Golden Knights hold off Senators for 6th straight win

The Golden Knights could finally breathe easy when center Jack Eichel corralled the puck in the right corner of Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre just before time expired.

The Senators spent most of the previous two minutes pushing, pushing, pushing. They had already closed a 5-1 deficit to 5-4. They had put 46 shots on net, more than the Knights have allowed since Oct. 14, 2021. Yet they couldn’t come away winners.

The Knights held on long enough for a 5-4 victory in their second stop of a five-game road trip to extend their winning streak to six games, their longest since April 2021.

It was far from the team’s best performance. It was just enough, however, to keep the best start in franchise history alive at 10-2.

“That was not a perfect game by us by any means,” said captain Mark Stone, who returned to Ottawa for the second time since being traded by the Senators to the Knights on Feb. 25, 2019. “Wasn’t close to our standard. Some nights you’re not going to feel great and you’re not going to have that execution as a team, but when you find ways to win, that’s the difference between teams that win and teams on the outside (of the playoffs).”

The Knights jumped out to a huge lead by feasting on Senators’ gifts. Vegas later returned the favor.

Stone put his team up 1-0 1:22 into the game when defenseman Thomas Chabot turned the puck over to him in the slot. Left wing William Carrier increased the lead to 5-1 with 9:46 left in the second after taking advantage of a poor Alex DeBrincat pass in front of the Senators’ net.

Ottawa, which entered the game fourth in the NHL in scoring, did not go away quietly. The Senators made it 5-3 with goals from right wing Claude Giroux and center Tim Stutzle before the period was out.

Stutzle struck again 2:34 into the third after a failed breakout pass from left wing Brett Howden. The Knights, having conceded four goals for the first time this season, bent no further.

They allowed eight shots on goal the final 17:26 after giving up 38 the first 42:34. That let them close out a seventh straight win against Ottawa, their longest active winning streak against any opponent.

“We were opportunistic tonight,” center Nicolas Roy said. “That was the difference. I think it wasn’t our best effort overall, but we found a way to win.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Thompson’s night

Rookie goaltender Logan Thompson started for the Knights for the eighth time in 12 games.

His showing, like the team’s, was up and down. The Senators scored their first goal from the neutral zone when Giroux floated a puck down the ice and it hopped past Thompson. Stutzle also scored his first goal when a Brady Tkachuk shot trickled through Thompson’s pads and into the crease.

The goaltender also did plenty to keep his team in front. Thompson made a career-high 42 saves and bailed the Knights out several times after poor turnovers. The win was his sixth, tied for second-most in the NHL.

“First goal’s unfortunate, but at the end of the day, I thought we hung him out to dry a little,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He made some good stops for us.”

2. Whitecloud scores

Senators coach D.J. Smith spoke highly of defensemen Zach Whitecloud and Nic Hague before Thursday’s game, calling them the best fifth and sixth defensemen in the NHL.

The two likely did little to change Smith’s opinion.

Whitecloud became the second Knights defenseman to score a goal this season when he fired a pass from Stone past goaltender Anton Forsberg with 32 seconds left in the first period. He finished a team-best plus-3 at five-on-five.

Hague was plus-2.

3. Special teams showcase

The Knights had an edge on special teams in the win.

Their power play went 1-for-4, with left wing Reilly Smith scoring a goal 9:19 into the first period. Their penalty kill was a perfect 3-for-3. The Knights also got their first shorthanded goal of the season from left wing Chandler Stephenson 5:15 into the second period.

It’s the first time the team has scored a power-play and shorthanded goal in the same game since March 15.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.