On The Strip, Jonathan Marchessault hit for a hat trick on Thursday night to lead the Golden Knights to a 5-2 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
Logan Thompson made 29 saves in the win.
“We’ve been fighting as of late, sneaking away with two points [the] last couple of games,” Thompson said. “So, I think tonight was a team effort, the power play was great and the [penalty kill] did a [heck] of a job and we pulled out two points.”
Vegas improved to 10-0-1.
William Karlsson scored midway through the first period to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.
“‘Karly,’ from Day One here, has been excellent,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “His legs are really under him.”
Kyle Connor tied it, 1-1, at 6;17 of the middle frame.
The Jets dropped to 4-4-2.
“We got real sloppy there for the last 10 minutes for that second period,” Jets associate coach Scott Arniel said. “We got ourselves going again in the third, got some good shifts. We scored that power-play goal, made it 3-2. We’re hoping to make it a little bit better, and then another tough one.”
Marchessault scored his first, off the power play, with seven minutes gone in the second for a 2-1 lead to Vegas.
“I was pretty shocked that he brought that out because he doesn’t do it often; he normally stays in his blue paint,” Marchessault said of Thompson. “It was a great heads-up play. He saw all four guys leaving and ‘Stoney’ was ready, and I was just filling lanes there in the middle and I got lucky.”
Vegas picked up another power play strike at 8:38 off a goal from Ivan Barbashev for a 3-1 lead.
Alex Iafallo scored off the power play at 1:51 of the third to claw the Jets back to within one goal at 3-2.
“We’re just trying to get that first one to get our confidence going,” Iafallo said. “We’re trying to get the power play going and get momentum for the team. We have to keep doing that.”
Marchessault scored twice in the third to finish his hat trick.
He scored at 5:47 for a 4-2 lead, and again at 17:08 into an empty net for the 5-2 final.
“Every night, somebody else is stepping in,” Marchessault said. “That’s the mentality we had last year, and it was good to feel that I could help my teammates tonight.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves in the loss.
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