Perron's OT goal vs. Jets gives Golden Knights 34th win

Associated Press

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- The Vegas Golden Knights have already made some NHL history. They're far from finished with what they want to accomplish this season.

David Perron scored 3:57 into overtime to lead Vegas past the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Thursday night for the Golden Knights' 34th victory, the most by an NHL expansion team in its debut season. They surpassed the mark set by both Florida and Anaheim in the 1993-94 season.

"It doesn't mean a whole lot right now, to be honest with you," said Gerard Gallant, who has coached his team to a Western Conference-leading 34-12-4 record, one point back of league-best Tampa Bay.

The Jets had the puck rolling in the crease three times in the extra period, but it couldn't get it into the net. Perron then fired a high shot past Connor Hellebuyck to win it.

"We're just trying to battle and get two points again every night and that's what we're trying to do," Gallant said. "But you know, at the end of the season we'll look at it and be happy, I'm sure."

Winnipeg's Kyle Connor had tied it with a high shot to Marc-Andre Fleury's glove side with 2:36 left in the third period. Joel Armia also had a goal and one assist for Winnipeg.

Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the Jets (30-13-9), who were trying to set a franchise record with their eighth straight home win.

Fleury stopped 24 shots for Vegas (34-12-4). It was his 389th win, putting him into a tie for 13th among NHL goaltenders.

"That's (Fleury) for you right there. He loves those kinds of moments," Perron said of the overtime scrambles. "I don't know how the puck stayed out, but he found a way to keep it out."

Reilly Smith had a short-handed goal and Erik Haula scored a controversial goal on the power play for Vegas.

Haula's go-ahead goal came with 1:30 left in the second period. Golden Knights forward James Neal was in front of Winnipeg's net and broke his stick with a swing to Hellebuyck's mask. The puck was under the netminder and Haula reached in his stick from the other side of the crease and knocked it in.

The Bell MTS Place crowd started screaming and Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice challenged for goaltender interference, but a review upheld the goal. The NHL Situation Room released an explanation stating no infraction had occurred.

"What (the official) said is the puck wasn't covered, it was laying in the crease, so the guy was allowed to take a two-hand smack to my face," Hellebuyck said. "I don't understand it. I think it's a terrible call. You would think the video replay is there for that reason."

It had Jets captain Blake Wheeler frustrated, too.

"The explanation was that the puck was behind the goalie, which gives their player the right to break his stick over (Hellebuyck's) head," Wheeler said. "There's been an outcry with the league to get this right. We were told before the game that it was going to be a little bit cleaner, they were going to be looking for goalie interference. It's the first time I've seen a guy break a stick over a goalie's head."

Maurice also questioned the explanation.

"I don't know how there would be an event that would be more egregious with goaltender interference, just beyond the spirit of the rule," Maurice said. "The idea that a guy could clean a goalie out would be goalie interference, but a two-hand to the head wouldn't. What are we going to do with our goalies now? The puck's loose in the crease, so swing away?"

Winnipeg led 1-0 after the first period, thanks to a gaffe by Fleury. The veteran goalie went behind the net to get the puck, but the Jets' Matt Hendricks stole it and passed it out to Armia, who was in front of the empty net to score his 10th of the season.

Winnipeg got its second power play of the game midway through the second, but the visitors' pressuring penalty kill led to Smith's tying goal. Smith stole the puck from Jets captain Blake Wheeler inside Winnipeg's blue line and beat Hellebuyck with a high shot on the breakaway at 12:10.

Haula's goal came during the visitors' first power play of the game. The goal extended Haula's point streak to seven games, with four goals and five assists.

Connor scored his 17th goal with 2:36 on a pass from the boards by Armia.

NOTES: Perron also had an assist for Vegas, giving him a seven-game point streak with four goals and six helpers. ... Vegas outshot the Jets 27-25 going into overtime.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: play their third game of a six-game road trip Friday in Minnesota

Jets: continue their 10-game homestand with the third game Saturday against Colorado.

Marchessault keys late flurry as Knights stun Flames 4-2

Associated Press

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- With a flurry of quick goals in the waning moments, the Vegas Golden Knights rallied for a record-tying victory Tuesday night.

Jonathan Marchessault scored the go-ahead goal and added an assist as the Golden Knights scored three times in the final two minutes for a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

Vegas' 33rd victory tied the 1993-94 Florida Panthers and 1993-94 Anaheim Mighty Ducks for the most by a first-year expansion team. The Golden Knights still have 33 games remaining.

"We're a good team and we deserve a lot of the things that we've gotten," Erik Haula said. "We try to play hard night after night and we have one of the best goalies in the league."

Just 10 seconds after Haula tied it 2-all at 18:14 of the third period, Marchessault got around Mark Giordano and beat Calgary goalie Mike Smith.

David Perron scored into an empty net and Reilly Smith also had a goal for Western Conference-leading Vegas (33-12-4) in the opener of a six-game road trip.

Matthew Tkachuk got his seventh goal in the last eight games for the Flames (25-17-8), who lost in regulation for the first time in 12 games. They had gone 7-0-4 since last losing in regulation on Dec. 29.

Sam Bennett also scored for Calgary.

The tying goal was a bizarre one. Flames forward Michael Frolik got the puck in his own end and, in trying to pass it back to a defenseman, put the puck on Calgary's net instead. Mike Smith stopped it with his pad but Haula knocked in the rebound, stunning the home crowd.

"My fault," said Frolik, who was playing his first game after missing 12 with a broken jaw. "Puck came to me and I panicked a little bit. I should have turned and cleared the puck from our zone, and I saw (TJ Brodie) there and I just tried to pass it to him, but I passed it to his backhand. You guys saw what happened. An awful play."

Off the ensuing faceoff, Marchessault got the puck off the boards, darted around Giordano and beat Mike Smith over his glove.

"Like the rest of you, I'm a little bit in shock," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "It's games like this. They sting. They hurt. They hurt every guy. They hurt everybody here. But it's how you react to it, and the good teams can get back after a tough one like this, and that's what we're going to have to do."

It was the first time in the last two seasons that Calgary lost in regulation when leading after two periods. The Flames had been 50-0-3 during that stretch.

"It's tough to swallow," said Bennett, who scored his seventh goal. "We played a great game up until the last two minutes. It shows you what can happen if you take your foot off for a second."

Calgary took a 2-1 lead at 18:43 of the second on a beautiful wraparound goal by Tkachuk.

The 20-year-old faked as though he was carrying the puck behind the net and spun back in the other direction. Not realizing that, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury left both feet to desperately dive headfirst toward the far post, only for Tkachuk to tuck the puck inside the near post.

Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Flames tied it 6:02 into the second when Bennett slid a puck under Fleury as he cut in off the wing.

Vegas opened the scoring at 16:03 of the first when its sizzling power play converted its first try of the night. As he skated through the slot, Reilly Smith deflected Marchessault's point shot past Mike Smith.

Mike Smith responded right after that with perhaps his biggest stop of the night. Less than 20 seconds later, William Karlsson got behind the Calgary defense, but as he attempted a deke, Mike Smith smothered the shot with his trapper.

Mike Smith finished with 31 stops and fell to 20-14-6.

Fleury, tested 33 times, improved to 13-4-2.

NOTES: Frolik returned to his spot on a line with Mikael Backlund and Tkachuk. ... It was the first of four matchups between the teams this season. ... Haula and Perron extended their point streaks to six games.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Play at Winnipeg on Thursday night.

Flames: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Johnston nets 1st career goal, Isles top Golden Knights 2-1

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) – The New York Islanders joined the Edmonton Oilers as the only teams in the NHL to defeat the surprising Vegas Golden Knights twice this season.

Ross Johnston scored the first goal of his NHL career, helping New York complete a season sweep by defeating the Golden Knights 2-1 on Thursday night.

New York, which concluded the first half of the season by scoring a point in six of its last eight games (5-2-1), sits just one point back in the wild-card race and eight points back of Metropolitan Division-leading Washington.

"I think we've played some better hockey," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "We did good things today and it's got to be something that'll be fun to watch on the flight home. We were starving for a 2-1 game, we got it against the best team in the league and it's really exciting."

