Golden Knights hang on for 5-4 win over Senators, sixth straight victory

Despite nearly squandering a four-goal lead, the Golden Knights hung on to win their sixth straight game with a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

“Two points, we move on,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’re not all going to be perfect.”

Through 30 minutes, it was looking that way.

Vegas led 5-1 midway through the second period after William Carrier forced a turnover on Ottawa’s Alex DeBrincat and scored five-hole on goalie Anton Forsberg. That ended Forsberg’s night, with veteran Cam Talbot making his first appearance for Ottawa since acquiring him from Minnesota in the offseason.

The Golden Knights will say they took their foot off the gas with that four-goal lead. They put just 13 shots on Talbot in the final 27 minutes he played, while Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle got Ottawa back in the game.

Stutzle, the 20-year-old and third overall pick in 2020, scored his second goal of the game 2:34 into the third to cut it to 5-4. Giroux also had two goals.

“We just let them off the hook, right?” said captain Mark Stone, who had a goal and an assist against his former team. “We just thought the game was over.”

The way the first half of the game went, you can’t blame Vegas for easing on the throttle.

The Golden Knights jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes, highlighted by the two points from Stone. He opened the scoring 1:22 into the game by slamming a loose puck past Forsberg.

Reilly Smith added a power-play goal midway through the period, and Zach Whitecloud became the first defenseman not named Shea Theodore to score a goal for the Golden Knights this season.

Those goals offset the only blunder Logan Thompson made at this point of the season. Giroux chipped the puck from the neutral zone, 83 feet away from the net, it took a bounce in front of Thompson and went past his pad for Ottawa’s first goal.

Of the 16 shots Thompson saw in the first period, that was the only one to get by him. That was a sampling of the night the rookie goalie had, making a career-high 42 saves, but still finding a way to win his fourth consecutive start.

“Logan’s played well every game, so I expected he would give us another solid game,” said Cassidy, who started Thompson for the third time in the last four games. “The numbers won’t necessarily be great for him at the end of the night, but he made a lot of good saves. First goal’s unfortunate, but at the end of the day, I thought we hung him out to dry a little bit.”

The best start to a season in team history continues for the Golden Knights. They and the Boston Bruins are the only teams in the league with 10 wins, and Vegas is on its longest winning streak since winning 10 in a row from April 9-28, 2021.

Vegas’ start to the five-game road trip hasn’t resulted in its best hockey, but still resulting in wins. The trip continues Saturday in Montreal to take on the Canadiens, who are off to a solid start (5-5-1) through 11 games.

Stone said while the urge to move on from this game is there, there’s still plenty to learn from.

“End of the day, two points, 10-2. Off to a great start,” Stone said. “Come April, they’re not going to ask how we won this game, but it’s big adversity to get through.”

Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.