The Vegas Golden Knights returned home to The Fortress and, after a rather slow start with just six shots halfway through the contest, ended up walking away with a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. In a wild battle between two elite teams from their respective conferences, scoring chances were few and far between. Eventually, Vegas broke a 1-1 tie midway through the third period when Raphael Lavoie buried his first NHL goal, which stood as the game-winner. With an empty net, Golden Knights forwards William Karlsson and Jack Eichel each scored to put the game out of reach. In a spot start, Adin Hill was brilliant, turning away 25 shots and giving up just one goal.
Win: Golden Knights spread out the offense
Back in the lineup after missing the two-game road trip, Mitch Marner picked up an assist on Karlsson’s empty-net goal with two minutes left. On Tuesday, he was one of 11 players to find his name on the scoresheet as depth players helped the Golden Knights overcome a slow start and prevail with an important victory. With contributions from players like Lavoie and Braeden Bowman, who scored the game’s first goal, Vegas is a more dominant team when players besides Eichel or Mark Stone are finding the back of the net. What many thought was shaping up to be a disappointing night ultimately turned into a celebration.
Sin: Vegas continues their troubling trend of slow starts
Against a strong Senators team, missing two star players in Tomas Chabot and goalie Linus Ullmark, the visitors just about suffocated the Golden Knights into submission during the first 20 minutes. After registering just four shots in the opening period, Vegas didn't record its first shot of the second until 13:54 remained on the clock, followed by another at 12:29. Their inability to get through to Ottawa’s third-string goalie, Jonas Johansson, went another six minutes when Trevor Connelly got the team’s next shot at 6:13. Overall, in the final six minutes of the period, the Golden Knights picked up 11 shots to take a 19-18 lead into the second intermission. Even though the Senators have the strength to shut down high-powered offenses, this is not the first time this season that Vegas has no-showed the first period and rallied through the final 40 minutes to pull out a victory. Some nights they are great comebacks, others, like Tuesday night, they are just lucky to have survived.
Win: Adin Hill delivers his best performance of the season
Unfortunately, Vegas starter Carter Hart got hurt at the morning skate, forcing Adin Hill to make an unexpected appearance in net on Tuesday night. Despite having a 4-1-0 record, many among the fanbase have been worried that with a winning record, there’s no reason for the former Stanley Cup champion to have an .882 SV%. Against Ottawa, Hill turned back the clock with a season-high .962 SV%, his best performance since posting a shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 14, 2026. Before that, he recorded a .970 SV% in a 4-1 victory over Los Angeles on February 5. Even though Vegas continues to win games with him between the pipes, Hill has shown that he’s capable of squeezing out a victory on just 20 saves while allowing multiple goals against. On Tuesday, that wasn’t the case, for once.
Win: Vegas capitalizes on rare power play opportunity
At the start of the year, the Golden Knights had a power play goal in their first four games, then five in six, and seven out of ten. Then, the goals disappeared and so did the opportunities. Against Tampa Bay, a 6-2 loss, Vegas went 0-for-4, and then had zero power-play chances against St. Louis, another 6-2 loss. Finally, in Columbus, they had one chance on the man advantage and failed to capitalize in a 2-1 loss. Over their previous 12 periods, the Golden Knights had just five power-play opportunities, a significant drop for a team accustomed to receiving three to five chances per game. Thankfully, Bowman scored the team’s 11th power play goal of the season, because the NHL’s seventh-best power play was nowhere to be found for the past week.
What’s next for the Golden Knights?
Since their inception, the Golden Knights have battled Connor Hellebuyck when he was a member of the Winnipeg Jets. However, after a blockbuster trade last Friday, he’s now a member of the New Jersey Devils, who make their annual appearance at The Fortress on Friday night.
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