Vegas Golden Knights: Secondary scoring emerges in rout of Flames

After a tough couple of losses the Vegas Golden Knights bounced back in emphatic fashion on Saturday night by beating the Calgary Flames 6-2 in what was a thrilling contest at T-Mobile Arena.

Following back-to-back defeats to the Boston Bruins and the Arizona Coyotes, being outscored 8-4 in the process, the Vegas Golden Knights looked more like themselves last night after getting contributions from up and down the lineup to claim an important victory over a Pacific Division rival.

The Knights improved to 3-2-0 with the win last night and they will now hit the road today to take on the LA Kings in another Pacific Division matchup, with the Kings also winning on Saturday after beating the Nashville Predators 7-4.

But, going back to the Vegas’ success over the Flames and the two areas that were concerns prior to puck drop were eradicated with the bottom six forward unit providing much-needed secondary scoring, while the blueline played a more rounded and solid game.

Tomas Nosek recorded his third goal and fourth point of the year early in the first period, although Calgary came charging back and took the lead themselves thanks to goals from Rasmus Andersson and the dangerous Johnny Gaudreau.

But those minor setbacks seemed to send a spark through the Vegas lineup and they finished the second period with a flourish, with Mark Stone, William Carrier and Paul Stastny all getting on the board.

Ryan Reaves chipped in with a goal early in the third period as all four lines continued to contribute, before Cody Glass wrapped up the scoring with his second goal in the NHL with Nic Hague recording his first-ever point in the National Hockey League.

Marc-Andre Fleury was also superb in goal once again and he stopped 33 of 35 shots to record his third win of the year.

The Lineup

There were some different line combinations to digest following the return of Cody Eakin, who was making his season debut following his recovery from an upper body injury.

Eakin slotted in as the third line center with Paul Stastny being bumped back up to the second line, which meant that Cody Glass dropped down to the third line and replaced Brandon Pirri on the right wing, who was a healthy scratch.

Other than that everything remained the same although goalie Oscar Dansk was on the bench after being called up from the AHL, with Malcolm Subban day to day with an unspecified injury.

The Game

First Period – Vegas were given an early power play after Andrew Mangiapane went to the box for interference, and the man advantage nearly paid off as Mark Stone and Cody Glass combined to allow Paul Stastny to rip a one-timer at goal, but David Rittich made the save.

Rittich was beaten at 3:24 in the first, however, as Tomas Nosek crashed to the net to get to the rebound after William Carrier had cut in on goal, with Stone getting the secondary helper.

Brayden McNabb returned to the locker room after blocking a shot which provided the Knights with a brief scare, although he soon returned to action and was fine for the rest of the night.

Vegas were on top and they had further chances to add to their lead with both Cody Eakin and Ryan Reaves firing one-timers at goal.

Second Period – Calgary struck back early in the middle period as Deryk Engelland was caught high up the ice and he missed a pinch, which left Nic Hague stranded on a two-on-one and Rasmus Andersson received a feed from Mikael Backlund before ripping it past Marc-Andre Fleury.

Seconds later and the Flames had a 2-1 lead after Johnny Gaudreau’s pass went off William Karlsson‘s stick and into the net.

However, that gave the Golden Knights the wakeup call they needed and Mark Stone led the charge back, wristing a shot at David Rittich before meeting his own rebound in impressive style.

Rittich redeemed himself somewhat with a stunning save on a Jonathan Marchessault effort, but that couldn’t keep the Knights down and they retook the lead at 9:54 in the second as Karlsson fed William Carrier from behind the net and the bottom line grinder backhanded a shot in off the bar.

And the Golden Knights were not finished there, either, as Paul Stastny went five-hole on Rittich with Max Pacioretty and Deryk Engelland getting the assists.

Marc-Andre Fleury made a huge stop to deny Matthew Tkachuk and he was outstanding in the last minute of the second period, making a flurry of saves to keep Vegas’ two-goal lead intact.

Third Period – Max Pacioretty was denied on a partial breakaway by David Rittich to start the period, but the Vegas Golden Knights soon had their fifth goal after Ryan Reaves took advantage of some slack defensive work by Calgary, skating into open ice before wristing a shot through Rittich’s five-hole.

And the scoring was done at 17:12 when Cody Glass’ pass intended for Cody Eakin went in the net off a Flames’ defenseman for his second NHL goal, and that wrapped up an impressive and crucial victory for the Golden Knights.

Let’s go over some notes and stats from the game…