Karlsson scores game-winner to help VGK secure comeback victory over Canucks

The Vegas Golden Knights battled through a hard-fought defensive game to start their homestand with a come-from-behind victory.

The Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1, on Thursday, Dec. 19, at the T-Mobile Arena.

“Nobody wins a game in the first period,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You can lose one usually, but no one’s winning one in the first period. So let’s get to our game eventually and I think we’re just comfortable with that… We’re going to try to fix our starts, but at the end of the day, I really like our middle and end.”

With the win, Vegas improved their record to 21-8-3 for 45 points and they are now 12-3-0 when playing at The Fortress this season. The team is also still in first place in the Pacific Division with a three-point lead over the second-place Los Angeles Kings.

Thursday night’s game was the first of four meetings between the VGK and the Canucks this season. Their next matchup will also be at home on Feb. 22 and the other two will be in Vancouver on April 6 and 16.

Thursday’s game was also the first of a three-game homestand after just wrapping up a three-game road trip. The Golden Knights will next play against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, Dec. 21. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the T-Mobile Arena.

“If we get everyone’s best, that’s ok, “ Cassidy said. “That means we’re going to get better if we’re always playing against top competition too. So I think our guys are really good with that and that’s what they want. They want to be considered one of the elites in the league and we’ll keep working towards that.”

After being away on the road for the past two weeks, the Knights returned home and were greeted with a tough defensive battle of a game.

Vegas found itself trailing early in the first period and it looked like they were going to go into the second intermission scoreless as well.

Then with over two minutes left in the second period, VGK got on the board with a goal from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo off assists from fellow defenseman Shea Theodore and captain Mark Stone.

Pietrangelo’s goal to get the Golden Knights on the board was his third of the season while Theodore increased his season total to 23.

As for the captain, it was the 19th assist of the season for Stone.

With the game tied in the third period and the momentum on the Golden Knights’ side, center William Karlsson secured the comeback victory with his game-winning goal with help from fellow center Brett Howden.

“We’re good in different scenarios, different types of games,” Karlsson said. “We have a little bit of everything. That’s a good thing to have.”

Karlsson increased his season total to six goals with his game-winner.

“We are winning and we know how to win,” Cassidy said. “We win a lot of different ways, so let’s not interrupt that part.”

In the final minute of regulation, Vancouver pulled their goalie, Kevin Lankinen, for an empty net and Vegas capitalized with a Howden empty-netter off an assist from defenseman Noah Hanifin to put the game out of reach.

Hanifin’s assist on the empty-netter increased his season total to 12.

“I thought we did a good job as the second period went on,” Howden said. “We started building our game and got to where we like our game the best.”

It was a multi-point night for Howden who finished with a goal and an assist. He now has 14 points on the season.

After having the last three days off to rest, goalie Adin Hill was tasked to start at goalie for Vegas.

“I’m just trying to do anything I can to keep our team in the game,” he said. “Our first period didn’t go the way we wanted it to tonight, but we turned it on in the second period. I think I had two shots in the second period, so we kind of dominated the play in the second. I thought we deserved the win and we got it tonight.”

Besides giving up a goal in the first period, Hill and the Knights’ defense played an outstanding game and made it tough for the Canucks to get close to the net again for the rest of the game.

By the final buzzer, Hill finished with 19 saves on 20 shots for a .950 save percentage, and he increased his record to 14-5-2 on the season.

On the other end of the ice, Lankinen gave up one more goal than Hill, but also played a decent game aside from that fact. At the end of the game, Lankinen finished with 18 saves on 20 for a .900 save percentage.