The Vegas Golden Knights celebrated the end of 2017 with a 6-3 thrashing of the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday night.
A three-goal first period was enough to send the Leafs on their heels the rest of the 
way.
The fist hat trick in Knights franchise history was credited to William Karlsson.
“Change in environment can be good for a player,” said Karlsson, who who has 20 goals on the season. “I’ve gotten a lot of chances here in Vegas. I think I’ve done pretty well; I have two good linemates [Reilly Smith and Marchessault] I play with every night. They make it easy on me.”
The win improved the Knights’ record to 26-9-2.
“I thought the crowd was good. The energy was good. I thought the whole thing was good. I would have liked us to been better initially. You have to give them credit,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game.
Auston Matthews struck for two goals and Patrick Marleau added a single marker in the loss.
“To come in their first year and do as well as they are, it’s a testament to management and coaching and the players over there,” Marleau said. “Those guys [have] got something to prove and they’re doing a good job and it’s a good team over there.”
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Erik Haula and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas.
Malcolm Subban made 20 saves to pick up the win.
“I don’t even know what’s happening right now. We’re just finding ways to win every night,” Marchessault said. “It’s been honestly one of my most favorite years, for sure. It’s so fun playing hockey right now. We don’t overwork, we just do the right thing.”
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Frederik Andersen took the loss on 25 saves.
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