Jordan Eberle also scored for the Islanders, while Jaroslav Halak had 38 saves.

"I think right now we need any points," Halak said. "Tonight wasn't any different. I think it was a really good road trip for us. We didn't get three wins, but we got five points out of six and we should be happy about it."

Vegas (32-12-4) was looking to tie the 1993-94 Florida Panthers for the NHL record for most wins in an inaugural season with 33. It was just the third home loss for the Golden Knights, who are now 19-3-2 at T Mobile Arena.

Erik Haula scored the lone goal for the Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury, who will represent Vegas on the Pacific Division roster in the All-Star game, stopped 23 shots.

"It's disappointing after tonight, but if you look at since the beginning of the season, I think we can be proud of our team to be where we're at right now," Fleury said. "That's what we all try for, winning games and having success. That's why we've had success all season long. I bet if you asked me in September if I would be surprised, I probably would say yes. But seeing the way this team has been playing since the beginning of the season, I'm not too surprised."

Johnston, who was recalled from AHL's Bridgeport on Jan. 19, gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead in the second period after his shot was deflected Golden Knights center Cody Eakin, who was looking to prevent a pass to the crease, and inadvertently knocked the puck past Fleury.

The Islanders took a 2-0 lead off a turnover as Eberle beat Fleury with a point-blank wrist shot in front of the net. Rookie Mathew Barzal picked up his 35th assist of the season, including his fourth in as many games.

With 3 seconds left on a power play, Haula got Vegas on the board when he tipped David Perron's shot from the top past Halak with a little more than five minutes left in the game.

Though Vegas found some energy late in the game, it wasn't the same energy it's normally ignited by in its own arena. The loss snapped Vegas' home points streak at 12 games (10-0-2).

"We weren't as crisp as we usually are, we mishandled a lot of pucks, we weren't as sharp as usual," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We looked OK at times, and we looked like we had some good pressure, but for the most part the execution wasn't there tonight like it usually is. Up until now we played really well. It's too bad we couldn't find a way to get a point or two tonight."

New York, which came in ranked 30th both on the road (70.0 percent) and overall (73.8) with their penalty kill, were 1 for 2 with one man down. The Islanders also did a good job to slow Vegas' transition game, while also keeping its hottest scoring threat in check for most of the game.

William Karlsson, who has the second-most goals in the league with 27, was limited to just one shot. Karlsson had recorded a point in each of his previous four games, a total of five points, with four goals and one assist.

"We just got pucks in and played a great road game," Weight said. "They're a good hockey club. They're going to get their chances. We played a great game, we frustrated them and hopefully we can look back and say this vaulted us somewhat.

"When you look at it going into the break and two teams have left this building in four months with two points, it's pretty special and it's something we have to feed off of."

NOTES: The Islanders improved to 2-11-2 when they do not score three goals. They are 23-6-2 when scoring at least three. ... As the teams head to the All-Star break, Islanders center John Tavares will participate in his fifth consecutive game. ... Tavares will be joined by Josh Bailey who is making his first trip to All-Star weekend. It's the first time the Islanders have had two representatives at the event since the 2014-15 season. ... Fleury remains two victories away from moving into a tie for 13th all-time among goaltenders with 389.

UP NEXT

Islanders: host Florida on Tues. Jan. 30

Golden Knights: open a six-game road trip at Calgary on Tues. Jan. 30

Fleury, Golden Knights beat Lightning 4-1

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Marc-Andre Fleury and Vegas Golden Knights went on the road and posted a big win against another Stanley Cup contender.

This expansion team is showing no signs of slowing down.

Fleury made 28 saves, David Perron had a goal and an assist, and the Golden Knights beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 Thursday night in a matchup of conference leaders.

"A great statement," Vegas winger James Neal said.

Neal, Nate Schmidt and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, who swept the two-game season series with the NHL-leading Lightning.

"They are a great challenge for us, the best team in the league," Fleury said. "We had a great game. The guys held the puck, took their timing away."

The Golden Knights needed just 44 games to become the fifth team in NHL history to reach 30 wins during its inaugural season. Anaheim and Florida share the expansion record with 33 wins, both coming in 84 games in the 1993-94 season.

Tampa Bay, coming off its bye week, got a goal from Ondrej Palat, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots. Vasilevskiy, an All-Star this season, has allowed 19 goals over his last four games.

"As a leader, I have to be a lot better and set an example," said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who was minus-3. "Our line didn't do that and I take responsibility for that."

Fleury made a number of impressive stops, including a left-circle shot by Stamkos and in-close chance from Nikita Kucherov during the second period. The goalie, who spent most of his career with Pittsburgh, is 19-11-4 against the Lightning.

Neal opened the scoring with a nifty deflection 56 seconds into the first, and Schmidt made it 2-0 with 3:57 left in the period. Deryk Engelland got his 100th NHL assist on Neal's goal.

Vegas is 19-1-0 when scoring first, with the lone loss coming Oct. 30 to the New York Islanders.

After Palat got a power-play goal midway through the second, Perron put the Golden Knights up 3-1 late in the period.

Karlsson got his 24th goal 18 seconds into the third.

"We didn't put up a fight and that's on us," Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman said.

NOTES: Neal has 11 goals and 19 points in 18 games against Tampa Bay. ... Palat stopped a 21-game goal drought. ... Lightning D Dan Girardi, hit on the back of the neck by a slap shot Jan. 7 against Detroit, was back in the lineup. ... Golden Knights C Cody Eakin played after sitting out one game with an undisclosed injury.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Play at Florida Friday night.

Lightning: Play the first of eight straight road games Saturday night at Minnesota.

Saros shutout leads Predators over Golden Knights 1-0

By JIM DIAMOND
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- While his teammates enjoyed some time off with a bye week, Juuse Saros kept working. It paid off for the Predators on Tuesday night.

Saros made 43 saves, Kevin Fiala scored eight minutes into the third period and Nashville beat the Vegas Golden Knights 1-0.

Nashville played its first game in a week and has won three straight. The shutout was the third of the season for Saros and the fourth of his career.

During Nashville's bye week, the Predators assigned Saros to the Milwaukee Admirals, their American Hockey League affiliate, where he played in three games, winning twice.

"It's worked really well for this instance to keep him playing during the break, and he played extremely well down there," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "We've got a goaltender that's been taking shots for the week in live action and he comes back tonight and he plays terrific."

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots for the Golden Knights, who have lost two in a row.

"I thought we played great hockey - our goaltending was great, our defense played a real solid game and our forwards had all kinds of scoring opportunities," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "So, it's tough to lose the game, but I thought we played great."

Saros was superb, especially against Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault, who peppered 10 shots on the Finnish netminder but was unable to get one by him.

"He's a great player and he has a lot of nifty plays, so I was ready for them," Saros said.

Vegas had four power plays and put 15 shots on Saros with the man advantage.

Fiala got his goal off a rebound. Fleury stopped P.K. Subban's slap shot from the right point, but the puck came to the left side, where Fiala was there to snap a wrist shot underneath the crossbar for his 11th goal.

"It's not always that easy when the puck is coming at you," Fiala said. "This one came nicely and I just buried it."

Fleury's best save came at 4:17 of the third when he made a sprawling stop on a partial breakaway by Colton Sissons.

Predators center Ryan Johansen did not play after the second period following a hit from William Carrier with 38 seconds remaining in the period. Johansen was at center ice along the boards when Carrier hit him high. No penalty was called.

Laviolette did not have an update on Johansen after the game.

Nashville was already playing without two-thirds of its top offensive line as forwards Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson were out of the lineup. Forsberg is out 4 to 6 weeks with an upper-body injury and his Swedish countryman Arvidsson was injured in Monday's practice and placed on injured reserve Tuesday afternoon.

NOTES: This was the third and final regular-season matchup between the teams. Vegas won the first two. ... Nashville has scored a power-play goal in three straight. ... Subban has assists in three consecutive games. ... Fleury is 9-5-1 in his career against the Predators. ... Vegas is 9-5-0 against the Central Division.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

Predators: Host Arizona on Thursday night.

