Vegas wins big in Vancouver
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Erik Haula scored early in the third period to break a tie and the Vegas Golden Knights went on to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Thursday night.
David Perron, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, into an empty net, also scored for the expansion Golden Knights (11-6-1), who played the Canucks for the first time. The win was just the third in nine games (3-5-1) for Vegas.
Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks (9-8-2), who battled back from a 2-0 first-period deficit.
James Neal started the play that put Vegas ahead in the third by stealing the puck off Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson behind the net. He passed out front to Nate Schmidt, who slid it over to Haula, who knocked home his sixth of the season
Marchessault made it 4-2 at 16:55 with an unassisted goal after defenseman Derrick Pouliot coughed up the puck in the Vancouver zone.
Vancouver goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots. Las Vegas goalie Maxime Lagace made 19 saves.
The Golden Knights went up 2-0 when Perron made a nice move on the opening goal at 3:22. He took a pass from Schmidt then used a pretty toe-drag to get around Daniel Sedin and score his sixth of the season with a low shot to the stick side. Perron has eight points (two goals, six assists) in the last six games. Vancouver's defense was exposed on Karlsson's goal at 13:00. Alex Tuch skated behind the Canucks net, fought off a check from Pouliot, then passed out front. The Canucks' Alex Edler watched as Karlsson lifted a shot into the top of the net.
Vancouver scored the only two goals of the second period to knot the game.
A Golden Knight turnover allowed Boeser to cut the lead in half at 12:31. Oscar Lindberg attempted a pass in his own end that ended up on Boeser's stick. The Canucks rookie made no mistake scoring his sixth of the season.
Horvat made it 2-2 with 2:02 left. Thomas Vanek took a shot that bounced off some legs before Horvat put it past Lagace.
NOTES: Vancouver has allowed the first goal of the game, in the first five minutes, eight times this season. ... RW Jake Virtanen was a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game. D Patrick Wiercioch and C Alex Burmistrov were also healthy scratches for the Canucks. ... The second period ended with 59.7 seconds left when a fan needed medical attention in the stands after being hit by a puck. ... D Shea Theodore returned to the Vegas lineup after being a healthy scratch for three games. ... G Malcolm Subban, out since Oct. 21 with a lower-body injury, returned to practice Wednesday and said he is close to returning. .... Vegas G Maxime Lagace played after leaving in the third period of an 8-2 loss to Edmonton on Tuesday with lower-body soreness. ... Healthy scratches for the Golden Knights were LW Brendan Leipsic and D Jon Merrill.