Vegas clinches Pacific and West

In Seattle, the Vegas Golden Knights were on a mission, Thursday night, and the accomplished it.Vegas scored once in each period and held the Kraken to a single marker, in the first period, en route to a 3-1 win.

The win locked down the Pacific Division crown for the Knights, and it secured the Western Conference top spot.

“It’s important to celebrate things like this. It’s a long season,” Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez said. “It’s a testament to a lot of strong, consistent hockey and commitment over the course of seven months, 82 games. It’s a long time. It’s important to enjoy it. But we haven’t won anything yet.”

Vegas finished the season 51-22-9.

The Golden Knights will face the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Jaden Schwartz was the lone striker for Seattle, his goal tied the game, 1-1, in the first period.

“We looked like ourselves tonight,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “At the end of the day, we did a ton of really good things. We played with good pace. Overall, [we] defended pretty well. A couple broken plays in the third is all we gave up.”

Seattle face either the Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche in the first round.

Reilly Smith scored midway through the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead to Vegas.

“I was shocked. We put in so much time and energy playing soccer before the game,” Smith said. “It’s nice to see it pay off. I got a little nervous when they were checking if it was a kick. It’s gone the opposite way for me so many times, so it’s nice to get a bounce there.”

Martinez hit a shorthanded goal at 12:37 of the middle frame for a 2-1 lead, and eventual game-winner.

“We made big strides from where we ended in the regular season last year,” Smith said. “We always believed in this group. There’s a still a lot of work to be done, but I don’t think this should be understated. We should take a day to celebrate it.”

Chandler Stephenson hit an empty net for the 3-1 final with 38 seconds left on the game clock.