Jack Eichel ended a five-game goalless drought and Ivan Barbashev scored for the fourth straight game as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena, snapping a five-game losing streak.
The Knights (26-16-14) had lost seven of their previous eight games before facing a Vancouver team (18-33-6) that has been in rebuild mode since trading Quinn Hughes in December. After a scoreless first period, Vegas erupted for three goals in 2:30 during the second period.
Eichel opened the scoring at 5:09, and Cole Reinhardt made it 2-0 just 1:25 later. Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson cut the lead to 2-1 with a weak-side shot that goaltender Akira Schmid misread, but Barbashev responded 28 seconds later to restore the two-goal advantage.
Schmid made a key diving glove save with 10:40 left in the second period, robbing Vancouver defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph on a wide-open cage while tangled with teammate Shea Theodore and Canucks center Teddy Blueger. He finished with 21 saves for his 16th win.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Alexander Holtz scored 49 seconds apart early in the third period to seal the victory.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said the Knights had been trending in the right direction despite recent losses to Seattle and Anaheim. Vegas plays its final game before the Winter Olympic break on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings at T-Mobile Arena.
Up next
Who: Kings at Golden Knights
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: KMCC-34
Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM
Line: Knights -150; total 6
