After a close win in overtime two days earlier, The Knights scored within the first three minutes of Wednesday’s game, maintaining the lead for a 5-1 win.
Vegas extended their win streak to four games and improved their at-home record 10-2-1. They also improved to 4-6 all-time against Minnesota.
The Wild took 20 shots against Marc-Andre Fleury in the third period alone, but he turned all of them away. Overall, Fleury only allowed one goal to slip past him in the second period.
Entering the game with the league’s fourth-best penalty kill, the Knights continued their current streak of 18 straight kills, without allowing a power-play goal. They have allowed just six goals during 48 kills this season.
“I thought we bent but didn’t break at some key moments, couple big penalty kills, couple big saved by [Fleury] at the right time and some timely goals,” Head Coach Pete DeBoer said. “We haven’t had a good record against this team historically, so I thought to come in and get four points took some big efforts by some people.”
The Knights scored three of their five goals in the third period. Mark Stone added to the lead at 11:08 to make it 3-1. Moments later, Chandler Stephenson showed off his speed and scored his sixth goal of the season to extend the lead to 4-1. The Knights put an exclamation point on their victory immediately after Minnesota pulled goalie Cam Talbot, when William Karlsson scored an empty net goal.
“Stevie [Stephenson] was everywhere tonight”, DeBoer said. “He’s jumping through holes and transitioning turnovers the other way. He’s so quick and so explosive that he and Tuch both really have that ability to put teams really on their heels.”
The Golden Knights play their next six games on the road, starting with 2 against their heated rival, the San Jose Sharks, before facing the Wild again in Minneapolis.
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