Blog: Max Pacioretty’s 4-point night powers Golden Knights over Canucks

By Justin Emerson

Published Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019 | 3 p.m.

Updated Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019 | 7:44 p.m.

Max Pacioretty is on some kind of hot streak. The Vegas forward had a two-goal, four-point night Sunday, taking over the team lead by himself in goals, assists and points and has seven points in his last four games.

All of that complemented a dominant outing for the Golden Knights, as they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Pacioretty had an assist in the first and second periods, then wanted to get in on the scoring fun himself in the third. He used the same move Sunday against Jacob Markstrom that he used Friday to beat Ben Bishop in Dallas, deking to his backhand and sliding it into the net.

He added another with 41 seconds left on the power play to make it 6-3.

Pacioretty has 15 goals, 19 assists and 34 points, all team-bests. 

He assisted on Vegas' second goal of the game when Valentin Zykov scored on the power play, and Vegas' fourth when Mark Stone whipped it by Markstrom. Nick Holden and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for the Golden Knights.

The Canucks got one back at 5:02 of the third period, beating Marc-Andre Fleury on a redirect from the slot. Quinn Hughes whipped around from behind the goal and fed Brock Boeser in front, who sent home Vancouver's second goal of the game.

Vancouver had a good push coming out of the gate in third, including registering almost as many shots in the first half of the third (9) as they had in the first two periods combined (14).

The Canucks had a chance to bring the game to 4-3 shortly after the Boeser goal, but Elias Pettersson didn't get everything on the shot and Fleury was able to slide over and make the save. Not long after, Pacioretty scored to put the game away.

Jake Virtanan added one more for the Canucks with 2:36 left, walking in on Fleury's right and shooting low to make it 5-3.

Vegas led in shots on goal 46-29.

Dominant second period gives Golden Knights big lead over Canucks

They still need to play the third period, but this one feels quite over.

The Golden Knights dominated the middle stanza against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, and led 4-1 after two at T-Mobile Arena.

Near the five-minute mark of the second, the Golden Knights executed what can only be called passing perfection. William Karlsson started it off by threading the needle through the slot and getting the puck to Reilly Smith to the left of the net. Smith waited out the defender and fed Jonathan Marchessault back to the right and down low at the goal line.

Marchessault did the rest, ripping it by Jacob Markstrom at 4:45. It was Marchessault's 10th of the season and the 100th of his career to give Vegas a 3-1 lead.

Moments later the Golden Knights struck again, taking advantage of a defensive miscue and a deadly shot. Vancouver's Quinn Hughes pinched deep into the offensive zone when Vegas regained possession. The Golden Knights moved it out and had a two-on-two with Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty taking on a defenseman and a forward.

Stone was on the side of the forward, and when Pacioretty fed him the puck he didn't miss, ripping it by Markstrom to make it 4-1 at 9:16, Stone's first goal since Nov. 27.

The Golden Knights were in complete control of the game after two periods. In the second period alone they outshot the Canucks 19-5 and had 90.6% of the expected goals.

Quick-strike offense puts Golden Knights up on Canucks after 1

It seems like every game at T-Mobile Arena starts off with an early goal by the home squad. The Golden Knights did it again Sunday, grabbing a quick one and leading the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 after a period.

It took just 2:22 for the Golden Knights to score and they did on their first shot. Nick Holden and Paul Stastny played pitch-and-catch near the Vancouver bench, then Holden walked the line and let loose a shot. It appeared to pinball through traffic and Alex Tuch provided a screen to allow it to go for Holden's third of the year.

The Canucks tied it up quickly on a great individual effort from reigning Calder Trophy winner Elias Pettersson. He had a good initial look that Marc-Andre Fleury dove across the crease to make the save. No one could clear the puck out of the crease and with Fleury on the ice after the dive, Pettersson was able to sprawl out and poke the loose puck into the net at 4:03.

The Golden Knights didn't score on their first power play, but cashed in their second. It came after Vancouver mishandled the puck in its own end which allowed Chandler Stephenson to jump the play and draw a slashing call.

With the extra man, Vegas followed its usual route: Max Pacioretty set up in the right circle and one-timed a feed from Shea Theodore. Jacob Markstrom saved it, but Valentin Zykov was there to backhand home the rebound for his first of the year and a 2-1 Golden Knights lead at 9:51.

Vegas led 10-9 in shots on goal for the period. 

Golden Knights take on Canucks in Pacific Division battle

The Golden Knights have been hopping in and out of a playoff spot for a lot of the season, and even during their hot streaks they've been unable to create separation against their competition in a close division. They might have that opportunity soon, starting at 5 p.m. against Vancouver.

The game with the Canucks starts an eight-game stretch where six games come against Pacific Division opponents and six come against teams currently below Vegas in the standings. This is the perfect time for the Golden Knights to bank some points and improve their stock in the Western Conference standings.

"It's a big game tonight, want to build some momentum," forward Mark Stone said. "We're playing these Pacific Division teams, jockeying for standings. We want to move up, we want to find ways to move up and if we can find ways to string wins together, I like our chances."

The Golden Knights are in a playoff spot right now, holding the second Wild Card position by two points over Minnesota and three over Vancouver. But the Pacific is so close that despite being in fourth place, a win tonight would shoot Vegas all the way up to second and just a point behind Arizona for the division lead.

Two points count the same no matter who a team is facing, but divisional games have the importance of opportunity cost to them. A regulation win would put five points of space between Vegas and Vancouver in the standings, where a regulation loss would have them separated by just one point. It's why teams like to refer to them as four-point games.

"We talked about our division being, might not be the top division in points but it's real close together," coach Gerard Gallant said. "Any time can beat you any given night."

Vancouver is a surprising entrant into the Pacific Division battle after a sub-.500 season last year. The Canucks swung an offseason trade for J.T. Miller who shares the team lead in goals, and have a Calder Trophy contender on the blue line in Quinn Hughes, who leads the team with 23 assists.

And of course they have Elias Pettersson, who won last year's Calder and has accelerated the Canucks' rebuild. Pettersson is tied with Miller with 13 goals, and leads Vancouver with 34 points.

"They're a real young team that's really come along that's really played well this season," Gallant said. "I like the way they're playing. I hope they don't play well today but I like the way they're playing."

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Betting line: Golden Knights minus-210, Canucks plus-175; over/under: 6 (minus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (17-13-5, 39 points) (8-6-3 home), fourth place, Pacific Division; second place, Wild Card

Coach: Gerard Gallant (third season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty (30)

Goals leaders: Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith (13)

Assists leaders: William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone (17)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.54 GAA, .919 save percentage)

Canucks (16-13-4, 36 points) (8-9-1 road), fifth place, Pacific Division; fourth place, Wild Card

Coach: Travis Green (third season)

Points leader: Elias Pettersson (34)

Goals leader: J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson (13)

Assists leader: Quinn Hughes (23)

Expected goalie: Jacob Markstrom (2.55 GAA, .918 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Valentin Zykov—Paul Stastny—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Jon Merrill—Shea Theodore

Nick Holden—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban