The Vegas Golden Knights entered the mini Christmas break with a dominant 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken in Chandler Stephenson's return to the Fortress. Six players scored for the VGK, making it seven wins out of their last eight games. Ilya Samsonov had another solid effort in net with 21 saves for his fifth win in his previous six starts. This also makes it 118 wins for coach Bruce Cassidy, tying him with Gerard Gallant for most wins by a coach in franchise history (hot cocoa toast to coach Cassidy for the mark!).
Things didn't seem like they'd be all Peppermint and Yuletide cheer in the first three minutes of the first period. Vegas looked a little slow, leading to a holding call on Nicholas Hague and the first goal of the game by Vince Dunn. One that, even with the bit of traffic in front by Jaden Schwartz, he could've been in a better position for the save or to at least deflect it out of danger.
But that goal from Dunn seemed to energize the rest of the Golden Knights who ended up with seven of the period's final nine shots. Three of those shots found the back of the net in the span of 5:19, capped off by the guy whose mistake led to the period's first goal- Nicholas Hague.
Going into the second (and pretty much a good chunk of the third), the VGK was completely in control. The lone reason this wasn't a rout before the midway portion of the third period was Phillip Grubauer, who was easily the liveliest player on the ice all night for the Kraken. Though there's only so much a goalie can do with a lifeless offense before eventually breaking to this bit of Swedish magic...
Noah Hanifin added his seventh goal of the season a few minutes later to make it 5-1, triggering good cheer and the presence of the "Wave" throughout T-Mobile Arena. But it was momentarily interrupted by a late goal by Jaden Schwartz off a rebound from a terrific Samsonov save, leading to a brief empty net situation that Mark Stone promptly put an end to make it 6-2.
Next on the Marquee
Once the Holly and the Jolly of the season wraps up, the San Jose Sharks host the Golden Knights on Friday night Dec. 27th at 7:30 P.M. PST. On the surface, this should be an easy win. However, given that they were 17 seconds away from a Yaroslav Askarov-created upset of the Edmonton Oilers earlier today, there's an equal chance this could turn into a trap game for the Golden Knights.
As for the Seattle Kraken, they enter the second half of a four-game road trip after Saturday's loss. The Colorado Avalanche will host the Kraken on Sunday, followed by the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, December 28. The loss makes it four straight for the Kraken, who are stagnant at 32 points. Till then, it's time for the magic of "Merry Christmas Everybody" by Slade.