Golden Knights hold off Devils for third straight win

NEWARK, N.J. --William Karlsson and Nicolas Roy scored 33 seconds apart in the third period, and the Vegas Golden Knights held on for a 5-3 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Karlsson, Dylan Coghlan and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and an assist, and Robin Lehner made 23 saves for the Golden Knights (18-11-0), who have won three games in a row and six of their past seven (6-1-0).
"We did just enough to win," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "We take the two points and move on. I liked our first period, hated our second, and we were opportunistic in the third."

Tomas Tatar had a goal and an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves for the Devils (10-13-5), who have lost four in a row and are 2-8-2 in their past 12.
New Jersey was without four players who are in the NHL COVID-19 protocol: defensemen Ryan Graves and Christian Jaros, and forwards Nico Hischier and Jesper Boqvist. Defenseman P.K. Subban did not play for precautionary reasons.
"Everything's tough right now ... we're not scoring, we're giving up goals," Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton said. "We're all working, working through it, trying to stay positive. We got a lot of young guys, but there are no excuses, no reason to be negative. Obviously, we're losing a lot and it [stinks], but we have to keep coming, keep working and keep getting better."
Jack Hughes gave the Devils a 1-0 lead on a rebound at 1:41 of the first period. The line of Hughes, Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt combined for one goal on nine shots.
"[The Hughes line] has more ability to put the puck in the back of the net, so they're going to play more than other lines and they did tonight," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "But I thought they left a few plays out there. Those are the plays that are going to make a difference. As much as I talk about the compete plays that go against us when we're trying to defend, those are the offensive plays that will make us a team that can score three or four a night.
"That'll give us a better chance to win every game."
Coghlan's power-play goal on a slap shot from the point tied it 1-1 at 10:27.
"It's a great win, a good win on the road," said Coghlan, a defenseman who replaced Shea Theodore (undisclosed injury).
William Carrier scored on a deflection in front to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead at 3:47 of the second period.
Lehner, making a third straight start, made 15 saves in the second period.
"I feel good, felt really good today," Lehner said. "I just keep plugging away. We'll take the win and keep rolling. I'm happy with the two points. I thought we had a good first period, then we battled."
Karlsson scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to make it 3-1 at 7:37 of the third. Roy scored on a snap shot from the right face-off circle for a 4-1 lead at 8:10.
Tatar's power-play goal from the high slot pulled New Jersey within 4-2 at 10:03 of the third. Jimmy Vesey cut it to 4-3 with a shorthanded goal off a deflection at 12:29.
"We just got to find a way to put it all together," Vesey said. "The youth of our team ... some mistakes are to be expected. But we got to find a way to not make the glaring ones."

Marchessault scored into an empty net at 18:53 for the 5-3 final.
Hughes' goal with 12 seconds remaining was overturned after a video review initiated by the Situation Room determined the play was offside.
The Golden Knights have won the first two of a four-game road trip and face the New York Rangers on Friday.
"We have to raise our level (on Friday)," Lehner said.
NOTES:The Golden Knights' top line of Max Pacioretty, Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone was held to five shots and no points. Pacioretty had a seven-game goal streak end; he and Stone each had a nine-game point streak end. … DeBoer had no update on Theodore. ... Vegas is 13-for-55 (23.6 percent) on the power play in its past 19 games after going 0-for-19 in its first 10. ... Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo played a game-high 28:37 and had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (seven points; one goal, six assists).