Saad Scores in Fortress Debut as Vegas Defeats Vancouver, 3-1
Golden Knights return from break with home win against Vancouver
The Vegas Golden Knights (34-17-6) opened their return from the break with a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks (26-19-11), on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
After a scoreless first period, Jake Debrusk broke the deadlock to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead in the middle frame. Halfway through the second, Ivan Barbashev evened the score with his 16th goal of the season. In the third period, Brandon Saad picked up his first goal inside The Fortress to give Vegas a 2-1 lead, and Tomas Hertl scored on an empty net in the final 31 seconds to secure a 3-1 victory for Vegas. Adin Hill made 33 saves to help the Golden Knights win their third straight game.
TOP PERFORMERS
Brandon Saad: Saad (1G) notched his 9th goal of the season to lift Vegas to the win.
Ivan Barbashev: Barbashev (1G) opened the scoring for the Golden Knights to tie up the game.
Brett Howden: Howden had two assists to reach 25 points (16G, 9A) on the season
Adin Hill: Hill stopped 33-of-34 shots.
VGK STATS OF THE KNIGHT
With Barbashev’s goal in the second period, the Golden Knights notched 1,000 goals at T-Mobile Arena since their inaugural season. Vegas became the fewest by franchise to accomplish the feat.
Saad scored just 18 seconds into the third period to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead. Saad’s goal was the fastest to start a period this season by Vegas surpassing Mark Stone’s goal on Jan. 23 (0:19 into P1).
Vegas reached 20 wins at home to improve to a 20-6-3 record at The Fortress.
With Howden’s two assists, he surpassed his single-season career-high point total of 23 points (16G, 7A) which he achieved in his rookie season.
ATTENDANCE: 18,309
LOOKING AHEAD
The Golden Knights turn their focus as they go on their first road trip since the break to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Monday at 7:30 p.m. PT at Crypto.com Arena. Watch the game on Vegas 34, stream on KnightTime+, or listen live on FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.
Related Content
News Feed
VAN@VGK: Saad scores goal against Kevin Lankinen
VAN@VGK: Hill with a great save against Pius Suter
VAN at VGK | Recap
VAN@VGK: Hertl scores empty-net goal
VAN@VGK: Barbashev scores goal against Kevin Lankinen
Morning Skate Report: Feb. 22, 2025
Lawless: A Round of Applause for the 4Nations Face-Off
BLOG: VGK at the 4Nations Face-Off | Feb. 20, 2025
Drop The Darn Puck Already: Lawless on 4Nations Championship Eve
Lawless: Sparks Will Fly in Canada-USA Rematch
Vegas Golden Knights Announce Roster Transaction
Lawless: USA-Canada Finale has ‘Godfather II’ Undertones
BLOG: VGK at the 4Nations Face-Off | Feb. 17, 2025
Lawless: Canada Controls Own Destiny, Americans Await Final Foe
Lawless: Stingy Team USA Clinches Berth in 4Nations Finale
BLOG: VGK at the 4Nations Face-Off | Feb. 15, 2025
Lawless: May the Best Team Win on Saturday Night
BLOG: VGK at the 4Nations Face-Off | Feb. 13, 2025
Lawless on 4Nations: One-and-Done? Sure. Fun? Absolutely.
BLOG: VGK at the 4Nations Face-Off | Feb. 12, 2025
Lawless: Prediction Time at the 4Nations Face-Off
Lawless: 4Nations Eve
Hanifin, Eichel Keep Gaudreau Family Close During Time with Team USA
Knights move into division lead with win over Canucks
Adin Hill made 33 saves and Brendon Saad scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl also scored and Brett Howden added two assists for Vegas, which moved two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division with its third straight win. The Golden Knights improved to 15-2-1 against the Pacific Division.
