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Knights find consistency in 3-0 win over rapid-fire Hurricanes

November 4, 2018, 9:09 AM ET [2 Comments]
Guest Writer
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By Evan Posocco


LAS VEGAS, NV – The Vegas Golden Knights picked up their 4th home win of the season and improved to 6-7-1 on 2018 as Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 34 shots he faced en route to his 50th career NHL shutout atop the Carolina Hurricanes.

Brad Hunt opened the scoring late in the first period from the slot on a nifty pass from Erik Haula beating Scott Darling five-hole to give Vegas a rare lead headed into the first intermission. Ryan Reaves would open the second period in style with yet another rebound goal from his favorite camping spot in front of the blue paint to solidify the Vegas advantage. The goal was Raves’ 4th on the season already. The Knights had no intention of letting the Hurricanes back into the game and played their best period of hockey in the third where William Carrier would tack on his first of the year to reach the final 3-0 scoring.

Both Vegas and Carolina have outshot their opponents seemingly all season long, yet both
lacked decisively winning records headed into Saturday’s matchup. The tides turned for the defending Western Conference Champions as they came out on top this time around, despite being out-shot, out-chanced, and out-hit.

The key to Marc-Andre Fleury’s perfect night may very well have been the lack of 2-on-1 chances given up by the Vegas defense, something the Knights have struggled in preventing recently. That’s not to say the 3-Time Stanley Cup Champion went untested, however, as Fleury was called on to make some key saves on rebounds down the stretch.

Vegas’ 1-night return to T-Mobile Arena Saturday was exactly what the still sputtering squad needed to build some momentum in a road-heavy month of November that will see 10 of their next 14 games played on the road, beginning with a trip to Toronto Tuesday. The Knights had dropped their 2 previous games to Nashville and St Louis, both on the road, ahead of Saturday’s win against a young, fast, and hot Carolina squad that’s been known to pepper the net with shots.

As Vegas packs their bags and heads north of the border, look for injured forward Max Pacioretty, who Saturday afternoon practiced for the first time without his non-contact jersey since he was placed on the IR last week, to return to the lineup at some point with his former club due up Saturday night at the Bell Centre. Pacioretty was the Capitan of the Montreal Canadiens when he was traded in the off-season to the Knights in a deal that included Thomas Tatar and prospect Nick Suzuki.

Catch the Vegas Golden Knights take on the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday at 4:00pm PT with coverage beginning at 3:30 on AT&T Sportnet.
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