On The Strip, the Vegas Golden Knights nursed a 1-0 lead off a first period from Max Pacioretty, and then exchanged goals in the third period with the Calgary Flames for a 3-2 win.
Robin Lehner made 23 saves in the Vegas win.
“That was a huge game for us,” Vegas’ Nicolas Roy said. “I think coming into this game, we knew they have a really good team and they’re in first (in the Pacific Division) for a reason. We knew we had to play 60 minutes.”
The Knights imp[roved to 14-10-0.
“Our attention to detail was really good,” Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer said. “I loved our start, which we know has been an issue here at different times in the first 20 games. How we defended … I think through 40 minutes we had hardly given up anything in the house or around the net.”
Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane were the third period strikers for Calgary.
“We really didn’t change our whole game. I thought we played a good game,” Calgary head coach Darryl Sutter said. “The top end of their lineup is used to going a little deeper, and it showed in situations tonight.”
The Flames dropped to 15-5-5.
Roy and Evgenii Dadonov also scored in the final frame to give the Golden Knights leads of 2-0 and 3-1.
“They get up 3-1, the building’s loud, it’s easy for guys to just sit back and not want to make plays and be afraid to go out there,” the Flames’ Christopher Tanev said. “Guys are still pushing, guys are still trying to score goals, which is a big step for us.”
Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves in the Calgary loss.
“When we made it 2-1, they made it 3-1 right away,” Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk said. “But I think the difference was we just weren’t as sharp for the whole 60 minutes, and they took it to us pretty good, especially the first two periods.”
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