LAS VEGAS (AP) – Elias Peterson scored twice and assisted twice to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-1 win over Vegas on Wednesday night, snaping a five-game winning streak for the Golden Knights.
The win boosted Canucks’ hopes of a slim play-off as they chased the Western Conference wild card. With both the Golden Nights and the Canucks looking to the outside, Vancouver is in a desperate mood.
Vegas (82 points) is one point behind eighth-ranked Dallas, while Canucks (76) is seven points behind the stars.
Bo Harvat, Brad Richardson and Tanner Pearson also scored for Vancouver. Thatcher Demco was great for stopping the Red-Hot Golden Knights offense by stopping 33 shots.
The Golden Knights averaged 4.4 goals in their five-game run.
In it, they look like a team that endures 2-8 draws when averaging 2.1 goals per game before a five-game streak. Jack Aichel scored the only goal for Vegas and Robin Lehner saved 26.
It marks Vancouver’s first victory over the Golden Knights since joining the NHL in 2017.
After taking a swipe from the slot with a one-timer he thought he went inside but Demco left, finishing with a rebound after a series of Aichel shots and finding behind the net to give Vegas an early 1-0 lead.
Canucks took advantage of a power play towards the end of the first period after calling for Ben Hutton to be retained. Patterson’s shot from the point bounced off Lehner’s right shoulder and to the right of Harbhat, who punched it in the equalizer.
It took 17 seconds for Vancouver to take the lead as Richardson slipped into the back slot of Vegas defender Alec Martinez and fired a loose shot from the inside edge of the right circle and under Lehner’s pad.
Canucks opened the scoring for the two goals in the middle of the second period when Peterson sent a beautiful pass across the slot to Pearson, who finished the rush by beating Lehner with a wrist shot over his blocker.
After assisting in two of Vancouver’s first three goals, it was Peterson’s turn to stay towards the end of a Nifty pass. Leaving alone in the front corner of the net after spinning away from Aichel, Patterson redirected Oliver Ekman-Larson’s backdoor pass 4-1.
Just over a minute into the third, Vegas defender Braden McNab went into the penalty box for a tripping. Seven seconds later, Peterson scored the second goal of the night.
Coming next
Canucks: Go to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
Golden Nights: Host Coyotes on Saturday.