DENVER — Nicolas Roy scored two goals for the Vegas Golden Knights, who held on for a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Monday.
Michael Amadio also scored, and Logan Thompson made 27 saves for the Golden Knights (26-12-2), who are 4-1-1 in their past six games.
“They got off to a good start, obviously, and we didn’t let that get to us. You’ve got to be careful that one doesn’t turn into two and three with a high-octane line like them,” Vegas Coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think we checked them well after that. In the third period, we had a lull where they had a good push, but I thought our second period was the difference.”
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist, and Alexander Georgiev made 25 saves for the Avalanche (19-14-3), who have lost four straight (0-3-1).
“We lost the game in the second period,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Too many turnovers. We didn’t manage the puck very well at all. We had some turnovers that were unforced coming out of our zone, which came back on us. Spent way too much time in the [defensive] zone because we didn’t manage the puck well going through the neutral zone at their offensive zone blue line. We kept feathering pucks into the middle of the ice. They’d pump them back up the ice and put us back in our zone again. Scoring chances show that.”
Video: VGK@COL: MacKinnon wires home a shot from the circle
MacKinnon, who played his second game since returning from an upper-body injury, scored 25 seconds into the first period to make it 1-0, beating a Thompson blocker from the right face-off circle.
“I’m getting more comfortable. I’m seeing some plays out there tonight a little bit better,” MacKinnon said. “There’s no quit in our room, which is a good thing moving forward. We just need to get healthy.”
Amadio tied it 1-1 at 17:02 when he redirected Nicolas Hague‘s shot from the point. The goal came moments later when Rantanen hit the crossbar on an open net.
“Amadio goes up, he’s been real hot on [the top] line. He’s a guy that can add some offense, so that’s a nice find for us as well,” Cassidy said. “I think to sustain seasons when you have as many guys as we have out — a lot like the [Avalanche] right? — you guys need to get in there. (You) need your top guys to produce and other guys to sort of follow. Your leaders lead, your followers follow, and I think we’ve seen that with our group.”
Video: VGK@COL: Amadio ties it in the 1st period
Roy put the Golden Knights ahead 2-1 at 7:14 of the second period, scoring from a backhand pass off the left circle from the glove side. Keegan Kolesarwho was battling along the end boards with Avalanche forward Ben Meyers.
“I think the line that went before, they did a good job of tilting the ice for us,” Roy said. “I think the other team was pretty tired there, so we’re kind of just trying to bring pucks to the net. And of course, I brought one to the net there, and [Kolesar] won a battle behind the net and made a nice play to me. So it was nice to get that one for sure.”
Roy then made it 3-1 at 14:46 with a redirection William Carrier‘s shot.
Rantanen cut it to 3-2 at 11:07 of the third period when he pushed a loose puck against Thompson’s pad just across the goal line. The play was originally ruled no goal before being overturned after a video review. It was Rantanen’s 25th goal of the season.
Video: VGK@COL: Roy extends the lead with a redirection
NOTES: Amadio extended his point streak to seven games (five goals, four assists), and Mark Stone had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (four goals, seven assists). Stone also extended his road point streak to eight games (three goals, six assists), which is the longest in Golden Knights history. … Avalanche forward Darren Helm had five hits and was 4-for-9 on face-offs in 8:55 of ice time in his season debut; He missed the first 36 games and had abductor surgery in November. … Golden Knights defenseman Kaedan Korczak had an assist, three shots, and three hits in 15:30 in his season debut. … Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury. He is day to day.
.