On The Strip, Johnathan Marchessault hit for a double on Saturday night in the Golden knights’ 4-1 win over the visiting Washington Capitals. 
Vegas moved to 16-5-4.
Logan Thompson made 21 saves in the win.
Marchessault scored at 8:53 of the first stanza to give Vegas a 1-0 lead off a power play strike.
“It was kind of nice to get on the board,” Marchessault said. “Obviously for a guy like me, it’s always just a matter of time. I don’t know anything else but hard work … and sometimes it pays off at some point.”
Jack Eichel, who had two assists, added a marker at 7:56 of the middle frame to make it 2-0 to Vegas.
“He’s a driver,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The drivers of teams when they’re on, pull everyone along. That’s what they do. They’re just those special guys. He’s a guy that, let’s face it, if he’s off a little bit or not in our lineup we miss that part. He means a lot.”
The Capitals dropped to 12-7-2.
“We just couldn’t generate enough puck possession in the offensive zone,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Our start was alright. We probably didn’t do enough with those pucks early on that we could have turned into sustained pressure and delivery and shots on goals. In the second period, they took over and we weren’t able to generate enough as we need to puck possession wise.”
Mark Stone ballooned the lead to 3-0 with just 49 seconds gone in the third period.
“It was a great play [by Eichel]. He drives a couple of guys to him and gets goalie chasing,” Stone said. “I just banked it in. It’s just great play by a great player. You have to be ready when he’s got the puck because you never know where he’s going to put it.”
Tom Wilson was the lone striker for the Caps, his third period goal made it 3-1 at3:14.
Marchessault added an empty-net marker with just under two minutes left on the game clock for the 4-1 final.
“We’re capitalizing on our chances,” Stone said. “The structure has been there all year that’s allowed us to stay in games. We didn’t stray from it. That’s what allowed us to get some overtime points and greasy wins.”
Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves in the loss.


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