Golden Knights defeat Oilers, first to 80 points in West

LAS VEGAS --The Vegas Golden Knights became the first team in the Western Conference to reach 80 points with a 4-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
The Golden Knights (38-15-4) extended their conference lead to three points over the Nashville Predators, and they lead the Pacific Division by 10 points over the San Jose Sharks.

Vegas is 21-4-2 at home, and is one win shy of tying the record set by the 1979-80 Hartford Whalers for most by a team in its inaugural season. It took the Whalers 40 games.
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Golden Knights highlights]
William Karlsson became the first Golden Knights player to score 30 goals, and Ryan Carpenter, Jonathan Marchessault and Erik Haula also scored. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves.
"It feels good to get it over with," Karlsson said. "I've had a couple chances in other games to get it, but 30 is great."

Leon Draisaitl scored, and Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the Oilers (23-29-4), who lost their fifth straight (0-5-0) and are 2-6-1 in their past nine games. Edmonton trails the Calgary Flames by 18 points for third place in the Pacific Division, and the Minnesota Wild by 18 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"They're one of the top teams in the League for a reason," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "They played better than we did tonight. They were more opportunistic and the chances they had, especially early in the game down low ... that team doesn't need more than a two- or three-goal lead to shut it down."
Oilers forward Connor McDavid was held without a point for the second time in three games. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in the first two games against Vegas, both Edmonton wins.
"We're always aware of when he's on the ice," Karlsson said. "He's one of the best players in the world. We played a good game today, and maybe he wasn't on top today."
The Golden Knights defeated the Oilers for the first time this season after losing the first two meetings by a combined score of 11-4.
"It's nice to beat a team that we lost twice to. It's rewarding, and most importantly, it's nice that it's at home," Haula said. "We got a couple in a row and now we go try to get the third [in a row] and start building."

Carpenter scored at 13:04 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. It was his fourth goal in six games.
Marchessault's goal at 4:18 of the second -- his third in the past five games -- made it 2-0, and Karlsson increased the lead to 3-0 at 12:47 on the power play. It was Karlsson's 100th NHL point.
"You go down two goals on a team like that, that plays as detailed and as well defensively as that, it's very difficult to come back," Oilers center Mark Letestu said. "We're not playing with enough detail, enough intensity in some of the things to give us success right now."
Haula scored at 4:15 of the third period to make it 4-0.
Draisaitl scored at 12:31 to make it 4-1.

Goal of the game

Karlsson's goal at 12:47 of the second period.

Save of the game

Fleury's save on Michael Cammalleri at 12:36 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Carpenter's goal at 13:04 of the first period.

They said it

"It's tough to talk about the team and the adjustments we made when I'm someone they trust a lot back there [and] I didn't have a good enough game." -- Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse on his minus-2 performance
"We needed to stay above them. Not necessarily do a big hit or something, but not let them get up on the play. If we keep doing that we're a tough team on the other side." -- Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault

Need to know

Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland set a NHL career-high with his 18th point (three goals, 15 assists). … The Golden Knights have scored a power-play goal in 11 of the past 12 games. … Draisaitl scored for the third straight game and for the fifth time in the past six games. He has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past eight games.

What's next

Oilers: At the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FS-A, SNW, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)