Golden Knights defeat Blue Jackets, extend home point streak

LAS VEGAS -- William Karlsson scored two goals in his first game against his former team, and the Vegas Golden Knights extended their home point streak to 12 with a 6-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Colin Miller, Brad Hunt and James Neal scored for the Golden Knights (32-11-4), who are 10-0-2 at home since a 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 28. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for his ninth win in his past 13 starts.
\[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Golden Knights highlights\]
"We just take it day by day," Hunt said. "We go to the rink in the morning, tomorrow's a new day. We just focus on the next day. We don't get too high, we don't get too low."
Vegas is one win shy of tying the 1993-94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers for most by an NHL team in its inaugural season.
Markus Nutivaara, Josh Anderson and Matt Calvert scored for the Blue Jackets (26-19-3), who lost for the third time in four games. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 37 shots.
"When you allow a team to take over the game, they get the energy and now you're chasing, I just hope it's a lesson for guys in here," Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. "It's still halfway through the season, but I hope that was an embarrassment in a little way."
Karlsson scored with a backhand to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 8:22 of the first period. Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld by video review.

Nutivaara tied it 1-1 at 15:57 of the first. Foligno made a drop pass between his legs to the trailing defenseman to set up the goal.
Anderson scored at 6:46 of the second period to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead, but the Golden Knights scored three goals in 4:16 to go ahead by two.
Miller tied it 2-2 at 7:59. He scored at 4-on-4 after Jonathan Marchessault won a face-off back to Nate Schmidt, who passed over to Miller for a slap shot from the point.

Hunt scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle to make it 3-2 at 9:47, and Neal finished a 2-on-1 at 12:15 for a 4-2 lead.
"I just don't think we were competitive enough," Tortorella said. "I thought we had some good minutes along the way, but overall we just lost too many battles on the puck. The second period, obviously, it just got away from us."
Karlsson scored his second of the night at 9:21 of the third to make it 5-2. Defenseman Shea Theodore lifted the puck from the Vegas zone to Karlsson at the Columbus blue line. It landed right on Karlsson's stick blade, and he deked forehand to backhand for his Golden Knights-leading 27th goal.
"It was right on the tape," said Karlsson, who was selected from Columbus by Vegas in the NHL Expansion Draft. "It's been a while since I've seen a pass like that. I'm glad I finished it off like that in style. [Theodore's] a very talented player and it shows what he can do."
Calvert scored at 12:53 of the third period to make it 5-3.
Erik Haula made it 6-3 with an empty-net goal with 1:02 remaining.

Goal of the game

Karlsson's goal at 9:21 of the third period.

Save of the game

Fleury stopping Jack Johnson at 16:09 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Hunt's goal at 9:47 of the second period.

They said it

"I don't like [William Karlsson] scoring two goals against us tonight. I'm thrilled for him though. As an ex-coach, and caring about Bill, I'm thrilled for him. He did some really good things for us. I wish he scored a few more goals for us. But you can see in watching him tonight, he is just full of confidence." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"I'm happy with tonight. We got two points, I got two goals, so overall it was a good night." -- Golden Knights forward William Karlsson
"The guys have been good with me all year. It's a big family. Everybody's a big brotherhood in here. To get that first goal, to get it off your shoulders is real special, especially to do it at home." -- Golden Knights defenseman Brad Hunt

Need to know

Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb left the game at 13:41 of the second period with an injury. There was no update. ... Marchessault had two assists and has 46 points, five shy of his NHL career-high 51 in 75 games with the Florida Panthers last season. ... Fleury won his 387th NHL game, two shy of tying Dominik Hasek for 13th in League history. ... Bobrovsky allowed more than two goals for the second time in seven starts.

What's next

Blue Jackets: At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, ATTSN-RM, MSG+, NHL.TV)