In Las Vegas, the Golden Knights were looking to break out of a funk on Saturday night, and did so in convincing fashion with a 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals.
The Knights built a 5-0 lead into the second period before the Caps finally got on the board with a from T.J. Oshie.
“I think when you have a lead and things haven’t been going your way you start to feel better about yourself,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Right away, you’re like, ‘Maybe it’ll be my night, too.’ When I saw [Stephenson’s] shot go off the bar I’m like, ‘Oh God, here we go,’ but good for ‘Marty’, he needed a goal as much as anybody.”
Logan Thompson made 20 saves in the Vegas win.
“I think this win goes a long way for everyone. It’s a big confidence boost,” Thompson said. “Scoring’s been tough for us of late, and keeping the puck out for the goalies has been tough as well, so I think every position can build off this.”
The Golden Knights improved to 29-16-2.
“I’m not going to get too much into it,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “We weren’t good. They were the better team, and we’ll get ready for the next one. There are things that we can go back and try to get better at.”
The Caps dropped to 25-18-6.
Vegas took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Alec Martinez and Nicholas Roy.
“We’ve got guys out of the lineup so there’s opportunities for other guys to step up,” Martinez said. “In order to be successful in this league, you can’t be top-heavy, you’ve got to score and contribute by committee, and I think guys did that on both ends of the ice.”
Michael Amadio scored in the middle frame for a 3-0 advantage.
Byron Froese pushed the lead out to 4-0, and Paul Cotter hit his first of two for a 5-0 lead.
Oshie scored to get the Capitals on the board at 5-1.
Cotter’s second came early n the third period for a 6-1 lead.
Washington’s Marcus Johansson scored midway through the third for the 6-2 final.
“We’re not exactly in a super-comfortable position where we can have games like this right now, especially with [Ovechkin] not playing,” Oshie said. “Usually you lose a guy like that it’s next man up, everybody has to pull a little bit harder on the rope, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
Darcy Kuemper got the start but was given the hook in the second period after surrendering four goals and making 14 saves.
Charlie Lindgren made seven saves in a mop up role.
Alex Ovechkin did not ice in the game because of a lower body injury.
“There’s always things that are going on with players,” Laviolette said of Ovechkin’s injury. “Alex is usually really durable, but this is something that he wasn’t able to skate this morning and it took him out of the lineup tonight.”
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