Brandon Saad scored his first as a Vegas Golden Knight early in the third period to lead his new team to a 3-1 win over their Pacific Division rival Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. The Canucks opened the scoring in the second with Jake DeBrusk notching his 20th, but the Golden Knights fought back with goals from Ivan Barbashev and Saad before Tomas Hertl iced it with an empty netter.
With the win, the Golden Knights pulled ahead of the Edmonton Oilers for first in the division and now have 74 points to the Oilers’ 72 after the latter lost to the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the day. The Canucks, meanwhile, failed to pad their lead on the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot and remain three points ahead of them heading into their matchup against the Utah Hockey Club tomorrow.
Game Recap
The first period was largely dominated by the Golden Knights but were stoned time and time again by Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen. They were gifted three power plays thanks to two too-many-men penalties and one delay of game penalty, but couldn’t solve Lankinen despite launching 13 shots at him – many of the high-danger variety. By the end of the period, they had outshot the Canucks 13-5 and out-chanced them 9-6, but were still locked into a 0-0 draw.
In a much more evenly played period (except for maybe the final two minutes or so where the Golden Knights hemmed the Canucks in their own zone), both teams traded goals with DeBrusk opening the scoring at 6:22 with his 20th and Barbashev responding at 11:02 with his 16th. DeBrusk notched his 14th on the road, and 300th point of his career, when Kiefer Sherwood found him at the side of the net as Adin Hill was out of position after trying a sweep check, while Barbashev smacked home a rebound after a shot was tipped through by Victor Olofsson. The rest of the middle frame didn’t see any more scoring as it ended 1-1 with the Golden Knights holding a huge edge in shots, 25-15.
The Golden Knights started quickly in the third period as Saad scored 18 seconds in to give his new team a 2-1 lead. After that, the Canucks poured it on but could not get the equalizer despite outshooting the Golden Knights 18-10. Teddy Blueger thought he had tied it, but the officials ruled it goaltender interference as he bumped into Hill before the puck ricocheted off him and into the net. Hertl added an empty netter in the final minute to seal the win.
Both goaltenders had their moments in this game as Lankinen was brilliant in the first and Hill returned the favour in the third. In the end, Hill walked away with the win stopping 32 of 33 shots while Lankinen responded with 32 of his own on 34 shots.
What’s Next for the Canucks & Golden Knights
The Canucks are right back at it on Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club, traveling to Salt Lake City for their second matchup of the season. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, will await the Los Angeles Kings, who will be in Sin City on Monday.
