Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Blog: Karlsson’s hat trick, Fleury’s shutout lead Golden Knights to victory

William Karlsson Hat Trick

AP Photo/Steve Marcus

Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) celebrates a goal past Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Smith (41) during an NHL hockey game Sunday, March 18, 2018, in Las Vegas. Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic (24) is in the background. It was Karlsson’s third goal of the game.

Updated Sunday, March 18, 2018 | 3:33 p.m.

William Karlsson notched the second hat trick in franchise history, and Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his fourth shutout of the season as the Golden Knights trounced the Flames 4-0 Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.

Fleury stopped all 42 shots he faced to snap Vegas’ four-game home losing streak, and extend the Golden Knights’ lead in the Pacific Division back to six points.

Karlsson scored all three of his goals in the second period, starting with a one-timer set up by James Neal on a 2-on-1 rush.

The three scores elevate his season total to 39, which is good enough for third in the entire NHL and three behind league-leading Alex Ovechkin.

Fleury earned the 48th shutout of his career, and the 401st win to move into a tie for 12th place all-time.

The Golden Knights will wrap up their four-game homestand with a Tuesday night game against the struggling Vancouver Canucks.

Golden Knights lead 4-0 after two periods

It’s been a long time since Golden Knights fans have celebrated at T-Mobile Arena, but they did plenty of it in the second period Sunday afternoon.

William Karlsson scored the second hat trick in Golden Knights history, prompting a fans to toss hundreds of hats onto the ice.

It was a natural hat trick, as Karlsson scored three-straight goals to boost Vegas to a commanding 4-0 lead after two periods.

Colin Miller opened the scoring earlier in the period with a one-timer on the power play that beat Calgary goalie Mike Smith. It was Miller’s 10th goal of the season, and the team’s fifth power play goal in the last four games.

Karlsson scored his first of the period off a beautiful pass from James Neal on a 2-on-1 rush. Neal waited until the last moment before passing the puck over to Karlsson, who hammered it into the goal.

His second goal was similar, blasting a one-timer from Jonathan Marchessault past Smith to make it 3-0 Golden Knights.

Karlsson completed the hat trick with a wrist shot to the far post that found the edge of the twine.

Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular in the closing moments of the period, making a no-look save with the back of his leg after spinning completely backwards on a rebound attempt by the Flames. Fleury has stopped all 33 shots he’s faced through two periods.

Golden Knights, Flames scoreless after one period

Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was busy during the first 20 minutes of Sunday afternoon’s game at T-Mobile Arena.

The Flames outshot Vegas 19-6 in the first period, but thanks to Fleury the Golden Knights are stuck in a scoreless tie.

Calgary dominated the first period, firing shot after shot at the net. While most chances were from the outside, the Flames did create a couple dangerous chances. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton trialed a 3-on-2 rush midway through the period, received the puck and fired it low on Fleury, who made the kick save.

It’s the third game in a row for the Golden Knights with no goals in the first period. Vegas is 19-7-1 when tied after one period this season, while the Flames are 14-13-3.

The first goal of the game is an important one, as the Golden Knights are 29-5-1 when scoring first, and only 16-16-4 when allowing the first goal of the game.

Pre game

The Golden Knights host the Flames today in matinee game at T-Mobile Arena.

No one is more thrilled about the afternoon start than the Golden Knights players, who are eager to atone for their recent home performances. Vegas has owned the best home record in the NHL all season, but has now lost four straight at T-Mobile Arena.

“Today is a big game because we’ve lost two in a row and haven’t played that well lately, so we’ve got to play better,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “We haven’t had a rut all year so this is probably the biggest one. It’s not from playing real bad hockey, just from not playing good enough to win.”

The Golden Knights are coming off an embarrassing 8-3 loss to New Jersey followed by a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. They’ve watched their once 12-point lead in the Pacific Division shrink to only six points.

“(This game) is huge,” defenseman Jon Merrill said. “We need to start playing the right way again and start feeling better about our game. Right off the hop we want to establish our forecheck, keep things simple and keep the puck going north.”

The Golden Knights have beaten the Flames in both matchups this season, with a 4-2 win in Calgary on Jan. 30 and a 7-3 blowout victory in Las Vegas on Feb. 21.

“You can’t wait until the playoffs (to start playing good hockey),” Merrill said. “You have to get ready and get going in the right direction now.”

Marc-Andre Fleury will make his 20th start in the last 21 games for Vegas. The veteran has played more minutes than any player in the NHL since Feb. 4.

He and his teammates hope to play with more focus and intensity today to stop the home losing skid.

“I think you can notice it physically in confrontations in the corners, but also urgency with the puck,” Merrill said. “I think the last few games we’ve stayed on the perimeter, but we need to get pucks to the net and win those blue-paint battles.”

Prediction: Golden Knights 4, Flames 3 in overtime

Season record for predictions: 34-23

Puck drops: 1:00 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink Prism 1760)

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-160, Total 6 minus-110 to the under

Golden Knights (45-21-5) (24-9-2 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant

Goal leader: William Karlsson (36)

Assist leader: David Perron (49)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (25-11-3, 2.26 goals against average)

Calgary Flames (35-27-10) (20-10-6 away)

Coach: Glen Gulutzan

Goal leader: Sean Monahan (30)

Assist leader: Johnny Gaudreau (58)

Expected goalie: Mike Smith (24-18-6, 2.60 goals against average)

Golden Knights game day roster

Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Carpenter, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, David Perron, Ryan Reaves, Tomas Tatar and Alex Tuch.

Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Brayden McNabb, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore.

Goalies (2): Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban

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