Golden Knight indeed for league-best Vegas
James Neal and Jonathan Marchessault scored to help the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, last night in Raleigh, N.C., giving the expansion franchise the best record in the NHL.
The Golden Knights are 31-11-4, good for 66 points. That’s one ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had the night off.
Colin Miller had a goal and two assists, and MarcAndre Fleury made 27 saves for Vegas. The Golden Knights finished 2-1-1 on this road trip, including a 4-1 win Thursday at the Lightning.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Brendan Leipsic also scored for Vegas, which avenged a 3-2 shootout loss to Carolina in December. Neal got his 21st goal of the season, and Marchessault had his 17th.
Jaccob Slavin scored for the Hurricanes late in the first period on a power play. Goalie Scott Darling was lifted after allowing three goals on eight shots in the first.
Bellemare scored less than three minutes in, setting the tone. He took a nifty back pass from William Carrier, who drew two skaters and the attention of Darling. Bellemare put the puck through Darling’s legs for his fifth goal.
Miller and Marchessault scored 39 seconds apart in the first, leading Carolina coach Bill Peters to call his team’s timeout. He then signaled for Cam Ward to replace Darling.
Neal scored on a secondperiod power play, giving him at least 21 goals in 10 consecutive seasons. He gathered the rebound of Brad Hunt’s shot and poked the puck past Ward.
Carolina, which has lost 5-of-7, is last in the tight Metropolitan Division.
Miller’s goal broke an 0-for-19 skid on the power play for Vegas.
Flyers 2, Capitals 1 — Travis Konecny scored 27 seconds into overtime, and surging Philadelphia edged host Washington.
Konecny found space in the middle of the offensive zone and his shot deflected off the Capitals’ T.J. Oshie and past Braden Holtby for his eighth of the season.
Michael Raffl also scored for Philadelphia, and Brian Elliott had 27 saves. The Flyers have won three in a row and 7-of-8 to move into playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Washington has dropped three in a row. Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-best 29th goal. Holtby made 21 stops.
Sharks 6, Ducks 2 — Mikkel Boedker had two goals and an assist, Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist, and San Jose won in Anaheim, Calif.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Kevin Labanc and Melker Karlsson also scored for the Sharks, who have won 5-of-6. Aaron Dell stopped 33 shots.
Rickard Rakell and Ryan Getzlaf scored for Anaheim. John Gibson stopped only 17-of-22 shots and was replaced after giving up his fifth goal. Anaheim had a four-game home winning streak snapped.
Jets 1, Canucks 0 — Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as Winnipeg extended its home winning streak to six with the narrow win against Vancouver.
Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season in the first period.