The Vegas Golden Knights used another strong offensive performance to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 2-0 on Monday night. They are now 6-0-1 since the hiring of head coach John Tortorella.
The win extended the Golden Knights’ point streak to nine games, and they now have sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division and a chance to clinch a win against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
Amidst the noise around the league, the first season was quiet. The Golden Knights forced a power-play by sending Adam Lowry for holding.
Not much happened on the power play, and neither did the Golden Knights for most of the period, which ended scoreless after 20 minutes.
It was Mark Stone who first got the Golden Knights on board. There was a shorthanded two-on between him and Jack Eichel and Stone beat Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
The puck went to the five-hole on Hellebuyck and took a lucky bounce, giving the Golden Knights the lead midway through the second period.
After what felt like a parade in the penalty box by both teams, Reilly Smith scored his 14th goal of the season by deflecting a shot past defenseman Noah Hanifin.
This gave the Golden Knights a 2–0 lead at the end of the second period, often called the worst lead in hockey but it played no role. Early in the third period, Eichel delivered a no-look pass to Ivan Barbashev, who headed into the open net and the score became 3–0.
Later in the third, Gabe Vilardi got the Jets on the board. Mark Scheifele added another soon after, cutting the deficit to 4–2.
Vegas answered on a double minor after Scheifele was called for high-sticking Rasmus Andersson. Pavel Dorofeyev took advantage of the power play and scored his 20th of the season with the man-advantage to cut the Golden Knights lead to 5–2.
Eichel later scored his first power play goal of the season on the same power play to make the score 6–2 Golden Knights.
Vegas will face the Kraken in their final game of the regular season on Wednesday at 7pm with a chance to take over the division by gaining a point.
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