Marc Gatcomb’s late second-period goal was the difference Sunday night, and the Vegas Golden Knights kept rolling against Vancouver with a 3-2 win over the Canucks.
Adin Hill backed it up with 17 saves in his first start for Vegas since April 9 of last season, while Mitch Marner and Victor Olofsson also found the net for the Golden Knights. Vegas improved to 22-4-3 all-time against Vancouver and stretched its winning streak over the Canucks to eight straight games since a 4-3 loss on April 8, 2024. Hill also extended his personal run against Vancouver to five consecutive wins.
Vancouver got goals from Paul Cotter and Jonathan Lekkerimaki, but it wasn’t enough on a night when the Canucks were finishing the second game of a back-to-back after beating Calgary 4-1 on Saturday. Kevin Lankinen stopped 25 of 28 shots in the loss.
The Canucks opened the scoring late in the first period when Cotter redirected a Filip Hronek pass from the left point on the power play and tucked it inside the right post at 18:52 for his team-leading fourth goal.
Vegas answered in the second when Marner snapped a wrist shot from the slot into the top left corner for his first goal of the season. Marner had been the top scorer in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring with 29 points.
The Golden Knights then moved in front 2-1 on another power-play strike, this one from Olofsson, who lifted a rebound of a Mark Stone shot from the bottom of the right circle.
Vancouver pulled even at 17:54 of the second on Lekkerimaki’s sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the right circle, beating Hill on the blocker side. Vegas needed just 34 seconds to answer. Gatcomb finished a cross-crease pass from Braeden Bowman by jamming it inside the right post for what stood as the winner.
The Canucks pulled Lankinen with 2:15 left, and Hronek denied Jack Eichel on an empty-net chance moments later. Vancouver finished with 20 shots to Vegas’ 28, and its best look after that came with two seconds left, when Elias Pettersson rang a shot from the bottom of the left circle off the left post.
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Canucks Show Fight But One Problem Still Stands Out Against Vegas
The Canucks had some push in a 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights in the second half of a weekend back-to-back, with Paul Cotter and Jonathan Lekkerimki finding the net and Kevin Lankinen stopping 25 shots. The game had plenty of penalties and line juggling on both sides, and Vancouver did manage to make Vegas work for stretches, but the gap in overall skill still showed up when the margin got tight.
Vancouver also had to deal with some physical wear and tear along the way, as Tom Willander was slow to get up after a big hit from Brayden McNabb and briefly went to the dressing room before returning in the third period. The Canucks left with a competitive effort to build on, but also with the familiar concern that matching Vegas pace and talent across a full game remains a tough assignment. [Read more 🡒]