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FINAL: 6-3 VGK
THIRD PERIOD:
17:55 — Brett Howden immediately answers the Vancouver goal to put up the Knights, 6-3.
18:19 — Another goal from Hughes. VGK still leads 5-3.
SECOND PERIOD:
13:49 — Quinn Hughes scores a power play goal for Vancouver, cuts Knights' lead to 5-2.
18:14 — William Karlsson scores on the power play. VGK lead by four, 5-1.
FIRST PERIOD:
0:10 — Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov gets a five-minute major and a game misconduct after boarding Brett Howden. VGK will be on the power-play for 4:51 to start the second period.
5:18 — Noah Hanifin gets his first goal as a Golden Knight. VGK now up 4-1.
10:20 — Jack Eichel answers with a goal. VGK again up by two, 3-1.
10:40 — Vancouver's Nil Hoglander gets the Canucks on the board. 2-1 VGK
13:37 — Jonathan Marchessault notches his 41st goal of season. VGK up 2-0.
18:23— Anthony Mantha gets his first goal at home for the Golden Knights, giving the Knights an early 1-0 lead.
The Vegas Golden Knights will host the Pacific Division leading Vancouver Canucks tonight at T-Mobile Arena at 7 p.m. The game and pre-game coverage will be broadcasted on Channel 13 and Vegas 34.
HOW TO:Where to find Vegas 34, the official broadcast home of the Vegas Golden Knights
The Knights are on a 3-game win streak and come off a road trip in which the team went 3-1. VGK faces a formidable test in the Canucks tonight and will face Vancouver again next Monday on the road.
"It's going to be a good test," Golden Knights forward Nic Roy said after Monday's practice. "We might actually face them again down the road in playoffs. Two really good teams, they don't give a lot defensively so it should be a good game."
"They're a good team coming in," goalie Logan Thompson said. "Obviously we know what they have. We've seen them a couple times this year. We'll be ready to go. I think that road trip was huge for us as a team with confidence."
With eight games left in their regular season, Vegas is seemingly getting hot at the right time. The team has won 6 of their last 8 games and have leapfrogged the LA Kings for 3rd place in the Pacific Division.
The best may be yet to come for the Knights as recently-acquired former Sharks star Tomas Hertl is now practicing in full working his way off the IR while captain Mark Stone could return for playoffs.
"Feels like everything is combining and coming along," Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "Last year we added one guy and this year we added three (Anthony Mantha, Noah Hanifin, Hertl) and they're definitely game-changers."
"Obviously we didn't play our best hockey after the break but we've found our game lately, especially defensively," Roy said. "We're feeling good about ourselves, for sure."
After being marked by inconsistency for the better part of their Stanley Cup championship encore season, VGK is re-finding the spark that led them to a historic post-season run a year ago.
"There's ups and downs, that's just how a hockey season is," Thompson said. "But we've stuck with it, we've stuck to the program and we're getting back to our winning ways."
"It does feel like last year in the playoffs a little bit," Marchessault added. "We're dialing it in right now the past ten games. Not just the results but the effort level and the way we play. A couple times, I don't like letting teams linger in games. That's something I'd like to clean up in the next few games. But we're happy with the way we're playing right now and I think it's a good time of the year to bring our best hockey."
Some of the team's recent success can be attributed to the play of goalie Logan Thompson. With Adin Hill out of the lineup with a lower-body injury, Thompson went 3-0 starting in-net during the team's road stretch and allowed just three goals. He was named by the NHL as the league's second star of the week.
"Not surprised, he's earned it," Roy said. "He's playing really really good for us. He took a step there the last ten games he's played. He's been unreal. Having a goalie that's hot like that obviously helps us a lot."
"I'm really happy for him," Marchessault said. "He's playing like a really strong goalie in the NHL. He's up there with the best right now. We knew that from last year and to see the success he's having right now, we definitely want to battle for him because he's battling for us right now."