December 21, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) celebrates with center Jack Eichel (9) after scoring a goal against the Seattle Kraken during the first period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden added a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights picked up their third straight victory, 6-2, over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night in Las Vegas .
Nicolas Hague, William Carlson and Noah Hannifin also had goals and Jack Eichel had a pair of assists for Pacific Division-leading Vegas, which won for the 13th time in 16 home games.
Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves for the Golden Knights, who improved to 18-3-2 against the Western Conference, the best mark in the NHL, with their seventh win in their last eight games.
Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz scored goals and Chandler Stephenson had two assists for Seattle, which lost its fourth straight game. Philipp Grubauer finished with 28 saves to drop to 1-6-1 in his career against Vegas.
Seattle, which had scored just two goals in its previous three games, took a 1-0 lead at 2:34 on a power-play goal by Dunn, who ripped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle past the side of Samsonov’s glove. It marked the fifth straight game that the Golden Knights, who had vowed during the week to improve their slow starts, allowed the first goal.
Vegas then took control with three goals in a span of just over five minutes. Kolesar got the first at 12:39 when he took a stretch pass from Viktor Olofsson and broke down the right wing and tipped a wrist shot over Grubauer’s left shoulder for his eighth goal of the season, tying his career high.
Howden put the Golden Knights ahead 71 seconds later. Eichel stole the puck from Dunn in the right corner and then passed to Howden cutting into the slot where he wristed it past Grubauer.
Haig made it 3-1 at 17:48 with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle past Grubauer’s glove.
The Golden Knights broke the game open midway through the third period with goals by Karlsson, who deflected a pass from Kolesar with a between-the-legs shot while cutting in front of the crease, and Hanifin, who one-timed a Stone pass from the left circle past Grubauer’s glove side.
Schwartz cut it to 5-2 with 6:02 left on a power-play goal. The Kraken pulled Grubauer for an extra attacker with 2:15 left and Stone sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:09 left.
–Within field level