Nurse scores in OT to lift Oilers over Golden Knights 3-2

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Edmonton Oilers have done something no other NHL team has this season: beat the Vegas Golden Knights twice.

Darnell Nurse scored 55 seconds into overtime to lift the Oilers past Vegas 3-2 on Saturday night. Edmonton also handed the Golden Knights their worst loss of the season, an 8-2 shellacking on Nov. 14.

Patrick Maroon and Drake Caggiula also scored for the Oilers, and Cam Talbot made 34 saves.

Caggiula assisted on the winner after leading a 2-on-1 break against defender Shea Theodore and finding the streaking Nurse in front of the net.

"I saw the puck come over the blue line, and Draker had it and we saw one D, so I just took off and he made a great play to the middle and all I had to do was shoot it hard," Nurse said.

William Karlsson and Reilly Smith scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots.

Vegas, coming off its bye week, was playing for the first time since Jan. 6 when they beat the New York Rangers 2-1. The loss was just its second in 12 games, while it dropped to 18-3-1 at home.

"Tonight was all about having five days off," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We weren't sharp. We didn't play our typical game. We still played OK, but we weren't as sharp as we could've been. Am I worried about it? No. I think some of the bad stuff we did, some of the habits, is from the five days off and having one day of practice."

The Oilers, meanwhile, were playing for the second time in two nights after a 4-2 win in Arizona. Edmonton, which is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games, begins its bye week Sunday.

"We wanted to go into the break with two wins within our division and go in feeling good about ourselves and have the opportunity to rest up and get back at it in five," Nurse said.

Edmonton got on the board first, when Nurse's pass caromed off Maroon's left skate and slid beneath Fleury's pads. Connor McDavid assisted.

It didn't take long for the Golden Knights to respond, as Smith picked up the puck behind the net, skated around long enough to shake McDavid and then skated right up to Talbot before going top shelf for his 12th goal. Deryk Engelland was credited with an assist to tally his 100th career point.

Vegas' second goal was set up nicely by Smith, who laid a big hit on Edmonton's Kris Russell, allowing Jonathan Marchessault to skate free with the puck and set up Karlsson in front of the net for the one-timer. Karlsson, who many believe was snubbed from the Pacific Division All-Star team, scored his 23rd goal of the season, fifth-highest in the league.

Caggiula tied the game for the Oilers, who displayed excellent passing on a 3-on-1 break in transition. Maroon and McDavid assisted on the goal. It was McDavid's 200th career point, in just the 173rd game of his NHL career. He is the fourth-quickest active player and third youngest active player to reach 200 points.

The Golden Knights had several opportunities with a man advantage, but were 0 for 6 on the power play. The Oilers, whose penalty kill ranks last in the NHL, has the third-best road percentage when short-handed.

"It's astounding the difference in numbers, but to hold a team like that to 0 for 6, that's the game right there," Talbot said. "If they pound one in in the power play, game's over. Give a lot of credit to the PK, I don't think we gave up a lot of shots, maybe one per kill, that's a pretty good number against a team like that."

NOTES: Paid attendance was a season-high 18,351. ... Former Oilers great Wayne Gretzky was in attendance. ... Vegas wing Pierre-Edouard Bellemare left the game with 11:38 left in the first period after Nurse's slap shot struck him in the face. He returned later in the period with his right eyebrow stitched. ... McDavid celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday, and a heavily orange-clad fan section sang "Happy Birthday" midway through the first period.

UP NEXT

Edmonton: Hosts Vancouver on Jan. 20.

Vegas: Visits Nashville on Tuesday night.

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More AP hockey: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

Karlsson's third period goal lifts Vegas past Rangers, 2-1

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The first time they met, the New York Rangers were introduced to an expansion Vegas Golden Knights team that was riddled with goaltender injuries and just 10 games into the season.

That was on Oct. 31, when New York erased rallied from two goals down to beat fourth-string goalie Max Lagace in a 6-4 victory. On Sunday night, the Rangers met a matured Golden Knights team that was looking to get even.

William Karlsson scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period to lift Vegas to a 2-1 victory over New York in front of a season-high 18,234 in attendance.

"At the beginning (of the season) we were having some collapses in the third, and that's not happening anymore," Karlsson said. "I think we're a better team than we were at the start. I think we're more complete. We have a solid four lines and our D pairs are great. Obviously, the goaltending has been awesome, too. We're just a more complete team now."

James Neal also scored his 18th goal of the season, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots to improve to 9-2-1.

Now at the halfway point of their inaugural campaign, the Golden Knights own the top home record in the league, moving to 18-2-1 in the first 21 contests at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas is 9-0-1 in its last 10 at home, including seven straight wins.

"We're beating good hockey teams and we're playing good hockey," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Tonight, we played a real good Ranger team. ... We stayed patient, we found a way to score late in the hockey game and win a big game."

Behind excellent puck movement on the game-winner, defenseman Deryk Engelland found Jonathan Marchessault with a blueline-to-blueline pass. Marchessault then pushed the puck forward to Reilly Smith, who found Karlsson at the right dot for a one-timer for his team-high 22nd of the season.

"Obviously I have Marchessault and Smith on my wings, so with them it's been really great," Karlsson said. "I have to thank them a lot. They've been great, and it's so easy to play with them."

Fleury turned in another spectacular performance, allowing two or fewer goals for the fifth consecutive time, while coming up with several big saves down the stretch.

"Our defensive players have been great, blocking shots and helping me out with rebounds and letting me see the puck. It's a good team effort," Fleury said. "Those are the kinds of games we're going to see later on in the season toward the end. We're finding ways to win those games. It's important, it's good for the confidence and it's good to know we can do that."

Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers and Ondrej Pavelec, making his 10th appearance of the season, finished with 32 saves.

"It's tough. We lost a game we wanted to win before the break, but we battled hard," Pavelec said. "I think we played a good third period and had some chances. But you can't be happy because we lost ... and that's all that matters."

Since the start of last season, New York is 14-7-0 in the second game of a back-to-back set. The Rangers, who lead the NHL in road wins since the start of last season with 34, were coming off a shootout victory at Arizona on Saturday night, when Henrik Lundqvist stopped 38 of 39 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and all three attempts in the shootout.

New York got on the board first when Zibanejad got his 13th of the season with a wrist shot that beat Fleury on the glove side.

Less than four minutes later, Neal capitalized on a turnover in the attacking zone, to the right of Pavelec, beating him top shelf with a wrist shot that tied the score.

Both teams now enter their bye weeks, and despite the loss, the Rangers enter the break 7-4-3 in their last 14 games.

For the Western Conference leaders, Gallant said it's time off his players have been talking about.

"We're ready for a week off, the guys are looking forward to it," Gallant said. "We push them all the time. They competed, they battled hard and we're at the halfway mark tonight, and the team's played really well. We gotta have a good break and get away from hockey for a while, come back on Friday and get back to practice and get ready for Saturday's game."

NOTES: Rangers C Mats Zuccarello is just one assist away from 200 in his NHL career. ... Engelland remains one point away from 100. ... Karlsson leads Vegas with 22 goals, Marchessault is tops with 40 points and tied with David Perron with a team-high 24 assists.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Golden Knights: Host Edmonton on Saturday night.

NHL announces Head coaches for NHL All-Star Game

NEW YORK – The National Hockey League announced today that Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic), Peter Laviolette of the Nashville Predators (Central), Barry Trotz of the Washington Capitals (Metropolitan) and Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific) will serve as the head coaches for the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, which will be held Jan. 28-29 at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
 
Under the All-Star selection process, the head coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions through games of Saturday, Jan. 6 – the halfway point of the regular season – will guide the respective All-Star rosters.

Cooper’s Lightning (.744, 29-9-3) posted the top points percentage in the Atlantic Division through games of Saturday, while Laviolette's Predators (.659, 24-11-6), Trotz’ Capitals (.646, 25-13-3) and Gallant’s Golden Knights (.725, 28-10-2) similarly wrapped up the highest points percentages in the Central, Metropolitan and Pacific Divisions, respectively.

