brayden McNabb, Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore.
Goalies (2): Maxime Lagace and Dylan Ferguson
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