Jake DeBrusk scored a goal and Kevin Lankinen stopped 32 of 34 shots for Vancouver, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Vancouver, outshot 13-5 during a scoreless first period, took a 1-0 lead at the 6:22 mark of the second period when DeBrusk fired in a Kiefer Sherwood pass into an open right side of the net for his 20th goal, the fourth time in his career he hit the 20-goal mark in a season. Sherwood made the pass behind the net and through the crease past Hill, who whiffed trying to sweep the pass away with his stick.
Vegas tied it, 1-1, midway through the period when Barbashev snapped a 16-game goal-less drought, tapping in a rebound of a Victor Olofsson deflection from the right doorstep. It was also the 1,000th goal scored in 299 games at T-Mobile Arena for the Golden Knights.
Saad then put Vegas in front 18 seconds into the third period, roofing a wrist shot from the left circle on a rebound of a Zach Whitecloud point shot that bounced straight to him off the back wall.
The Canucks appeared to tie the game five minutes later when Nils Hoglander fired a sharp-angled shot from the right side of the net that caromed in off Teddy Blueger. However, the goal was quickly disallowed for goalie interference on Blueger, who had collided with Hill and landed behind him in the crease.
Vancouver pulled Lankinen for an extra attacker and Hertl sealed the win for Vegas with an empty-netter with 30.8 seconds to go.
–Field Level Media
Copyright 2025
Best Sports Betting Picks Today: College Basketball Predictions For February 22nd
4 Nations Face-Off Proves One Thing: The NHL Needs More Of This
Best Sports Betting Picks Today: College Basketball, NBA Predictions For February 21st
Three Overrated College Football Teams Headed Into 2025
Let’S Overreact To Luka Doncic’S First Three Games With The Los Angeles Lakers
These Five MLB Bottom Feeders Are Already Pretty Much Eliminated From 2025 Playoffs
Best Sports Betting Picks Today: 4 Nations Face-Off, NBA Bets For February 20th
Three Big Storylines As 2025 NBA Season Inches Closer To Playoff Time
Netflix Wants Sunday Afternoon Regular Season NFL Games, And That’S A Great Idea
Gloves Off Or Game On? USA Vs. Canada Rematch Promises Fireworks
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brandon Saad scored off a rebound from the left circle 18 seconds into the third period to put Vegas ahead for good and the Golden Knights extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Vegas took sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, moving two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks’ three-game winning streak ended.
It was Saad’s second goal in five games since joining the Golden Knights. He had three goals in 29 games with the St. Louis Blues.
Ivan Barbashev scored his first goal since Dec. 14, Tomas Hertl also had a goal, and Brett Howden had two assists. Adin Hill made 32 saves.
Jake DeBrusk scored for Vancouver. Kevin Lankinen stopped 32 shots.
Canucks top-line center Elias Pettersson played after suffering an undisclosed injury while playing for Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but was on the ice for just 9:32 and did not have a shot. Quinn Hughes, who leads the Canucks with 59 points, missed his fifth game in a row with an undisclosed injury.
Takeaways
Canucks: Lankinen, who signed a five-year extension Friday with an average annual value worth $4.5 million, kept the Canucks in the game while facing 16 high-danger chances.
Golden Knights: Vegas is generating plenty of chances. This was the Golden Knights’ fifth consecutive game with at least 34 shots on goal.
Key moment
Hill made four saves — two without his stick — on one possession midway through the third period to keep the Golden Knights ahead by a goal.
Key stat
DeBrusk’s first-period goal was his 300th career point.
Up next
The Canucks play at Utah on Sunday night. The Golden Knights are at Los Angeles on Monday night.
___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Things haven’t quite gone as planned for the Rangers this season.
After falling just a few games shy of a Stanley Cup Finals appearance last year, GM Chris Drury opted to give this core one more shot to put it all together — and unfortunately it hasn’t quite worked as planned.
New York’s stars have underperformed mightily, and as a result, they’ve found themselves on the outside looking in at a very crowded Eastern Conference Wild Card race for the majority of the year.
They’ve been playing better hockey of late and have been able to make up some ground thanks to the arrival of J.T. Miller in a blockbuster deal with the Canucks, but they still have a ways to go.
Drury could look to add some pieces to this club ahead of next month’s deadline, but he should only do so with an eye towards the future and the majority of the impending free agents should be shipped out of town to retain assets.
If ends up being the case, here are five players to keep an eye on…
Lindgren is a fan favorite for his all-out style of play, but a separation has felt inevitable ever since he and the organization failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract extension over the offseason.
New York instead opted to settle on a one-year pact, which would allow him to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
Lindgren has made it clear that this is where he wants to be moving forward, but the fact that the front office was willing to dish out a five-year extension to Will Borgen after just a couple of games may be evidence they are ready to move on.
The 26-year-old has been able to stay healthy after missing the first five games of the year with an upper-body injury, but his production has remained inconsistent on both ends of the ice despite remaining alongside star defenseman Adam Fox.
A trade may even make New York stronger on the backend.
Kreider is currently the longest-tenured Ranger, but could he be on the way out next?
Him and former captain Jacob Trouba were among the players made available for trade in the memo Drury sent out to teams just a few months ago — Trouba, of course, was shipped out of town in a deal with the Ducks.
Kreider hasn’t done much to help his cause since then, as he came out publicly shortly after and disclosed that he’s been dealing with back issues and he’s producing some of the worst numbers of his career.
The 33-year-old has 16 goals (five power-play) and 20 assists through 47 games.
He does have a 15-team no-trade list which will limit his suitors a bit, and his $6.5 million cap hit would likely be tough for any team to squeeze in midseason, but you never know what could happen this time of year.
When Smith was acquired this offseason, the expectation was that he’d come in and serve as a stop-gate option alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider on the top line, but that trio was ultimately short-lived.
While things didn’t work out on that top pairing, Smith has been a steady option elsewhere for the Blueshirts.
The 33-year-old winger isn’t a star by any means, but as he’s done throughout his 14-year career, he’s simply gone out and done his job at both even strength and on the penalty kill night in and night out.
He’s contributed 10 goals and 26 assists through 54 games.
Shipping Smith out of town would likely make the Rangers worse this season, but it’s more of a move aimed towards the future, as they likely won’t have the cap flexibility to bring him back next season.
His playoff experience would make him a valuable addition for any contender.
The expectation coming into this season was that Jones would be given every opportunity to scratch out an everyday role on the Blueshirts’ blueline.
He played well enough during training camp and preseason action to begin the year in the lineup, however, that proved to be very short-lived as he quickly found his way back into the press box night after night.
The 24-year-old didn’t appear in a game for over a month.
He voiced his frustration to the NY Post about his lack of a role, and the team responded by giving him permission to speak with other clubs about a potential trade, but ultimately nothing transpired on that front.
Jones returned to the lineup for a few games when Urho Vaakanainen was sidelined with an illness — but he’s still on the outside looking in, and the Rangers should move him elsewhere if they aren’t going to give him a legit opportunity.
But if they do move Lindgren and don’t acquire a defenseman, it may be his time to shine.
Vesey has been a valuable asset during his second stint with the Rangers.
He was used up-and-down the lineup two seasons ago by then head coach Gerard Gallant, mainly filling a spot in the bottom-six but slotting in wherever needed, and was one of their most reliable penalty killers.
But for some reason over the past two seasons, Vesey has fallen out of favor with new headman Peter Laviolette, and he’s seen his role decrease significantly.
The 31-year-old was passed over numerous times for other fourth liners as he watched from the press box for eight consecutive games last month before finally returning to the lineup after Adam Edstrom’s injury.
Vesey — an impending free agent — also voiced his frustration to the NY Post, saying he felt his career was “dying by being here.”
Any contender could use his versatility and penalty-killing prowess in their bottom-six, so if Laviolette isn’t going to use him, they should let him finish the season somewhere where he’s actually going to play.