Cooper, Laviolette, Trotz and Gallant join Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (Atlantic), Predators defenseman P.K. Subban (Central), Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan) and Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (Pacific), who were voted by fans as captains for the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.

For the third straight season, the All-Star Game will feature a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, showcasing teams from each NHL division. Each of the four teams will include six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.

The remaining 40 All-Stars, determined by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, will be announced Wednesday, Jan. 10.

The Lightning, who are celebrating their 25th season, and the city of Tampa will host the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. The League’s midseason showcase will take place at Amalie Arena and will include the 2018 NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday, Jan. 27 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS) and 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 28 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Fleury, Golden Knights blank Predators 3-0 for 8th straight

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Night after night, the Vegas Golden Knights keep proving it's no fluke they're the top team in the West.

Just ask last year's conference champions.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots in his second shutout of the season, leading Vegas past the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Tuesday for its eighth straight victory.

"It's always a work in progress. It's never perfect," Fleury said. "When you get a shutout, it doesn't mean it was a perfect game on my end. I know there's still stuff to be worked on, but it's definitely nice to be rewarded with a shutout."

Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore and Jonathan Marchessault scored for the surprising Western Conference leaders. Fleury improved to 8-1-1 with his 46th career shutout.

"Our goaltending has been unbelievable all season long," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Fleury keeps going in there and playing really well. Tonight, they probably should've had the lead in the first period. In the second, they come out in the first five minutes and have some really good chances. He stood on his head, made some great saves, and gave us a chance to get the lead. He played really well and he's a big part of that win tonight."

Vegas has won eight in a row and earned at least one point in 13 consecutive games, both NHL records for a first-year team. The expansion Golden Knights are 17-2-1 at home and 27-9-2 overall.

Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for the Predators, who also lost at home to Vegas 4-3 in a shootout last month.

"That's a good hockey team over there. Give them credit, they played well," said Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis, who made his season debut after recovering from knee surgery. "A lot of it comes back to us as far as turning pucks over and not getting pucks deep, getting away from our game plan."

Nashville's penalty kill ranks first in the league on the road, but Vegas converted its lone opportunity with the man advantage.

Smith caught Rinne giving space between his right leg and the post, skated around a defender and sent a shot off the back of the goalie's pad and in for a power-play goal at 12:10 of the second period.

Theodore made it 2-0 at 13:41 when he smacked a one-timer from the point that trickled through Rinne's legs.

Marchessault capped the scoring with an empty-net goal late in the third.

Nashville, which ranks second in the NHL on the power play, was 0 for 2 with the man advantage.

"We've been in some games lately that have gone up and down with a ton of shots and a ton of chances," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "Second period wasn't bad with the exception of those four minutes, but inside of those four minutes, we made too many mistakes and it cost us the game. They're a good team."

Playing their fourth road game in the last five, the Predators were shut out for just the second time this season. Nashville also was blanked by Pittsburgh 4-0 on Oct. 7.

"We just keep playing our game and have good success," Gallant said. "It's about competing and getting ready for the next game. If we keep playing the kind of hockey we're playing, we're going to win a lot of hockey games."

NOTES: The crowd of 18,171 was the third-largest for Vegas. ... Vegas forward Erik Haula played in his 400th career game. ... Golden Knights goalie Malcolm Subban is the younger brother of Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban. ... Vegas is 17-1-0 when scoring first, best in the NHL.

UP NEXT

Predators: At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.

Golden Knights: At the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

---

A previous version of this story corrected Fleury's save total.

Late goal lifts Golden Knights over Lightning

LAS VEGAS -- Tampa Bay came into Tuesday night's game with Vegas owning the NHL's top power play, scoring at a 27.4 percent clip. But it was the Golden Knights who made better use of playing with the extra man at T-Mobile Arena in a dramatic 4-3 victory.

Vegas (22-9-2) became just the third team this season to score four power-play goals in a game, the final one coming on defenseman Shea Theodore's game-winning blast with 2.3 seconds remaining, and the Golden Knights snapped the Lightning's seven-game win streak.

It was just the second goal of the season for Theodore, who began the season with Chicago of the AHL and also had three assists. It came off a cross-ice pass from Jonathan Marchessault from the right point just 21 seconds after Tampa Bay defenseman Brandon Coburn went to the penalty box for grabbing the stick of Vegas forward James Neal.

"Things were clicking, our power-play finally got going, and it was a good night for everyone," Theodore said. "The puck came up and across and I was just trying to shoot it as hard as I can anywhere I could.

"It was good for it to go in. Definitely a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure how much time was left. I knew it was ticking down. To have two seconds left and win, that was big."

Vegas joined Boston (vs. Vancouver, Oct. 19) and Detroit (vs. Colorado, Nov. 15) as the only teams in the NHL this season to have four power-play goals in a game.

Neal, Marchessault and Erik Haula also scored goals and David Perron added three assists for Vegas, which won for the seventh time in eight games and moved into a first-place tie in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings (21-10-4).

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in net.

Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov scored goals and NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov added two assists for Tampa Bay (24-7-2). Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had 32 saves.

Stamkos, who came into the game leading the NHL in power-play scoring with eight goals and 20 points, wasted no time padding that total when he rifled in a one-timer from the left circle just 7:43 into the game. Namestnikov made it 2-0 with just 47 seconds left in the first period when he took a pass on the edge of the crease and quickly turned and flipped in a shot over Fleury.

But Vegas came back in the second period to tie it at 2 with two power-play goals of its own.

Neal started the comeback when he took a pass from Perron on the right side of the net and fired in his 17th goal of the season. Marchessault then tied it with his 12th goal of the season.

"I think the real key was when we scored that first goal to make it 2-1," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Our fans were so loud, and they just got behind our team and they wouldn't let us fall apart. When it's 2-0 and they get the next goal, it could be a completely different hockey game. It could a 5-0, 6-0 hockey game. We got that first goal and our crowd got so noisy and got behind our players and we fed off that."

The Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead early in the third period when Haula deflected Theodore's shot from the blue line, but Hedman tied it with his fourth goal of the season when his shot from the left point got past Fleury, who appeared to be screened on the play, setting the stage for Theodore's dramatic game-winner.

"That's a crappy way to lose a hockey game," Stamkos, upset with the holding the stick penalty on Coburn, said. "We fight back to tie the game. ... That's an iffy call."

Hedman, meanwhile, said the Lightning have only themselves to blame because of their poor penalty killing. Vegas finished 4-of-5 on the power play.

"We've got to find a way to kill off those penalties," Hedman said. "You can't give up four on the PK and expect to win a hockey game. That one stings."

NOTES: Vegas improved 14-2-1 at T-Mobile Arena, the most home wins for any team in the Western Conference ... Tampa Bay D Jake Dotchin and C Tyler Johnson were both scratched with the flu. RW Ryan Callahan also missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury suffered Dec. 14 at Arizona that is expected to keep him sidelined 3-4 weeks. ... Vegas scratched LW Tomas Hyka, D Brad Hunt and C Ryan Carpenter. ... F Nikita Kucherov's assist on Steven Stamkos' opening power-play goal was the 150th of his career. ... F Jonathan Marchessault's goal was the 50th of his career and also his 100th career point. ... Tampa Bay returns home to open a four-game homestand on Thursday against Ottawa. Vegas concludes a five-game homestand on Saturday against Washington.

Upstart Golden Knights face hot Lightning

Stats, LLC

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights already possess an impressive tally of milestones during their inaugural NHL season, tying or breaking records for best start (3-0-0), win streak (five, twice), most wins in the first 12 home games (10) and fewest games to reach 20 victories (31).

Perhaps the most impressive statistic for coach Gerard Gallant's expansion squad is this one: In five games against the four teams that played in last season's conference finals -- Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, Nashville, Anaheim and Ottawa -- the Golden Knights are a perfect 5-0-0.

Now comes arguably their toughest test of the season when the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning make their first visit to T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night.

The Atlantic Division-leading Lightning have the best record in the NHL (24-6-2), and they haven't lost a game in December, bringing a seven-game win streak with them to Las Vegas including a 6-5 victory at Colorado on Saturday.

