Golden Knights 6, Maple Leafs 3: 3 Takeaways

Today was about an ending and a beginning.
The ending of a spectacular 2017, which has seen the first-year Golden Knights spectacularly rise to first place in the Western Conference through the season's first three months.
And the beginning of this game, which saw Vegas blitz Toronto for three goals in the opening 13:24, en route to a 6-3 win.
Today's win was also fueled by the first hat trick in team history, as William Karlsson helped extend the Golden Knights' season-high winning streak to seven. Vegas is now 11-0-1 since December 1. Twelve games in a row with a point extends this team's record for most consecutive games with a point by an expansion team in league history.
Here are three takeaways from tonight's game.

1. Wild, Wild Bill

If there's any player who has absolutely come out of nowhere to play like a star for this team, it's been William Karlsson.
Karlsson scored only six goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. And he had just nine the year before.
By scoring a hat trick tonight, he now has 20 this season...more than each of his past two seasons combined.
Although it made the score 4-1 Golden Knights, his second goal tonight held up as the game-winner, as a pair of goals from Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews made this game closer than it looked like it was going to be.
Karlsson's third goal came into an empty net. He added an assist on a goal by Jonathan Marchessault in the third period and now has 33 points for the season.

2. All About The Start

This was the 19th home game of the season for the Golden Knights. And it was the ninth time that they scored more than one goal in the first period.
In several of these games, Vegas has roared out to an early lead, only to cool off for the rest of the night. But has been able to win the games, based on the huge lead that their fast starts has provided.
This was one of those nights again.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got Vegas off and running by scoring his fourth of the season at the 2:24 mark.
William Karlsson added Vegas' next goal within two minutes, and Erik Haula added insurance at the 13:24 mark.

In total, it was three goals in 11 minutes. And although the teams were even at 3-3 the rest of the game, it wasn't enough to overcome the Golden Knights' torrid start to the game.
3. March-ing On

Early in this season, James Neal got most of the headlines as Vegas' offensive star. Since the end of October, the lion's share of the attention has been bestowed on William Karlsson's shoulders.
Throughout all of this, Jonathan Marchessault has emerged as Vegas' leading scorer. Marchessault finished today with a goal and an assist, and now has 36 points for the season. In fact, by notching his 22 assist of the season today, he surpassed his assist total for the entire 2016-17 season with the Florida Panthers.
And by netting two more points today, Marchessault is now officially the first Golden Knight on pace to be better than a point per game player this season.
Barring injuries, Marchessault is now on pace to finish this season with 33 goals and 51 assists.