Golden Knights Fourth Line, PK, Lead Them To Win Over Avalanche

The Vegas Golden Knights (26-12-2, 54 points) prevailed with a big road win against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche (19-14-3, 41 points) Monday night at Ball Arena 3-2. The VGK went 5/5 on the penalty kill and got two big second-period goals from Nicolas Roy.

They will head home and start a season-long seven-game homestand against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Here's how the game went down.

FIRST PERIOD

• Daniil Miromanov officially missed the game with a lower-body injury making the total number of Golden Knights players out with injuries come to nine. Kaedan Korczak was paired with Brayden McNabb as a result, and Byron Froese made his Golden Knights debut, centering the third line.
• 1-0 COL GOAL- Off the rush just 25 seconds into the game, Nathan Mackinnon ripped a wrist shot past Logan Thompson.
• Ben Hutton pinched in on the play, deked to the net, and got a good scoring chance.
• COL PP- Phil Kessel rushed to a puck but interfered with Sam Girard on the way.
• Nathan Mackinnon ripped two one-timers on the powerplay, which led to grade-A rebounds for the Avalanche, but the VGK scrambled to clear.
• COL PP- With three seconds left in the penalty, Brayden Pachal took a delay of game penalty as he accidentally cleared the puck over the glass.
• Cale Makar gave the puck away on the powerplay to Chandler Stephenson, but he was stopped by Alexander Georgiev.
• FIGHT- Keegan Kolesar and Andreas Englund dropped the gloves. Kolesar got a couple of good shots in before he and Englund ran out of energy.
• Nathan Mackinnon went off with a burst of speed, made Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone run into each other, and then fed Mikko Rantanen, in the slot for a shot. He hit the post.
• 1-1 VGK GOAL- Michael Amadio remained hot with a goal. He tipped in a Nicolas Hague shot and has points in seven straight games.

SECOND PERIOD

• 4 on 4- Will Carrier and Cale Makar took offsetting penalties.
• Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo made a couple of nice passes to each other, but Pietrangelo missed the net.
• Erik Johnson received a pass in the slot, and Logan Thompson came up with a big save.
• Phil Kessel intercepted a pass and set up William Karlsson, who knocked a puck out of the air to get a shot off.
• 2-1 VGK GOAL- The Golden Knight's fourth line put in some good work and scored. Keegan Kolesar found Nicolas Roy alone at the left faceoff dot, who scored his first goal in 19 games. This line would continue to be great for the VGK, especially in the second period.

• Kaedan Korczak collected an assist on the Nicolas Roy goal for his first career point in the NHL.
• Kuris MacDermid crushed Brayden Pachal with a hit.
• VGK PP- Andrew Cogliano took an interference penalty on Kaedan Korczak. The Golden Knights did not score on the ensuing powerplay.
• 3-1 VGK GOAL- But the fourth line came through again as Will Carrier's shot was tipped in by Nicolas Roy.

• COL PP- Byron Froese's stick got caught in the skates of Martin Kaut, and he was called for tripping.
• The Avalanche hit their second post of the game on the powerplay, with JT Compher's shot hitting the iron.

THIRD PERIOD

• COL PP- Will Carrier backchecked against Devon Toews a little too hard and went off for holding.
• The Golden Knights were able to kill off the fourth Avalanche powerplay of the game.
• Logan Thompson made a save right on the goal crease after Nathan Mackinnon's shot rolled over his shoulder.
• Logan Thompson seemingly made another big save, stretching out his right pad to stop Mikko Rantanen. Nathan Mackinnon claimed the puck was in, and the play was reviewed.
• 3-2 COL GOAL- Upon further review, the puck completely crossed the goal line before the whistle, and Mikko Rantanen got the goal.
• The Avalanche's star players put tons of pressure on the Golden Knights in their own zone.
• COL PP- With the VGK chasing, Reilly Smith took a high-sticking penalty.
• Another huge penalty kill was put up by the Golden Knights.
• Chandler Stephenson picked off a pass, got a chance, but missed the net wide.
• Alexander Georgiev went to the bench with 2:10 remaining.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES

• The fourth line of Nicolas Roy, Keegan Kolesar, and Will Carrier had a tremendous game with two goals from Roy, a fight from Kolesar, and an assist from Carrier. More on these three postgames and why this is wildly important.
• The Golden Knights have seemingly figured out their second-period problems, as they have outscored opponents in the frame in their last three.
• The Avalanche had five powerplay opportunities in the game, but the Golden Knight's penalty kill prevailed and was crucial to the team's victory.
• This game marked the team's first of 2023. In the first game of a calendar year, the Golden Knights are now 5-0-1.
• Nathan Mackinnon played in just his second game back from an eleven-game injury Monday night and had a goal and an assist. The Golden Knights are hoping to get their own superstar center, Jack Eichel, back soon.

VHN's Player of the Game: Nicolas Roy

Two goals in his 200th career NHL game.

Up Next: The Golden Knights will begin their longest homestand of the season, a seven-gamer on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 p.m.