"Everyone wants to play in the big game," Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "You want to be able to match yourself up against the best teams and players as well as you can. They've got some of the hottest players and are the hottest team in the league right now, and that's what you want to match yourself up against."

Tampa Bay leads the NHL in scoring (3.8 goals per game) and power-play success (27.4 percent) and is third in goals against (2.5). Right winger Nikita Kucherov leads the league in points (46) and is tied with Washington's Alex Ovechkin for most goals (23) while center Steven Stamkos is second in scoring (43) and tied for second in assists (31).

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins (21) and is third in both save percentage (.934) and goals against (2.11) while defenseman Anton Stralman leads the league in plus/minus (plus-24).

The Lightning also own a league-best plus-43 in goal differential, which is 18 better than the second place Los Angeles Kings.

"They play a fast game," Gallant said. "I talk about our team playing fast. Well, this is probably the fastest and quickest team in the league. ... They score more goals than anybody, and they play a real good hockey game. They're a dangerous club."

Tampa Bay spent the past two days in Las Vegas, and coach Jon Cooper gave his squad Sunday off to "check out the sights." Cooper, meanwhile, took in the Golden Knights' 5-2 win over Florida that night.

"I got to go to the game as a fan (Sunday) night and really enjoyed myself," Cooper said of the atmosphere at T-Mobile Arena. "But it will be a work day (on Tuesday)."

Cooper also came away impressed with what he saw on the ice.

"They roll four lines out at you and six (defensemen)," Cooper told NHL.com. "Their team is really good. It was really impressive to watch.

"It feels like they're never out of a play. You fall asleep on them and they're going to get you. They're a team that plays for three periods."

The game against the Golden Knights (21-9-2) ends a 10-day, four-game road trip for the Lightning that started with a 3-0 victory at St. Louis and also included a 4-1 win over Arizona before the Saturday victory over the Avalanche.

"We came on this trip wanting to win all four," Tampa Bay defenseman Jake Dotchin said. "We still haven't accomplished our goal. We've got to come in Tuesday ready to go and get ready to play a good team."

Golden Knights top Panthers, Gallant's former club

LAS VEGAS -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant tried to downplay Vegas' 5-2 victory over the team that fired him just over a year ago -- the Florida Panthers -- on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban, however, was having none of it.

"I think it was huge for him," said Subban, who made 16 saves. "Obviously, you want to get a win every night. Like all the players here, getting a win against your old team feels pretty good, and I'm sure it's no different for him."

Jonathan Marchessault, whom Vegas plucked from the Panthers in the expansion draft, had a goal and two assists, and Erik Haula scored the game-winner with 8:20 remaining. Vegas (21-9-2) moved back into a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings (20-10-4).

"It's our old team, and we wanted to get that win, and we have a great thing going on," Marchessault said. "We just want to keep it going."

Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller and James Neal also had goals for Vegas, which improved to 13-2-1 at home this season. The Golden Knights, New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning share the NHL lead with 13 home wins.

"No, not at all," Gallant said if the win had added significance because of his firing by the Panthers after a loss at Carolina on Nov. 27, 2016. "It's another game for me. I was fortunate to be with that team 2 1/2 years as a head coach and enjoyed every minute of it. I got ready for this game the same way I get ready for every game. It doesn't make one bit of a difference for me."

James Reimer made 35 saves and Radim Vrbata and Mike Matheson each had goals for Florida (12-16-5). The Panthers have won just two of their past nine games.

Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 5:13 on almost identical goals by Vrbata (on the power play) and Matheson. Both fired in cross-ice passes from the left circle over Subban's glove hand. Vrbata got a nice feed from Denis Malgin, while a trailing Matheson converted a feed from Evgenii Dadonov.

Vegas cut it to 2-1 at 6:39 of the first period when Schmidt scored his second goal of the season, slapping in a shot from about 10 feet to the right of the net. Miller tied it at 17:20 of the opening period, blasting a pass from Marchessault from just inside the blue line directly in front of Reimer.

"Obviously not a great start for us, but we managed to battle back," Miller said. "Don't think it was the cleanest game for us all year, but we managed to find a way to get it done."

Vegas finally took its first lead, 3-2, when an unguarded Haula, standing to the left of the net, redirected a shot from a spinning Marchessault near the blue line.

Marchessault then sealed the victory for Vegas with an empty-netter with 2:10 remaining, his 11th goal of the season. Neal added another empty-netter, his 16th of the season, on a long clearance from just to the side of Subban with 28 seconds left.

"I thought we started to get our legs," Gallant said of his team's big third period. "I thought we started to forecheck really well and we made them make mistakes, and the guys were starting to drive to the net."

Vegas outshot the Panthers 20-2 in the third period.

"Our third period was probably the most disappointing period for me in a long time ... maybe the season," Florida coach Bob Boughner said. "Give credit to (the Golden Knights). They're a good team and a fast team."

NOTES: Vegas G Malcolm Subban was making his first start since Dec. 8 at Nashville, a game in which he had a career-high 41 saves and stopped all six shootout attempts in a 2-1 win over the Predators. ... Florida announced before the game that the club loaned F Dryden Hunt to its AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Hunt had one assist in 11 appearances with Florida. ... Golden Knights D Deryk Engelland played in his 500th NHL game. ... The Panthers scratched C Connor Brickley and D MacKenzie Weegar while Vegas scratched C Ryan Carpenter, D Luca Sbisa and D Brad Hunt.

Fleury, Golden Knights top reeling Penguins

LAS VEGAS -- Veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was endeared by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights fans, and had the admiration of players from both sides Thursday night in an emotional game for him at the T-Mobile Arena.

Fleury, who played 13 seasons with Pittsburgh before his selection by Vegas in the expansion draft in June, made 24 saves against his former team in a 2-1 victory in front of the capacity crowd that had a strong contingent of Penguins fans.

"It really couldn't get any better than this," Fleury said. "I've been around this game for a little bit. That was good. We got the win. It was a close game with only two goals on our side. It was as good as it gets."

Fleury was part of the Penguins' last two Stanley Cup championship teams. Now, he is with the historically successful expansion Golden Knights (20-9-2), who reached the 20-win plateau the fastest for an expansion team in NHL history.

Vegas defenseman Jon Merrill scored the game-winner at 8:17 of the third period for his first goal of the season. Merrill took the drop pass from Erik Haula and beat goaltender Matt Murray low to the glove side.

Murray also made 24 saves for Pittsburgh (16-14-3). The Penguins have lost three consecutive games and four out of the last five with all the defeats by one goal.

"It was a hard-fought game with good chances on both sides," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought the goaltending on both sides was really good. It seems like we are in those type of games night in and night out, but we really haven't found ways to win those."

The Golden Knights got on the board when forward James Neal, another former Penguin, corralled a rebound off a shot by Colin Miller and beat Murray before defenseman Olli Maatta could get in his way. It was Neal's 15th goal of the season.

"It was our biggest win of the year. (Fleury) did a great job; he made some great saves for us," said Neal, Fleury's teammate at Pittsburgh from 2011 to 2014. "He stayed calm throughout the whole thing. I don't know what was going on in his head but he was himself all day and it was good to see."

The Penguins fans along with the Golden Knights faithful, gave Fleury a loud round of applause when he was introduced. In one of the many times he thrilled the crowd, he went 30 feet from the net in the first period to poke away a loose puck from hard-charging Pittsburgh forward Conor Sheary.

"It was crazy," Fleury said of the crowd response. "That was special. It was a very humbling experience, something I'll never forget."

The Penguins tied the game 1-1 at 12:14 of the first period when the Golden Knights could not clear the puck, allowing forward Carl Hagelin to flip the pass to Ian Cole. Fleury could not react in time to Cole's high shot into the net.

Fleury wowed the crowd late in the second period when he dove across the crease to prevent a shot by Brian Dumoulin from finding the net at the left post.

Fleury helped Vegas' third penalty kill of the game with two more saves by the time Merrill (delay of game for smothering the puck with his hand) came out of the box with 2:55 left in the period.

