Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Star players step up as Golden Knights beat Avalanche, move closer to division title

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Steve Marcus

Vegas Golden Knights left wing Max Pacioretty (67) celebrates with right wing Mark Stone (61) after scoring in the second period of a game against the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena Wednesday, April 28, 2021.

Golden Knights Beat Avalanche, 5-2

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) celebrates after scoring against the Colorado Avalanche during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, April 28, 2021, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone went in on the Colorado net 2-on-1. Good things tend to happen when those two get loose for the Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights best players came up big in the most important game of the season so far, the above Stone-to-Pacioretty goal in the third-period example that put a dagger in Colorado’s comeback hopes.

Vegas’ captain and top goal-scorer each finished with three points and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves as the Golden Knights took another step toward a division crown with a 5-2 victory over the Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

“We’ve been playing some good hockey but we want to play the best, so it was nice to play them and see where we’re at,” Stone said. “Getting the two points, creating all that separation is huge for us.”

Wednesday’s win was Vegas’ 10th in a row, extending its franchise-record streak. But as Stone alluded to, the first nine of those came against the Coyotes, Kings, Ducks and Sharks — the four teams in the division not expected to make the playoffs. Entering the night, the Golden Knights were a combined 25-4-0 against them this season, and a more modest 9-7-2 against the playoff-caliber Avalanche, Wild and Blues.

Only four points separated Vegas and Colorado in the standings coming into the night (and the Avalanche had a game in hand), so leaving with a six-point cushion puts Vegas in the driver’s seat for its third division title in four years.

For the first time all year, the Golden Knights have some breathing room and even some margin for error in the season’s final two weeks.

“We've still got a lot of business to take care of over the last two weeks, but our destiny is in our own hands at least,” coach Pete DeBoer said.

To get there, Vegas needed its best players to shoulder the load. Tied 1-1 heading to the second, the Golden Knights didn’t register a shot on goal in the period until near the midpoint. Vegas scored the first goal 10 seconds into the game — the fastest to start a game in team history — but the Avalanche started to tilt the ice after that.

A little luck never hurts to get a team back on track. Pacioretty scored his first of the game on the team’s first shot of the second after the puck bounced around and goalie Devan Dubnyk didn’t seem to see it. It slid by him to make it 2-1, then Stone scored his goal from behind the net. He saw the goalie scrambling, and banked the puck off Dubnyk’s back.

According to stats site Moneypuck.com, Pacioretty’s goal had a 1.4% chance of going in. Stone’s had a 1% chance.

“I was fortunate it went off the back,” Stone said. “Nothing too glamorous about that one.”

The next goal had quite a bit more finesse. In the last two seasons, Stone has finished in the top five in the voting for the Selke Trophy given to the best defensive forward. He’s a candidate again this year and showed why early in the third period.

With a 3-2 lead after a late second-period goal from Colorado, Stone blocked a Nazem Kadri shot, collected the rebound off his shin pads and charged the other way with Pacioretty. Stone flipped it over to his running mate near the net, and Pacioretty put it home for his second of the game and team-best 26th of the season.

“I think that’s been one of our big strengths here is to kind of stick with our game, not getting frustrated or letting the game get away,” forward Chandler Stephenson said. “Mark and (Pacioretty) stepped up and gave us some big goals and a little bit of breathing room.”

In the net, Fleury continued his age-defying season with his seventh game this season with at least 30 saves and raising his save percentage to .927, tied for best in the NHL among goalies who have played at least half of his team’s games.

It’s the kind of night Vegas draws up — big goals from the top forwards and big saves from the franchise goalie. The Avalanche have plenty of star power of their own, but Wednesday night, Vegas’ top players were just better.

Will they be good enough in the playoffs? If the first round goes chalk we may get a chance to find out. And if that series does happen, the Golden Knights took a major step Wednesday in ensuring that Game 1 is at T-Mobile Arena. 

“We’re in a good spot here and our goal now is to really try and gel and get even better over these last eight games,” Pacioretty said.

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