Stone, Samsonov spark Golden Knights past Penguins for 4th win in row

LAS VEGAS -- Mark Stone had a goal and two assists, and Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves in the Vegas Golden Knights' 4-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

“We played very good defensively, nice discipline,” Samsonov said. “It's a big opportunity to play against [Sidney] Crosby, [Evegni] Malkin, and [Rickard] Rakell. Nice game for us. We have shutout, two points, and we keep moving forward.”

The shutout was Samsonov’s second of the season and 15th in the NHL, a strong showing after allowing five goals in each of his previous two starts.

“He needed a game,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The last two [starts] didn't go as well as he would like. We're all in agreement on that. You’re going to have ups and downs during the season, so we all get that. We understand that, and how do you respond. He responded well.

“It's OK to show a little emotion in practice, too. It's a frustrating position. It's a lonely position some days, too. That’s fine. Just channel it the right way when you do that. Bring it to the table when it's puck drop. He did all of that, so good response from him.”

Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (38-18-6), who have won four in a row and seven of eight.

“The first period probably wasn't our best one,” Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev said. “I don't think we were ready in the first 15 minutes, but I think in the second and third, we took control over. It all started from a defense. … We started making some simple plays and just winning the battles on the boards.”

Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 saves for the Penguins (24-31-10), who have lost four straight and eight of nine.

“For two periods, 5-on-5, we competed with them,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We had some looks. We need to get inside more. Give Vegas credit. They got big ‘D.’ They make it hard to get inside, but we got to fight. We got to fight to get inside more.”

Pearson gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 12:58 of the first period, tapping in a backhand pass from Stone.

Barbashev extended it to 2-0 at 4:38 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.

Brandon Saad pushed it to 3-0 at 2:00 of the third period on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

Stone’s goal 54 seconds later made it 4-0 at 2:54, scoring around Nedeljkovic’s outstretched left leg.

“We played well for the first two periods,” Rakell said. “Then the third kind of got away from us a little bit. Early on in the first two periods, I thought we had some good scoring chances and some good opportunities to keep the game close. But in the third, we got away from it a little bit.”

NOTES: Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel, who was playing in his 600th NHL game, recorded the secondary assist on Stone’s goal to give him a career-high 55 this season. … Vegas forward Reilly Smith skated in his 400th career game for the Golden Knights and had one shot on goal in 14:19 of ice time after he was acquired from the New York Rangers on Thursday. He previously played for Vegas from 2017-2023. … Stone recorded his 36th multi-assist game for Vegas and tied William Karlsson for the second most in franchise history behind Shea Theodore (48).