"We're playing the defending champs and we're playing Sidney Crosby and all those top players over there, so it was fun," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We believed we had to play our best to win and that's exactly what happened. I had fun. I'm sure Fleury was happy to get the game out of the way with a win."

NOTES: Vegas acquired F Ryan Carpenter off waivers from the San Jose Sharks. To make room for Carpenter, the Golden Knights assigned F Stefan Matteau to the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves. ... Carpenter appeared in 16 games for the San Jose Sharks this season and has recorded one assist. He has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Sharks and has recorded five points (two goals and three assists) to go with six penalty minutes in 28 games. ... Since Nov. 14, Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby picked up at least one point in 10 of his last 13 games (eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points).

Ward earns 300th win as Hurricanes top Knights in shootout

LAS VEGAS -- Through 13 NHL seasons, all with the Carolina Hurricanes, goaltender Cam Ward always harkens back to what his father mentioned to him when started playing: "The more fun you have, the better you do."

He has the reminder written on his stick.

Ward had fun Tuesday when he notched his 300th career win, a 3-2 shootout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

"You need your priorities in line to make that happen, and fortunately I've been able to do that," said Ward, who finished with 22 saves Tuesday and is the 32nd goalie to reach 300 wins. "To reach that number of wins, there's not too many guys who've done that, and I'm extremely proud of it. I couldn't have done it without my supporting my cast -- my family and my teammates."

Carolina left winger Phil Di Giuseppe scored the decisive goal in the fifth round of the shootout to give the Hurricanes the win one night after they lost 3-2 at Anaheim. The result also snapped the Golden Knights' four-game winning streak.

The Hurricanes (12-11-7) won the shootout 2-1 behind the goals of Di Giuseppe and Brock McGinn. Reilly Smith scored in the shootout for Vegas (19-9-2).

"Full marks for being a quality goaltender here tonight. He's had a quality career with no end in sight," Carolina coach Bill Peters said of Ward. "Our guys did a good job of battling. We like playing. We have a young team, so I don't think playing back-to-backs is a big issue. Our guys thrive off that challenge."

Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored in regulation for the Hurricanes. Both were traded by Vegas to Carolina during the summer for draft picks. The goals were the first of the season for each player.

Deryk Engelland and Smith lit the lamp for the Golden Knights.

The game marked the return of Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who missed 25 games since Oct. 13 with a concussion. Fleury, a 14-year veteran, started and made 35 saves, including four stops during two Carolina power plays in the third period.

Peters admitted that Carolina knew of Fleury's prolonged absence and tried "to get to him as much as we could with bodies."

Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said, "(Fleury) battled hard, played hard and gave us a chance.

"It's too bad he couldn't make that save at the end (against Di Giuseppe) because as bad as we played, it would have been a huge two points."

Fleury and Ward defended their net well in the third period. Fleury had 15 saves in the period and Ward seven.

The Hurricanes struck first at 16:25 in the first period when an attempted clearance by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb struck Kruger's stick. The puck ricocheted past an unsuspecting Fleury.

After Vegas tied the game with an Engelland wrist shot close to the blue line at 1:07 of the second period, van Riemsdyk picked up a loose pick and wristed it past Fleury. The goal at the 4:38 mark of the middle period gave Carolina a short-lived 2-1 lead.

Vegas defenseman Colin Miller's stretch pass caught Smith in stride, and Smith beat Ward to tie the game at 2 at the 12:48 mark of the second period. The right winger has nine goals this season.

NOTES: Vegas D Luca Sbisa hit the end boards hard in the third period and had to exit the game to be examined. Sbisa later returned after the trainer tended to him. Last month, he was placed on injured reserve with a back injury. ... Vegas activated G Marc-Andre Fleury from injured reserve and assigned G Maxime Lagace to Chicago of the AHL. Lagace started for Chicago on Tuesday night, three days after he earned the victory with a career-high 36 saves for the Golden Knights in a 5-3 win over Dallas. ... Carolina C Victor Rask scored a goal in three consecutive games before Tuesday, matching his career-high streak set last season from March 24-27. He came close to scoring another Tuesday, but his shot hit off the right post with 3:54 left in the first period. ... Vegas F William Carrier (upper-body injury), G Oscar Dansk (lower-body injury), F Mikhail Grabovski (concussion) and D Clayton Stoner (undisclosed) are on injured reserve.

Golden Knights win shootout over Ducks

LAS VEGAS -- It took 13 home games, but the Vegas Golden Knights played their first-ever shootout at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night.

Fittingly, Vegas, which has smashed virtually every NHL record for a team in its inaugural season, came away with a victory.

Alex Tuch, taking part in the first shootout of his career after sweating out a tripping penalty in overtime, scored on a backhand to give the Golden Knights a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks before a sellout crowd of 17,608.

Tuch was the third and final Golden Knights shooter after Ducks goalie John Gibson, who finished with 40 saves, stopped attempts by Jonathan Marchessault and James Neal.

"I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to sleep tonight," Tuch said. "It was a whole roller coaster (of emotions) all night. We're up 2-0, down 3-2, tied at 3-3, then (I'm) in the box in overtime. ...

"Hey, that's how hockey goes. That's how the game is played. You just have to battle through it and try to get the two points at the end of it, and I was glad we were able to do that."

After Tuch's goal, Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban, who earlier stopped attempts by Corey Perry and Rickard Rakell, made a pad save on Ondrej Kase to seal the win.

"It was my first shootout, so I was kind of nervous," Subban said. "I just tried to stay with the shooter and not give them anything to shoot at. It's hard to explain. You just try and stay focused and stay with the shooter."

Subban was mobbed by his teammates after he stopped Kase's shot to end it.

"It was a huge relief," Subban said. "Our team played such a good game, and I didn't want to get the loss in that kind of way. I thought we deserved to win the game, and I just tried to bear down and get the win."

Neal, Oscar Lindberg and Erik Haula scored goals for Vegas (17-9-1). The Golden Knights improved to 11-2-0 at home this season, including 5-0 in overtime games.

Francois Beauchemin, Antoine Vermette and Perry scored for Anaheim, which finished a six-game road trip with a 1-2-3 record.

Vegas dominated the first period, firing 19 shots on Gibson, who had a handful of highlight-reel saves. The Golden Knights finally broke through with two goals in a 16-second span, on rebounds converted by Neal, who floated a shot over a sprawled Gibson, and Lindberg in the last two minutes of the period.

Anaheim (11-11-6) tightened up defensively and answered three consecutive goals on just eight shots in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, holding the Golden Knights to just five shots, including none in the first 8 1/2 minutes.

Beauchemin started the comeback at 1:03 with a blast from the blue line that eluded Subban, who was screened by Vermette.

Vermette tied it four minutes later when he deflected a blue-line blast by defenseman Kevin Bieksa.

Perry then gave Anaheim the lead when he broke in free after taking a long pass from center Adam Henrique and rifled a shot over Subban's right shoulder.

That lead held up until Neal stole the puck in the corner and passed it to Haula, who fired it between the post and Gibson's pad to make it 3-3 with 4:22 left in regulation.

Anaheim had a four-on-three power play in overtime thanks to Tuch's tripping penalty on Rakell near center ice, but Subban came up several dazzling saves to help force the shootout.

"We talked about what we wanted to do," Perry said of the overtime power play. "We had a plan. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. He made a pretty big save on Monty (defenseman Brandon Montour) back door. We had a couple chances. Raks (Rakell) hit the post. It can go either way at that point."

NOTES: Anaheim RW Rickard Rakell, who leads the team with eight goals, returned to the starting lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury. ... Ducks D Hampus Lindholm flew home before the game because of an upper-body injury, and he could miss the team's games this weekend. Lindholm sat out the first seven games of the season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and also missed a Nov. 15 game against Boston with a lower-body injury. To take Lindholm's spot in the lineup, the Ducks recalled D Jaycob Megna from San Diego of the AHL. ... Anaheim also was without D Jakob Silfverberg, who missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. Also scratched for the Ducks were D Korbinian Holzer and C Joseph Blandisi. D Jon Merrill and D Brad Hunt were scratched by the Golden Knights.

