Ivan Barbashev scored two goals and Victor Olofsson had a goal and two assists to help lead the Vegas Golden Knights to their fourth straight victory, a 5-3 decision over the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Jack Eichel scored a goal and had an assist, Mitch Marner had three assists and Brett Howden also tallied for Vegas, which extended its point streak to five games (4-0-1). Carter Hart made 14 saves for the Golden Knights.
Jack McBain scored a goal and had two assists, Lawson Crouse had a goal and an assist, Andrew Peeke produced two assists and Dmitri Simashev also found the net for Utah, which was playing the final game of a six-game, 14-day road trip.
Sebastian Cossa stopped 23 of 28 shots for the Mammoth, who went 0-2-1 to cap a 2-3-1 trip.
Vegas jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 2:15 mark of the first period on a power-play goal by Eichel, who roofed a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.
Utah tied it midway through the period on Crouse’s first goal since Oct. 6. Crouse backhanded in a sharp-angled rebound from just above the goal line on the right side.
The Golden Knights opened the second period with three goals, including two by Barbashev, over a 5:09 span to build a 4-1 lead.
Olofsson started the spurt with a power-play goal at the 3:07 mark when he ripped a wrist shot from the high slot past Cossa’s glove side.
Barbashev followed with two goals in 3:25. On the first, he swept in an Olofsson pass into an empty left side of the net. For the second, he split Mammoth defenders Mikhail Sergachev and MacKenzie Weegar at the blue line and beat Cossa five-hole after a forehand-backhand move.
McBain cut the Mammoth’s deficit to 4-2 near the end of the period with his first goal in 14 games. He ripped a wrist shot from the middle of the left circle into the top far corner.
Utah closed within 4-3 midway through the third period when Simashev snapped in a shot past a screen from the high slot for his fourth goal in the past eight games.
Vegas went back in front by two goals just 72 seconds later when Howden redirected William Karlsson’s shot from the top of the right circle.
Utah pulled Cossa for an extra attacker with 1:35 remaining but managed just a McBain backhand shot that Hart stopped.
–Field Level Media
