10 Straight: Fleury, Golden Knights Smother Avalanche 5-2

Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty each recorded three-point nights as the Vegas Golden Knights topped the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

With the victory, the Golden Knights moved six points clear of the Avalanche at the top of the Honda West Division with one more game played.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves for the victory, his 488th career win moving him within one of tying Roberto Luongo for third place all-time.

Golden Grades

Goaltending B+

Fleury did very little wrong, although his puck handling was an adventure tonight. There were a few times you could be forgiven for clenching your jaw when he strayed to play the biscuit tonight, but for the most part, it resulted in little consequence.

Defense B

The VGK defensive corps had its hands full with Nathan MacKinnon all night long. The Avalanche star was doing his absolute best to carry the team on his back, playing with fire and intensity all game long. Unfortunately for him, the shorthanded Avs could quite match his level. Vegas did a good job in containment at many points, although they did give up 37 shots on goal tonight. That said, Colorado’s only two goals came from defensemen.

Forwards B

A great game for Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone as each recorded three-point nights. William Karlsson opened the scoring and Jonathan Marchessault scored into the empty net to cement the win. Otherwise Alex Tuch was generating chances but failed to connect, and the rest of the forwards were good enough.

Special Teams A-

Nice to see the VGK power-play score again, although an early extended power play with 11 seconds of overlapping five-on-three time failed to yield anything. Each team ended up with four power plays and the Golden Knights penalty kill remains stellar on the season overall, allowing just 17 goals against all year.

The Takeaways

• Tonight was definitely a potential playoff matchup between two behemoths in the Honda West Division, and the Golden Knights answered the bell. I know that the Avalanche were missing several key names in the lineup due to COVID-19 and other factors, but the Golden Knights took care of business against a team they needed to beat.
• Ten wins in a row for Vegas is an impressive feat. Whenever the streak ends, the Golden Knights have gone on an impressive run to separate themselves atop the division and have once again labeled themselves among the top contenders for the Stanley Cup.
•  Marc-Andre Fleury has been hot and picked up his 22nd win of the season. He now has 488 all-time and his next victory will tie Roberto Luongo for third place all-time in NHL history.
• With his assist on Mark Stone’s goal at 14:39 of the second period, Max Pacioretty recorded his 300th NHL assist.
• Brayden McNabb will play his 500th NHL game on Friday in Arizona against the Coyotes.