Smith's overtime goal lifts Vegas past Arizona, 3-2

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant thinks 40-second shifts are long enough for players during 3-on-3 overtimes. Anything after that, and they just get winded.

Jonathan Marchessault found a nice exception Sunday night.

Marchessault set up Reilly Smith’s goal 3:50 into overtime, lifting Vegas over the Arizona Coyotes 3-2.

Marchessault made the winner possible after stealing Alex Goligoski’s pass and pushing the puck to himself off the boards before feeding Smith on a 2-on-1.

“Marchy made some great plays tonight,” Gallant said. “He’s a guy that takes advantage of some opportunities. He found that second gear. He was out there late in the shift and once he found the open ice, he made a great play. To make that pass to Reilly Smith, and Reilly bury that, it was a big goal for us.”

Vegas snapped a three-game skid and is 3-0-1 against the Coyotes this season. Malcolm Subban stopped 31 shots.

“I thought we played a great game,” Gallant said. “I thought the first two periods was outstanding hockey. They played back-to-back games, we had some fresh legs today and I thought the score shouldn’t have been as close as it was, but their goalie played a great game.

“It would have been disappointing to lose that game.”

Marchessault scored his 10th goal 18 seconds into the third period and has 13 points in his past seven games. Alex Tuch also scored for Vegas.

“I think it was just a good defensive play,” Marchessault said about the final sequence. “That’s the strength of our line. We play good defense and we get rewarded. I know they were gassed out there, and I just wanted to pressure the puck. I was able to get a turnover and Smitty was able to bury it.”

Jakob Chychrun and Derek Stepan scored for Arizona, while Scott Wedgewood had 42 saves.

Arizona coach Rick Tocchet credited Wedgewood’s effort, saying if not for him, the Coyotes wouldn’t have earned a point in overtime.

“He was terrific, made some great saves, couple backdoor plays,” Tocchet said. “The guys owe him. He was really good tonight for us, Vegas was the better team obviously.”

Stepan scored a tying power-play goal 8:50 into the third period when he punched a rebound past Subban.

The Golden Knights once again came out firing at home, but Wedgewood stopped 15 first-period shots to keep it scoreless.

Tuch scored early in the second. He took a cross-ice pass from Colin Miller and pushed it past Wedgewood for his sixth of the season 2:42 into the period.

Chychrun scored in his first game of the season with a shot from the left circle. He had been out after offseason knee surgery. Max Domi set up the goal for his 14th assist.

“We both had our chances ... speed is definitely the key to overtime, you can counterattack quick,” Chychrun said. “They play well together, they got a really good coach, they really use each other well. Lots of dump-ins and lots of pressure on their D. It’s a good atmosphere in here, they play well here.”

The Golden Knights improved to 10-2-0 at home in their inaugural season.

NOTES: After opening the season 2-15-3, the Coyotes are on a 5-3-2 run. ... Arizona’s Zac Rinaldo played in his 300th career game. ... Since Oct. 31, the Coyotes have killed off 44 of 49 penalties. ... Vegas came into the game ranked fourth in the NHL with 3.48 goals per game. ... Knights C William Karlsson leads the team with a career-high 14 goals. In his last 10 games, he has 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists). His 25 points for the season ties a career high.

UP NEXT

Arizona: The Coyotes visit Boston on Thursday night.

Vegas: Hosts Anaheim on Tuesday night.

Staal's 3rd-period pair gives Wild 4-2 win vs. Knights

By DAVE CAMPBELL
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Lagging behind in the Western Conference well past the quarter mark of the season, the Minnesota Wild were embarrassed by their last two losses with a whopping total of 13 goals allowed.

Pride and experience kicked in for a key game against the upstart Vegas Golden Knights.

Eric Staal scored the go-ahead goal with 7:55 left and tacked on an empty-netter to give the Wild a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights on Thursday night.

“We’re aware as a group what went on the last two games. The important thing is the response,” Staal said. “The important thing is to come out and play the way we know we’re capable of, and we did that I thought for the most part all night.”

Mikael Granlund and Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild, who wrapped up the month with a 4-0-1 record in their last five home games despite a series of sloppy and sluggish performances throughout November. They lost 6-3 to St. Louis on Saturday and 7-2 at Winnipeg on Monday.

“We were just trying to get back to feeling like we used to feel,” said goalie Devan Dubnyk, who made 29 saves.

Brayden McNabb and Jonathan Marchessault had goals for the Golden Knights, who took their second straight loss after a five-game winning streak.

“The two teams are very similar, and I thought we played well,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said, adding: “It was a coin toss who was going to win.”

After allowing 30 goals in a seven-game span since three consecutive shutouts by Dubnyk, the defense was much more to Wild coach Bruce Boudreau’s liking.

“We understand that we’re not going to win a lot of 6-5 games, so we have to win the 4-2, the 3-1, the 2-1 kind of games,” Boudreau said.

The winner for the Wild was started by Matt Dumba’s slap shot that glanced off Vegas defenseman Deryk Engelland in the front to set up Staal’s rebound . Dumba formed an effective defense pairing with stalwart Ryan Suter, with Jared Spurgeon out for at least two weeks because of a groin injury. Brodin and Ryan Murphy, a recent AHL call-up, also played well together. Murphy poked his stick to stave off a potential tying goal in the closing minutes. Mike Reilly’s slick cross-ice pass set up Granlund’s goal , the first of the game after more than 37 scoreless minutes.

All in all, a night well done by the embattled Wild defensemen. The Golden Knights went 0 for 5 on the power play.

“We played a really tight game,” Dumba said. “We were really solid.”

Granlund’s shot scraped the same post that Brendan Leipsic hit in the first period, one of three attempts by the Golden Knights that pinged off a pipe. James Neal and Stefan Matteau had the others. Dubnyk’s 10th victory of the season was well-earned, though.

He denied Marchessault’s close-range wrist shot with the inside of his blocker with 61 seconds left, among several prime scoring chances the Golden Knights produced down the stretch. In the second period, Dubnyk’s sliding save denied Leipsic on a rush.

The Knights, with former Wild forwards Erik Haula and Alex Tuch on the first line, still put together a potent attack. McNabb, the defenseman who signed a four-year, $10 million contract extension this week, broke up a pass in the Wild zone and trailed a 4-on-3 before a drop pass from Matteau set him up for a score .

Then Marchessault gave the Knights the lead, going high to Dubnyk’s glove side again, off a drop pass by Cody Eakin, all in a span of less than two minutes.

But soon after, the Wild tied it up. Nino Niederreiter, who was earlier denied with a difficult pad save by Knights goalie Malcolm Subban, muscled with McNabb for position near the crease as Brodin’s slap shot glanced off McNabb’s stick and into the net.

“We had our chances. We’ve just got to bear down at the end of the day,” McNabb said. “But I think we liked how we played.”

NOTES: Wild RW Jason Zucker, who assisted on Granlund’s goal, grew up playing roller hockey in Las Vegas and is the only Nevada-raised player currently in the NHL. ... The Golden Knights placed LW David Perron on injured reserve before the game with an unspecified injury. ... Granlund had six goals in 15 games in November. ... Haula and Golden Knights D Nate Schmidt were roommates at the University of Minnesota.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Stay on the road to face Winnipeg on Friday night. They beat the Jets 5-2 at home three weeks ago.

Wild: Host St. Louis on Saturday night, their first meeting in Minnesota since former head coach Mike Yeo and the Blues eliminated the Wild from the first round of the playoffs in five games last spring.

Faksa’s first career hat trick leads Stars to 3-0 win

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Vegas Golden Knights were looking to make more history Tuesday night.

Instead, it was Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa hitting the jackpot in Sin City.

Faksa scored three goals and Ben Bishop registered his second shutout of the season, as the Stars defeated the Golden Knights 3-0.

“Those were huge goals for us,” said Faksa, who scored all of his goals in the second period. “For sure I’m happy with the goals. The most important thing, though, is the team win.”

The Knights, who had won eight straight on their home ice, tying the mark set by the Toronto Arenas in 1917-18, were looking to set the record for most consecutive home wins by a team in its inaugural season.

