Samsonov lights up the Fortress in 3-0 shutout of the Flames

Ilya Samsonov nabbed 31 saves to collect his fourth straight win in net for the Vegas Golden Knights, resulting in a 3-0 shutout of the Calgary Flames on Sunday night. On top of being the ninth goalie in Golden Knights history to get a shutout, it also marks his first shutout overall since March 30th when he was still in Toronto.

Brett Howden opened the scoring late in the second period with his 15th goal of the season for Vegas, who are now 10-1-0 in December. Victor Olofsson and Tanner Pearson wrapped up the scoring in the third with their eighth and seventh of the season, respectively.

The first period started in many ways like a near carbon copy of the first period Friday night in San Jose: Good chances from Vegas mixed with a stout defense that kept the Flames shotless for nearly four and a half minutes. After that shot by Blake Coleman, things started to even out on both sides as the period went along. Credit goes to Flames goalie Dan Vladar who was sharp in the period, including on this shot by Mark Stone.

As for Samsonov, he was every bit the match in that period, albeit with much less traffic in front of his net. Until Tanner Laczynski and Brett Howden took penalties within a minute of each other, resulting in six minutes that blanked out the rest of the first period and right into the start of the second. He collected five saves and the defense around him blocked four more shots in that extended power play.

The Vegas Golden Knights finally break the ice

Once that power play ended, things settled back to the same tempo that populated throughout the first. Dan Vladar stymied the Golden Knights utilizing any and every kind of position that a goalie could make to keep things goalless.

It looked like it might be a sequel to the 1-0 win against Edmonton back on December 2nd. But the thing about goalie battles usually is that it takes one little stroke of luck to make a dent. Enter Alex Pietrangelo with a simple pass to Tanner Pearson which would lead to this shave of a goal from Howden...

To the Flames' credit, there was a little burst of offense to start the third period, outshooting the Golden Knights 5-1 in the first five minutes. A few seemed a little close to breaking through, though (again) the Vegas defense ensured they didn't rise to a threatening level. Vegas regained control as the third went on, punctuated with just under five and a half left by Olofsson and his fifth goal on the power play this season.

After that, it was about as smooth sailing as you can get for an in-division rivalry game. Outside of the scrum of the empty net, Calgary didn't seem to have any gas in the tank left to challenge Samsonov. And it was in that aforementioned empty net that Tanner Pearson put a garnish on things.

Next on the Marquee

A nice New Year's Eve matinee against the Montreal Canadiens at noon. It's part of a busy slate of games around the league to close out the relatively crummy year that is 2024. The last time Vegas played Montreal 36 days ago, they won 6-2 and it was all but done by the second intermission. One of their goalies from that game, Cayden Primeau, cleared waivers earlier today and will play in the AHL.

Will it end up the same way on Tuesday? Maybe. But this is the same team that blanked the Stanley Cup champion Panthers 24 hours ago in Florida. So Tuesday could turn into another fun one like tonight. Until then...