Golden Knights lose to Devils, fail to gain in West playoff race

LAS VEGAS -- Andrew Hammond made 42 saves for the New Jersey Devils in a 3-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

"It's special," Hammond said. "I'm starting to get back to the way I know I can play. … The most important thing is just how desperate we played. We knew we were going to play a desperate team. You saw guys diving and blocking shots. As a goaltender, that's all you can ask for."
It was Hammond's first win in four starts with the Devils (27-42-7), who had lost their previous two games. Nathan Bastian had a goal and an assist.
"I really liked the desperation," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "The blocked shots. The five guys around the paint. The saves we got from our goaltender. Guys were standing up on the bench and were excited every time [Hammond] made a save or somebody blocked a shot."

Robin Lehner made 25 saves for the Golden Knights (41-31-5), who have lost back-to-back games and failed to gain ground in the playoff race. They trail the Los Angeles Kings by three points for third place in the Pacific and are four points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We have to find a way to win hockey games," Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "For the first time, we're going to need help from other teams. They're going to need to lose. That's just the way it is."
The Golden Knights have five games remaining.
"We got to win them all. It's pretty simple, we got to win them all," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "Circumstances have put us in a situation here where we have no margin of error. That's a tough way to play. … The work in what has happened all year and what has happened the whole year has put us in a spot where we don't have the luxury to relax and play loose this time of the year. We don't have that. We've got to make sure we handle that and find a way to stick some pucks in the net."

Bastian scored at 6:54 of the first period to give the Devils a 1-0 lead, tapping in a loose puck off a rebound.
The Golden Knights outshot the Devils 16-5 in the second period. They tied it at 17:37 on a Keegan Kolesar goal, when his shot bounced off P.K. Subban's skate past Hammond.
Andreas Johnsson scored at 3:14 of the third period to give the Devils a 2-1 lead on a rebound.
"It's great to see him on the scoreboard," New Jersey captain Nico Hischier said of Johnsson. "He does the little things right. He works hard. He does everything you can ask for from a teammate. … I'm happy for him to see him on the scoreboard, especially for the stretch."
Jesper Boqvist made it 3-1 when he went five-hole on Lehner at 7:57.
With Lehner pulled for an extra attacker, Chandler Stephenson pulled the Golden Knights within 3-2 at 18:46 with a shot from the slot.

NOTES: The Devils finished their final road trip of the season 3-1-1. … The Golden Knights have scored eight goals with an extra skater this season. … Shea Theodore scored his 46th point of the season with an assist in the second period, tying his NHL career high. It was also his 200th point with Vegas. … Marchessault had his 200th NHL assist.