.png)
The Vegas Golden Knights finished out their five-game road trip Tuesday, March 14 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Vegas came out on top as it defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3. The Knights closed this five-game road trip with a 4-1-0 mark and grabbed eight of the possible ten points in the Pacific Division Standings.
“We’re not perfect,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Most teams aren’t. If we can get out of some of these lulls, it will be a little easier on us.”
This was the 21st road victory of the season for Vegas which is one shy of the franchise record, 22, which was set back in the 2017-18 season. The Knights have eight road games remaining to try and break that franchise mark.
“I think we showed a lot of resiliency,” center Jack Eichel said, “We found ways to win.”
With this win, Vegas improves their record to 42-20-6 on the season with 90 points in the Pacific Division. The team led the Kings by three points and the Oilers by eight points. This is the second fastest that the VGK have reached the 90-point mark in a season, achieving it this season in 68 games.
The only other time the Knights reached 90 or more points in a season at a faster pace was in the 2017-18 inaugural season when they reached 90 points in 67 games.
The next time Vegas will hit the ice for a game will be on Thursday, March 16 as they return home to welcome in the Calgary Flames. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Going into Thursday’s matchup, each team has defended their home ice with Calgary winning the first matchup 3-2 and Vegas winning the second matchup, 4-3, in overtime last month. This is the third of four scheduled meetings between these teams and the season-finale of this matchup takes place a week from Thursday in Calgary.
For the second time in as many games, right-winger Pavel Dorofeyev netted a goal. Tuesday’s goal came in the first period to give the Knights the early 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
Vegas scored not once but twice on the power play in Tuesday’s contest. Center Ivan Barbashev scored the first of the two power play goals less than two minutes into the second period to extend the Golden Knight lead to two goals.
Center Teddy Blueger had the other Vegas goal of the period with just under nine minutes to play in the middle frame which made it a 3-1 game.
“The guys and the staff have been super welcoming,” Blueger said. “They’re easy to get along with and very encouraging.”
The Knights had gone 33 games since scoring two power play goals in a game (Dec. 21 was the last time it happened). Vegas has scored four power play goals in the last five games after only scoring four power play goals in the previous 26 games combined.
Right-winger Jonathan Marchessault was responsible for the other Vegas power play goal which came 3:01 into the final period, giving Vegas a 4-1 lead. Philadelphia would strike two times to make it a 4-3 game in the closing minutes of the game but Barbashev scored an empty-net goal with 1:32 left to secure the 5-3 win for the Knights.
Marchessault led the Knights with three points scored in the game (one goal, two assists) while Barbashev finished with two goals scored, making them the only two Golden Knights players to record a multi-point game in this one.
Barbashev has eight points (four goals, four assists) in the nine games he has played with the Golden Knights.
Goaltender Jonathan Quick saved 27 of the 30 shots he faced for a final save percentage of .900 and a continued undefeated record as a member of the Golden Knights.