Golden Knights rout Avalanche, match win-streak record
LAS VEGAS -- Another game, another record for the Vegas Golden Knights.
David Perron, Oscar Lindberg, Cody Eakin and James Neal all scored goals during an 8 1/2 minute span in the second period and Oscar Dansk had 32 saves to lead the Golden Knights to a 7-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.
It was the fifth consecutive win for the Golden Knights (8-1-0, 16 points), matching the longest win streak by any team during its inaugural season in the 100-year history of the NHL, a mark set by the New York Rangers in 1926-27 and equaled by Edmonton Oilers in 1979-80. Vegas had earlier set an NHL record for best start by an expansion team by winning its first three games.
The 23-year-old Dansk, recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on Oct. 19 after injuries to starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and backup Malcolm Subban, was making his second straight start for the Golden Knights and just his second of his NHL career in garnering the first shutout in team history.
The game was tight-checking and featured few scoring chances in the first 30 minutes before Perron stole the puck at the Avalanche blue line and backhanded a shot over Semyon Varlamov on a breakaway to give Vegas a 1-0 at the 9:50 mark of the second period.
Lindberg made it 2-0 just 2 1/2 minutes later with another unassisted goal, stealing the puck from defenseman Chris Bigras near the blue line and firing a shot over the glove of Varlamov into the left corner of the net.
Eakin made it 3-0 when a shot by Neal caromed off the boards straight to him on the right side of the net where he easily fired it past Varlamov. Neal then registered his team-best seventh goal of the season a few minutes later, redirecting a shot from the point by defenseman Colin Miller.
Jonathan Marchessault, Erik Haula and William Carrier added goals in the third period for Vegas.
Varlamov went the entire game and finished with 14 saves in net for Colorado.
NOTES: The Golden Knights activated LW Erik Haula from the injured list prior to the game and sent D Griffin Reinhart to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on a conditioning loan. The team also waived D Jason Garrison for the purpose of assigning him to the Wolves. ... Vegas, which is 2-0-0 on the road so far this season, begins a six-game road trip on Monday night at the Islanders and plays eight of its next nine games away from home. ... Colorado returns home to host the Blackhawks on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center. ... The Avs entered Friday's contest having scored six empty-net goals this season, the most of any team in the NHL and one more than they had the entire 2016-17 season. ... Vegas wore its white road uniforms at home for the first time this season during the rare Friday afternoon start in honor of Nevada Day, a state-recognized public holiday celebrated on the final Friday of October every year to recognize the state's admission to the union. ... Reinhart, LW Brendan Leipsic and D Jon Merrill were scratches for Vegas while D Nikita Zadorov, C Colin Wilson and D Andrei Mironov were scratched by the Avalanche.