Golden Game Gist: Knights Take Care of Business in Chicago, But Lose Cotter

The Vegas Golden Knights (22-9-1, 45 points) took care of business Thursday night and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks (7-17-4, 18 points) 4-1 in their final road game before Christmas.

The Golden Knights scored four goals in four different ways; scoring on the powerplay, penalty kill, five-on-five, and with the empty net.

Paul Cotter left the game in the second period after being on the receiving end of a Jared Tinordi hit.

Golden Knights Lineup

No lineup changes for the Golden Knights were made outside of Logan Thompson getting the start.

Paul Cotter- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone (c)

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Jonathan Marchessault

Michael Amadio- Jake Leschyshyn- Phil Kessel

William Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez- Nicolas Hague

Brayden McNabb- Daniil Miromanov

Ben Hutton- Brayden Pachal

Adin Hill/Logan Thompson

Out: Alex Pietrangelo/Shea Theodore, Brett Howden, Zach Whitecloud, Jack Eichel/Jonas Rondbjerg, Kaedan Korczak

FIRST PERIOD

• Daniil Miromanov made a good outlet pass to the Misfits, who got one of their patented scoring chances in transition.
• The Golden Knight's fourth line chipped away on offense and got the team's first two shots about six minutes in.
• Arvid Soderblom stopped Jake Leschyshyn, who whacked away at two rebound chances.
• Paul Cotter used his size and speed to circle around the Blackhawks' net and find Nicolas Hague for a shot.
• Phil Kessel set up Daniil Miromanov for a shot which was stopped by Arvid Soderblom and then hit the post.
• VGK PP- Jason Dickinson was called for boarding Chandler Stephenson.
• 1-0 VGK GOAL- Chandler Stephenson scored on the powerplay after some nice passes by the Golden Knights. Mark Stone found Stephenson for the goal. After a four-assist performance last game, Stephenson ended his 16-game goalless drought.

• CHI PP- Daniil Miromanov was called for tripping Max Domi.
• Logan Thompson made a big save on Tyler Johnson during the penalty kill.
• Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson had an opportunity shorthanded. Stone made a saucer pass to Stephenson, who just missed on the chance.

SECOND PERIOD

• The Misfits had some good chances early in the second but could not convert.
• CHI PP- Michael Amadio took an offensive zone penalty for holding Connor Murphy.
• 2-0 VGK GOAL- On the penalty kill, Reilly Smith scored shorthanded after William Karlsson found him alone for the one-timer. Smith reclaimed his league lead in shorthanded goals, passing Connor Dewar (MIN) with his fourth shorthanded goal of the season.

• The Golden Knights continued to play a strong defensive game, limiting Blackhawk's shots to the outside. 
• When needed, Logan Thompson made some big stops, such as his save on Patrick Kane.
• Jared Tinordi crushed Paul Cotter with a clean open-ice hit. Cotter was shaken up and headed to the locker room with an apparent left arm injury.
• The Golden Knights struggled a bit to generate offense five-on-five and had just one shot in the final 13:02 of the second period.

THIRD PERIOD

• The third period went by fast, with so few whistles that there was not a single commercial break.
• Paul Cotter did not return to the game, and Phil Kessel was moved up to the top line with Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone.
• The VGK started to get some better five-on-five chances from the Misfits and Daniil Miromanov in the third.
• Logan Thompson made a big save on a follow-up chance from Patrick Kane.
• 3-0 VGK GOAL- Phil Kessel scored off a nice feed from Daniil Miromanov. Miromanov now has four points in his last two games.
• Logan Thompson continued to make big saves up until the final buzzer, but his shutout streak against the Blackhawks would be snapped.
• 3-1 CHI GOAL- Taylor Raddysh scored for the Blackhawks, ending Thompson's shutout streak against Chicago at 116 minutes and six seconds.
• Arvid Soderblom went to the Blackhawks' bench with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
• 4-1 VGK GOAL- Reilly Smith scored his second goal of the night to seal the deal for the VGK.

VHN's Player of the Game: Alec Martinez

The Golden Knight's defense played a strong game on Thursday. Since I can't give a player of the game award to all six members of the D, I'll go with Alec Martinez, who finished the night with 22:05 minutes of ice time, two blocked shots, and two shots on goal. 

Up Next: The Golden Knights will be home for the holidays, playing in four-straight home games until Christmas. They play the New York Islanders on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Shea Theodore, Jack Eichel, and Brett Howden is all eligible to return from injury in this game.