Brossoit, Golden Knights shut out Oilers, spoil Smith's return

EDMONTON -- Laurent Brossoit made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

It was Brossoit's first shutout of the season. He played 28 games for the Oilers from 2015-18.
"I definitely was juiced up to play this one," Brossoit said. "I don't think I've won against Edmonton since moving on from them, so it felt nice to win, and to get the shutout, it meant even more."
Brett Howden scored for the fourth straight game, and William Karlsson and Reilly Smith each had a goal and assist for the Golden Knights (28-16-3), who have won three in a row.
"You have to give them credit, I thought they were real good the first 10 minutes, and I thought we kind of worked our way into the game," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "Our best player early was our goalie, and I thought once we got our legs going and got up to speed, I liked a lot of things about the rest of the night."

Mike Smith made 24 saves for the Oilers (23-17-3) in his first start since Jan. 5; he sustained a thumb injury Dec. 31 at the New Jersey Devils, then aggravated it in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Smith was activated off injured reserve Monday.
"Our start was good, there were a lot of almost-plays," Edmonton forward Zach Hyman said. "We just missed on a play or were just a half second late and your timing is just a little bit off. Those half-second plays lead to chances and goals. We were just a little bit sloppy in that sense and our execution on certain plays wasn't there."
Howden made it 1-0 at 9:59 of the first period when he took a long cross-ice pass from Shea Theodore and shot between Smith's pads.
Karlsson ended a five-game goal drought when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 16:55 to give Vegas a 2-0 lead after Reilly Smith blocked a shot from Tyson Barrie inside the Golden Knights zone to set up a 2-on-0.

Brossoit made 12 saves in the first.
"They kind of pushed in the first period and got me into the game quite a bit," Brossoit said. "I had the bulk of my work in the first and whenever I get a few shots and a few saves in the first period, you get into a bit of rhythm and I feel like in the second half of the game the guys shut it down and frustrated them."
Alex Pietrangelo scored at 3:05 of the second period with a wrist shot from between the face-off circles to give the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead. It was Pietrangelo's 500th NHL point (123 goals, 377 assists).
"I think there are always milestones that are pretty cool, and I think that one's a good one for me; I think it's a good accomplishment," Pietrangelo said. "Someone had mentioned I was getting close and I didn't know how close I was, but it's good to get some of those accomplishments for sure."

Smith scored 14 seconds into the third period for the 4-0 final.
Edmonton went 0-for-3 on the power play.
"The penalty kill was big," Pietrangelo said. "I thought we did a good job once we got our legs under us in the second period; we were jumping to getting on pucks and taking away their space. The neutral zone was real good for us. I didn't think we gave them any chances to get through there with speed, which is where they're really, really dynamic."
NOTES: Each team will play again Wednesday. The Golden Knights visit the Calgary Flames; the Oilers host the Chicago Blackhawks. … It was the second time this season Vegas held Edmonton forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl without a point. Draisaitl is second in the NHL with 63 points (32 goals, 31 assists), and McDavid is tied with Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri for third with 60 (23 goals, 37 assists). … The Oilers have allowed the first goal in 28 of their past 34 games. … Edmonton goalie Mikko Koskinen was unavailable after being placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol Monday. Stuart Skinner was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League to serve as Smith's backup. … Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were each minus-3. … Karlsson has scored four points (one goal, three assists) in his past two games.