Vegas Golden Knights snap losing streak in style against Flames

Talk about ending a slump in style! The Vegas Golden Knights snapped a five-game losing streak by extinguishing the Calgary Flames 6-0 in an absolute doozy of a game at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Heading into the contest having dropped five straight and lost seven of eight, the Vegas Golden Knights were hoping to restore some pride in the second game of a back-to-back last night.

After dropping a tough loss to the LA Kings on Saturday night, the Knights were matching up against a Calgary team who had dropped three straight losses, placing even more importance on this Pacific Division showdown.

And it was a hell of an effort from the Golden Knights who got a 34-save shutout performance from Marc-Andre Fleury, while five different scorers got on the board in what was a breakout day for the offense.

William Karlsson posted a multi-point night for the third straight game with two goals and one assist, while both Paul Stastny and Mark Stone broke out of their respective scoring slumps.

Cody Eakin also potted his first goal of the year following what has been a tough first chunk of the season for the forward, and Max Pacioretty continued to show why he is a key piece on this team.

It was a complete performance from a Knights team that had shown signs of getting back on track in the last couple of games, and it was just what they needed ahead of a tough slate of games coming up.

But, and more importantly, the Golden Knights flashed a killer instinct that had been missing to play a full 60-minute game, and they played arguably their best third period of the year.

After the win, which was the first game of a four-game homestand, the Vegas Golden Knights are now 10-9-3 on the year.

Let’s delve into the game some more by breaking it down period by period…

The Game

First Period – Jonathan Marchessault tested Calgary goalie Cam Talbot early following some fantastic work from Mark Stone behind the net, before both Nic Hague and Cody Eakin were denied in quick succession.

The revamped second line of Marchessault, Eakin and Stone were buzzing early, while Hague laid a huge hit on Michael Frolik as Vegas dominated in every single area.

And the Knights’ bright start paid off at 10:44 as Marc-Andre Fleury made a couple of big stops, William Karlsson blocked a shot before getting to his feet, skating in on a two-on-one rush before wristing a shot from the circle beyond Talbot.

Talbot then produced arguably the glove save of the night in the entire NHL after somehow snagging Max Pacioretty’s one-timer, with Calgary outshooting the Knights 13-11 although Vegas looked the more dangerous team.

Second Period – The game was getting snippy, as you would expect with Matthew Tkachuk on the ice, and it led to a couple of roughing penalties.

But the Golden Knights didn’t let any physical intimidation get to them and they made it a two-goal game at 9:39.

Paul Stastny received a breakout pass from Nate Schmidt before deking Mark Giordano and wristing a shot from the circle beyond Cam Talbot.

Reilly Smith went close with a shorthanded breakaway to end the period, as Vegas outshot the Flames 13-12.

Third Period – A lot of the Knights’ struggles have come down to the fact that they imploded in the third period, blowing a plethora of blown leads and handing the opposition the game on a plate.

However, there was a different feel heading into the final period on Sunday and the Golden Knights finally discovered the killer instinct that had been so lacking throughout November.

Marc-Andre Fleury started the third period dominance by making a stellar pad save, before another two-on-one between William Karlsson and Max Pacioretty resulted in the latter lasering a shot past Cam Talbot at 8:13.

Cody Eakin then recorded his first goal of the year after one-timing on a dish from Jonathan Marchessault in the slot, and that tuck started a frantic couple of minutes.

Awarded a power play, the Knights took full advantage of the extra skater as Mark Stone received a nifty feed from Pacioretty before cranking home a one-timer to snap a six-game pointless streak.

And moments later Karlsson tallied his second goal of the game after displaying some filthy moves before slipping a backhander past Cam Talbot to complete the scoring.

It was a hell of a third period by the Vegas Golden Knights who avoided setting a new franchise record in consecutive losses, and they snapped out of their slump in emphatic fashion.

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