Vegas came into the game ranked second in the NHL in goals per game with 3.68 and fifth in goals with 81, but Bishop was stellar all night, stopping 34 shots for the Stars. He recorded his first shutout as a member of the Stars on Nov. 10 against the New York Islanders.

“It’s one of our better games on the road,” said Bishop, who was traded from the Los Angeles Kings in May. “You want to be better on the road. The first period was important, trying to keep the team in there, and the second period we wanted to take over. It’s a big win with two important games on the road. We’ll enjoy this tonight and get ready for Chicago.”

The Stars snapped a four-game road losing streak, as the night belonged to both Bishop and Faksa, who hadn’t scored more than a goal in a game this season.

With both teams down a man in the second period, Faksa took a pass from Dan Hamhuis and beat Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban with a one-timer, to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.

Faksa notched his second goal of the night when he took advantage of traffic in front of the net to sneak one past Subban’s left skate, and off the inside of the post.

Seconds later, the Stars caught the Knights sleeping at the blue line, and using a 3-on-1 break, Faksa punched one past Subban for his first career hat trick.

Subban stopped 27 shots.

“We challenged (Faksa’s) line two days ago to play against heavier groups,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. “Rather than match their line with our line, we wanted to push them up and play with top players. They took the challenge head-on. We’ve asked them to take on added responsibility. I think they’ve earned it. I think we can do what we did tonight, and that’s wear teams down.”

Vegas missed first-line forward David Perron, who was listed as a scratch. Perron is tied for third on the Knights with 19 points.

“He’s an important player for us, there’s no doubt,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “He makes our team go some nights, and he’s one of our top six forwards, so when you miss a guy like that it’s going to hurt you. Definitely tonight we missed David Perron. I think their D did a real good job tonight, boxing us out, keeping us away from the front of the net. We had some scoring chances, but not a whole lot of great ones. We probably had six or seven minutes where we made some mistakes and it cost us.”

With the loss, and the Kings’ 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings, Vegas and Los Angeles are tied atop the Pacific Division with 31 points.

NOTES

The Stars have designated their current two-game tour a dad’s trip, as 15 players have their fathers with them. ... Vegas C Cody Eakin was selected in Expansion Draft from the Stars. ... Knights C William Karlsson had his career-high five-game goal streak snapped. ... Vegas was shutout for the first time in franchise history.

UP NEXT

Dallas: gets one day off before playing in Chicago on Thursday

Vegas: travels to play Minnesota on Thursday

Karlsson scores twice, leads Golden Knights past Kings 4-2

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — In the first meeting of what figures to be a fun Pacific Division rivalry, the new guys in Vegas struck first.

William Karlsson scored twice, Maxime Lagace stopped 27 shots and the Golden Knights beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Sunday night.

Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch also scored for Vegas, which improved to 8-1-0 at home and 12-6-1 overall in its inaugural season. Reilly Smith had two assists, helping the Golden Knights win the first Interstate 15 matchup.

“The Kings’ chants were shut down in three seconds. It was awesome, I love that, that’s a good atmosphere,” Tuch said. “Guys in this locker room, they’ve been a part of rivalries for a long time. It brings a different kind of energy for each guy.”

The Kings got goals from Trevor Lewis and Tanner Pearson but dropped to 12-7-2. The Golden Knights (25) moved within a point of Los Angeles (26) in the division.

Vegas coach Gerard Gallant downplayed the Vegas-LA rivalry and said he was more concerned with his team matching the Kings’ physicality.

“I’m pretty happy we won tonight because we’re one point out of first place, and we’re battling hard and we’re trying to win as many games as we can,” Gallant said. “It didn’t matter if it was LA or Phoenix or whoever we played tonight. It’s just about playing another team and trying to get another two points.

“I was really happy how we played. We know LA is a tough, physical team to play against, and our team stood up well. I was happy with how we responded.”

Karlsson opened the scoring 55 seconds into the game with a wrist shot that beat Jonathan Quick through the five-hole.

Eakin scored his third goal of the season later in the period when he ripped a shot past Quick on the glove side.

Less than a minute later, Quick got caught behind the net trying to clear the puck. Smith passed to Karlsson, and he punched in his ninth goal of the season, matching his career high.

“They came after us right away and obviously got the three-goal lead,” Lewis said. “We battled back, but I think we kind of killed ourselves in the first period. The building is loud, there was a lot of energy. They’re a good team, they’re a fast team, they came out hard right away and we weren’t ready for it.”

Quick was replaced by Darcy Kuemper after stopping just six of nine shots. Kuemper stopped 30 of 30 shots the rest of the way, with Tuch scoring into an empty net.

“That’s certainly not the start we wanted,” Kings coach John Stevens said. “You dig a hole on the road against any team, especially in here, it’s tough to come back. But I thought the guys, they dug in, I thought they got going.”

The Kings didn’t get on the board until midway through the second, when Lewis capitalized on a turnover, made a nifty move to his left and slipped one past Lagace to cut Vegas’ lead to 3-1.

Los Angeles got within one when Pearson was left alone in the slot and his wrist shot beat Lagace with 8:15 left in the game.

“If you look at all our rivalries — Anaheim and San Jose — now put these guys in the mix,” Pearson said. “It was a pretty hard-fought first game, and there will be a lot more to come. It’s just this way division plays each other, it gets intense.”

NOTES: Golden Knights G Malcolm Subban was activated from the injured list Friday and was in uniform for the first time since Oct. 21, when he left the game with a lower body injury.

UP NEXT

Vegas: At Anaheim on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles: Hosts Winnipeg on Wednesday night.

Haula gets winner as Golden Knights beat Canucks 5-2

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Two nights after finally looking like an expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights got back to what’s made them successful early in their first season — outworking opponents.

Erik Haula scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and the Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Thursday night.

Haula, David Perron, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson each had a goal and an assist, and Reilly Smith added an empty-netter. Vegas improved to 11-6-1 in its debut season.

Maxime Lagace made his ninth straight start and had 19 saves after giving up seven goals on 29 shots in Tuesday’s 8-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

“You let up eight goals ... you can’t pin that on the goalie,” Haula said. “Our goalies have been great.”

Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat scored for Vancouver. Jacob Markstrom made 25 stops.

“We looked a step behind,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. “They looked a little quicker than us.

“Our team looked a little tired.”

The teams were sent to the locker rooms with under a minute left in the second period when a fan seated in one of the corners was hit in the head by an errant puck. One of the officials on the ice threw towels to nearby spectators to help with the bleeding, and the fan was eventually taken away on a stretcher.

There was no immediate update from the Canucks on the fan’s status.

The teams played the final 59.7 seconds of the period on a fresh sheet of ice before switching ends for the third.

After blowing a 2-0 lead in the second period, the Golden Knights went back in front at 6:27 of the third when James Neal stripped Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson behind the net and passed to Perron, who quickly fed Haula across the top of the crease for his sixth goal of the season.

Perron has two goals and seven assists during a six-game point streak, while Haula has four goals and four assists in his last six contests.

“Big game for us,” Perron said. “It was a big two points and we can keep building on our season, we don’t want to let it slip away.”

Vancouver didn’t offer much in the way of an attack for the majority of the night. The Canucks had a chance off Boeser’s stick with under seven minutes to go that Lagace got a pad on.

“It’s part of my job to come back after a performance where you probably wanted to have two or three goals back,” Lagace said. “The guys played awesome in front of me.”

Marchessault put the game out of reach with 3:05 left when he jumped on Derrick Pouliot’s turnover before beating Markstrom low for his fifth.

Down 2-0 after a sluggish first period, Green shook up his lines in the second, and got some immediate results.

Boeser scored his sixth of the year at 12:04 after Vegas center Oscar Lindberg’s pass in the slot went right to the rookie winger, who made no mistake past a surprised Lagace.

The Canucks evened things with 2:42 left in the period when Thomas Vanek’s partially blocked shot dribbled toward the Golden Knights’ crease. Vancouver forward Sam Gagner kicked the puck to Horvat, and he slid his eighth past Lagace.

NOTES: Vegas G Malcolm Subban practiced Wednesday and is close to returning.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Canucks: Host St. Louis on Saturday night.