Mark Stone makes Ottawa homecoming a happy one as Golden Knights down Senators

By Justin Emerson

Published Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 | 3:29 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 | 6:59 p.m.

OTTAWA, Ontario — There's really no other way it could have gone. Of course Mark Stone was going to score. Of course the Golden Knights were going to win his return in Ottawa, the only other team he has played for in his career.

Stone scored a second-period goal and had a first-period assist to carry his new team to a 4-2 victory over his old Ottawa Senators on Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre.

He picked up a primary assist on the first shift of the game, starting in front of his old home crowd and feeding Paul Stastny in the low slot for a 1-0 lead just 34 seconds after the initial puck drop.

He took a moment for the fans at the first TV timeout, watching a video tribute then hopping on the ice to acknowledge the standing ovation before continuing a dominant period with Stasnty and Max Pacioretty on his line. Then in the second period came a stellar moment: He scored at 18:55 of the second, a wraparound attempt for his 17th of the season and first in this building since Feb. 12, his final home game as a Senator.

Stone's goal put the Golden Knights up 2-0, and Chandler Stephenson made it 3-0 at 5:50 of the third, picking off a neutral-zone pass by Thomas Chabot and going the other way unopposed for a short-handed goal.

One minute later and moments after the penalty expired, Ottawa got on the board. It was Vladislav Namestnikov who ripped a one-timer off a feed from Connor Brown to make it 3-1.

Then Ryan Reaves got it right back. William Carrier made it happen with a ferocious forecheck, forcing an Anderson turnover behind the net and feeding Reaves for his sixth of the season. It came at 9:23 and gave the Golden Knights a 4-1 lead.

Brown added one more, on the power play, at 12:30 to bring the score to its final margin.

It was the Golden Knights' third win in this building without a loss, improving to 5-1 all-time against the Senators. They led in shots on goal 43-33.

Mark Stone scores in 2nd to extend Golden Knights lead

Mark Stone's homecoming went exactly as planned on the ice. After an assist in the first period, he lit the lamp in the second and helped the Golden Knights grab a 2-0 lead after two periods against the Ottawa Senators.

If you missed only the start of second period, you didn't miss much.

The best chance of the period came on an Ottawa power play, when the Senators got Marc-Andre Fleury out of position before a Mark Stone defensive effort helped keep the puck out of the net. It was one of six high-danger chances combined in the first 12 minutes of the period, four of which came from Ottawa.

Things heated as the period progressed, including on shift by Vegas' line of Stone, Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny.

It started when Stone walked in on Anderson and though the shot was turned away, the Vegas trio helped keep the puck in the zone and move the puck around nicely. After a 9-1 edge in Corsi in the first period, they turned in a 9-3 effort in the second.

They also had the period's only goal. Who else but Stone, making his return to Ottawa? Stone took the puck down low and wrapped it around the net to beat Craig Anderson and grab his second point of the night. Pacioretty and Stastny assisted, giving the trio five points on Vegas' two goals.

Vegas led in shots on goal 36-18.

Golden Knights strike first, lead Senators after 1

It took all of 34 seconds for the Golden Knights to give Peter DeBoer his first lead as their coach.

The Golden Knights scored on the first shift, cashing in on a Paul Stastny low wrister from the slot, and led the Ottawa Senators 1-0 after the first period at Canadian Tire Centre.

It was as a good of a start as a new coach hope for. The first shift of the game saw the Golden Knights push the pace and when Stastny pulled up for the give-and-go, Mark Stone was there to feed him. Stastny beat Craig Anderson low and the Golden Knights had a 1-0 lead.

Vegas dominated play all period. The Golden Knights held a 10-1 edge in shots on goal at the second TV timeout at 10:18, and Marc-Andre Fleury even prevented a shot on Ottawa's best chance. Artem Anisimov came in all alone short-handed, but as he approached the net the Vegas goalie dove out and poked the puck away, negating the threat.

It was the first time the Golden Knights finished a period with the lead since the end of the St. Louis game, 12 days and five games ago.

The Golden Knights led in shots on goal 17-10 for the first period.

Mark Stone returns to Ottawa amid turbulence for Golden Knights

Mark Stone returns to Ottawa in a period of instability for his Golden Knights, who have lost four in a row and dismissed coach Gerard Gallant to hire Peter DeBoer. Vegas is looking to get back on track, and Stone is looking for a strong performance against the team that drafted him at 4:30 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre.

"Once I step out there for the warmups it's going to feel weird," Stone said. "I'm excited, excited to play in front of these fans again."

It's always an experience going back to your old team, and Stone is no exception. He was one of the last remnants of the team that went to the Eastern Conference finals in 2017, but was traded to Vegas as part of a rebuild to end a nine-year tenure with the organization.

He's fit in well with Vegas, continuing with a leadership role and performing to the high standard the Golden Knights hoped he would. Stone leads the team with 27 assists and is second with 43 points while playing elite defense. Right now though with the team struggling, it's hard to bask in individual accomplishments. Stone said while it will be a new experience for him playing in Ottawa as a visitor.

"It's going to be different," Stone said. "Where our team is right now, we need to win hockey games so we've got to approach this one like a must-win game."

If anyone knows how he's feeling, it's Max Pacioretty. Everyone on the first-year team came from somewhere else, and they bonded over that in the miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final. Stone and Pacioretty weren't on that team, coming over in separate trades last season. But Pacioretty was the captain of the Montreal Canadiens, one of the flagship organizations in the NHL, and can relate to returning to Canadian market as a visitor.

"Obviously a guy that's had a big impact on this organization, on the ice and in the community," Pacioretty said. "Really deserving of a warm reception because I knew he was a fan favorite for a long time. ... It's going to mean a lot for him I think to come back and play the game, hopefully we can use some of that emotion and get two points."

It's the first night of the DeBoer era, meaning everything is on the table. Will DeBoer shake up the lines right away? Will he experiment with new defensive pairs? Will the systems look radically different?

There's no way of knowing until the puck drops. DeBoer arrived at Canadian Tire Centre about half an hour after morning skate had concluded and had yet to meet the players when he addressed the media for the first time.

The Golden Knights are 4-1-0 all-time against the Senators, including a perfect 2-0 on the road.

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-195, Senators plus-165; over/under: 6.0 (minus-120, EVEN)

Golden Knights (24-19-6, 54 points) (10-9-3 road), fifth place, Pacific Division; third place, Wild Card

Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty (45)

Goals leader: Max Pacioretty (20)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (27)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.85 GAA, .906 save percentage)

Blue Jackets (16-22-8, 40 points) (11-7-4 home), seventh place, Atlantic Division; ninth place, Wild Card

Coach: D.J. Smith (first season)

Points leader: Anthony Duclair (32)

Goals leader: Anthony Duclair (21)

Assists leader: Thomas Chabot (22)

Expected goalie: Craig Anderson (3.27 GAA, .8997 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Tomas Nosek—Paul Stastny—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Cody Eakin—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden—Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban

Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.