Paul Beaty / Associated Press
Vegas Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault (81) celebrates with teammates at the bench after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Chicago.
Published Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 | 7:45 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 | 9:08 p.m.
The Golden Knights keep on rolling, and now they’re in the history books.
Vegas became the first defending Stanley Cup champion to win the first six games of its title defense with a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday.
Five different players scored, including Jonathan Marchessault for the second straight game, and Adin Hill made 21 saves for his fourth win of the season.
The Golden Knights (6-0-0) bested the starts from the 1986 Edmonton Oilers and 1921 Ottawa Senators, and their sixth straight win to begin the new season is the best start in franchise history.
“I enjoy all our wins,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t read too much into the start. It is a nice thing to have accomplished. It’s not going to mean much in January, but at the end of the day, we play to win. Our guys like to win.”
It hasn’t been one player that’s carried the Golden Knights. They’ve channeled the play that helped them win the Stanley Cup back in June. Vegas has played 21 skaters; all but one of them has a point.
That number grew 13 seconds in the third period when Keegan Kolesar assisted on Nic Roy’s goal to give Vegas a 3-2 lead.
It was a night of excitement in Chicago with No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard making his home debut. The 18-year-old wasted no time making an impact with a power-play goal on his first shot 1:30 of the game to make it 1-0.
After starting the year 14 of 14 on the penalty kill, the Golden Knights have given up power-play goals in consecutive games. They killed the last four Chicago power plays for the rest of the game. Adin Hill made 21 saves and was instrumental on the Vegas PK to win his fourth start of the season.
William Karlsson responded at 4:05 with a power-play goal of his own to tie it 1-1 through the first period.
“We’ve kind of came in with the mentality of trying to repeat what we did last year,” Hill said. “I think it’s carried over. It’s been a great start, and hopefully we can keep it going.
Marchessault broke the tie at 7:30 of the second, but it lasted 1:20 when Reese Johnson deflected a shot from the slot to beat Hill and tie it 2-2.
Mark Stone scored his first goal of the year at 13:47 after Michael Amadio's wraparound attempt found Stone at the far side of the crease.
Paul Cotter added one more goal, his first of the year, at 16:08 to make it 5-2.
“I guess we took care of ourselves over the summer and came back to play,” Karlsson said. “I think once the puck dropped, we were able to flip the switch.”
The past two games have not been the Golden Knights' best, road wins at Winnipeg and Chicago, but they didn't change their approach and eventually shut down Chicago's top players for 12 points through six games.
Next up is the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (8 p.m., Vegas 34). No team has started a season with seven consecutive wins since the Florida Panthers (eight) and Carolina Hurricanes (nine) reached that mark to start the 2021-22 season.
“We just wanted to play a better third,” Cassidy said. “We knew we weren’t at of our best for the first two periods. It helps that we did it the right way.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
