Golden Knights shut out Avalanche to extend point streak to 12

LAS VEGAS -- Mark Stone scored two short-handed goals and had two assists, and the Vegas Golden Knights extended their season-opening point streak to 12 games with a 7-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Adin Hill made 41 saves for his first shutout of the season (sixth in NHL).

“It’s good to win,” Hill said. “We put the puck in the net quite a bit. You’ll never complain when your team is putting the puck in the net like we were tonight.”

Jack Eichel and William Karlsson each scored twice for the Golden Knights (11-0-1), who have won four straight. 

“We're going to take the win and enjoy it,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Especially Jack, he hasn’t finished for a while, So I'm happy for him. Couple of good, solid goals. ‘Stoney’ [scored] short-handed. Obviously, a lot of positives. ‘Karly’ has been good all year, and I like that his wingers were able to help him out there and make some plays.”

Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Avalanche (7-3-0), who have lost three of four.

“There wasn’t a lot to like,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “The difference between the two hockey teams right now for me is Vegas is going to force you to beat them. They're not going to hand you easy goals. They're not going to make a ton of mistakes.

“You have to earn everything you get. We're the opposite. Easy goals on ice from lack of checking commitment to turnovers. Tonight's a prime example, you get two short-handed goals.”

Stone gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 16:50 of the first period with his first short-handed goal, scoring off a slap pass from Brayden McNabb. 

“I made a little eye contact, so once he wound up, I knew he wasn’t shooting,” Stone said. “I knew he was coming to me. I played against him in juniors. He was one of the better offensive defensemen in the league right at that time. He’s just accepted a role of being a big bruising defenseman. His ability and smarts are there.”

Eichel made it 2-0 at 9:35 of the second period, roofing a wrist shot over Georgiev’s right shoulder. It was Eichel’s first goal in seven games.

“I've been on a little bit of a drought,” Eichel said. “It's good to get a couple on the board here. I’m just trying to keep going.”

William Carrier extended it to 3-0 at 12:57, scoring underneath Georgiev’s right pad.

Eichel then made it 4-0 on a power play at 13:49 when he one-timed a seam pass from Stone.

“There’s that quote ‘Possession before position,’” Stone said. “We’ve done a pretty good job at taking what’s given to us. In the past, we were getting to our spots and being a little bit more stationary.

“Now that we’re moving the puck and moving bodies in and around, just playing, we’re a great 5-on-5 team, so if we can bleed a little bit of that into our power play, it just makes us better.”

Stone pushed it to 5-0 at 3:22 of the third period with his second short-handed goal after outskating Devon Toews to a loose puck in the offensive zone.

“[Ottawa forward] Brady [Tkachuk] texted me and his brother (Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk) earlier to say we’re the two slowest guys in the League,” Stone said. “So, I can’t wait to send him this video.”

Karlsson made it 6-0 at 9:13 before scoring again at 14:43 for the 7-0 final. He has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) during a nine-game point streak, which is tied for the longest in Vegas history.

NOTES: Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen played in his 500th NHL game. … Stone became the first Golden Knights player to score two short-handed goals in a game. It was also Stone’s fifth four-point game, tying him with Chandler Stephenson for the most in Vegas history.