Montreal Canadiens’ Sean Monahan (91) moves in on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill as Golden Knights’ Alec Martinez (23) defends during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Reilly Smith scored two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights kept their hot streak intact with a 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Nicolas Hague, Keegan Kolesar, Nicolas Roy and Jonathan Marchessault added goals for the Golden Knights, who improved their winning streak to seven games.
Nick Suzuki scored two goals and Cole Caufield added one goal bringing both players to the eight-goal mark. Kirby Dach picked up three assists and Juraj Slakovsky scored a late marker.
Jake Allen made 36 saves and allowed six goals. Adin Hill blocked 27 shots and allowed four goals.
Montreal matched Vegas’s level in the first period but offered the Golden Knights a scoring opportunity on a silver platter. Joel Edmundsson made a costly mistake by clearing the puck straight to Hague in the high slot. The defenceman took no time to find the back of the net.
The Habs made up for their mistake just under a minute later when Dach found Caufield with a cross-ice pass and the winger completed the one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
The Golden Knights regained their lead at 2:24 of the second period by catching Montreal rookie Jordan Harris in a two-on-one situation. William Karlsson and Smith connected to notch Vegas’s second goal of the night.
Fans at the Bell Centre got their money’s worth with seven goals in the third period. Montreal tied the game early in the third when Dach connected with Suzuki on a give-and-go play.
Vegas regained their lead on the power play. Allen mishandled a shot from Phil Kessel with his glove. Smith pounced on the puck to get his second marker of the night.
The Golden Knights pulled away with two goals in just over 20 seconds. Kolesar deflected a shot from the point to grab his second of the season and then assisted on Roy’s marker, giving Vegas a 5-2 lead.
Montreal cut their gap back to two goals on the power play when Suzuki stunned Hill with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle.
Jack Eichel connected with Marchessault who sniped Vegas’ sixth goal of the game with a one-timer.
Slafkovsky then netted his third of the season to close out a goal-friendly third period.
MARCHESSAULT 300
By assisting on Smith’s first goal, Marchessault notched his 300th NHL point with the Golden Knights. Skating in his home province, the Quebec City native became the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat. Marchessault picked up 301 of his 371 career points with Vegas.
UP NEXT
The Canadiens will head to Michigan to take on the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday. The Golden Knights will continue on their five-game road trip by paying a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2022.
