Shea Theodore, Phil Kessel, Jack Eichel, Michael Amadio and William Carrier each had a goal and an assist and the Vegas Golden Knights scored five times in the third period to cruise to a 7-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Paul Cotter and Brett Howden also scored goals for Vegas, which increased its Pacific Division lead to three points with its third consecutive victory. Reilly Smith and William Karlsson each added two assists.
Adin Hill made 23 saves for the Golden Knights to improve to 5-0-1 all-time against the Ducks.
Isac Lundestrom had a goal and an assist and Frank Vatrano also scored for Anaheim. John Gibson, coming off a franchise-record 53-save performance in a 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday, finished with 32 saves.
Vegas, playing its first home game since a 6-2 victory over Washington on Jan. 21, took a 1-0 lead at the 2:08 mark of the opening period when Cotter one-timed a rebound from the right circle inside the near post for his 10th goal of the season.
Howden extended the lead to 2-0 midway through the second period with his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 18 at Calgary when he fired in a wrist shot into the top left corner from the edge of the left circle.
Anaheim cut it to 2-1 at the 16:03 mark of the period when Vatrano chipped in a rebound of a Lundestrom shot. It was his 13th goal of the season and seventh in the last 10 games.
The Ducks had a chance to tie it early in the third period when Ryan Strome skated in on a breakaway but Hill turned aside his wrist shot with his left pad.
Vegas then broke the game open with two goals in the span of 91 seconds. Theodore got the first at the 6:40 mark with a one-timer from above the circles past Gibson’s glove side for his fifth goal of the season.
Shortly after Anaheim’s Kevin Shattenkirk hit the post on another breakaway try, Kessel made it 4-1 when he tapped a rebound into a wide-open left side of the net for his 11th goal of the season.
Eichel increased the lead to 5-1 with his 17th goal of the season at the 11:53 mark. Lundestrom cut it to 5-2 with his second goal of the season but Amadio and Carrier responded with goals just 79 seconds apart to give Vegas five goals in a period for just the second time in team history.
–Field Level Media
