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In the final home game of the regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights finished their regular season home schedule the same way they started it, with a win. The Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken, 4-1, Tuesday, April 11 behind two goals from right-winger Michael Amadio.
“I think I’ve done well,” Amadio said. “All that matters is how the team does. It’s a big win for us going forward.”
Amadio hit a bunch of milestones in this one including being the eighth Golden Knights player to reach 15 or more goals in a season. He also has his first multi-goal game as a member of the Golden Knights and it is his second of his career.
Amadio also assisted on right-winger Reilly Smith’s second period goal which put the team up 3-1 at the time. It is Smith’s 25th goal of the season as he and Amadio were the only two VGK players to have three-point games Tuesday night.
Smith assisted on both of Amadio’s goals to finish with a goal and two assists while Amadio had two goals and an assist. It is the second time this season that Amadio has had a three-point game and third of his career. Smith has his first three-point game in nearly two years.
Seattle and Vegas will lock horns in the season finale Thursday, April 13 in Seattle. Vegas can clinch both the Pacific Division and the number one seed in the Western Conference with a win Thursday against Seattle.
“I thought we had good energy,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If you retain puck possession, then they don’t have the juice to get going the other way. It got us in the first period a little bit, there was a stretch that cost us a goal and then about seven or eight minutes where they got a little light. After that, I thought the last 40 minutes were excellent in that area.”
Puck drop for Seattle and Vegas is set for 7:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN in all markets. Vegas leads the season series between these two teams 2-1.
This win gives the Vegas Golden Knights 50 wins on the year as they hold a 50-22-9 mark with 109 points in the Pacific Division. This leads Edmonton by two points and Los Angeles by seven points.
It is only the second time in franchise history that the Vegas Golden Knights have reached 50 wins in a season and 109 points ties the franchise record for the most points in a season.
Putting the finishing touches on the victory for the Golden Knights was right-winger Jonathan Marchessault who scored with 16:37 to go in regulation to put Vegas up 4-1 and secure the win for the home squad.
This was Marchessault’s team-leading 28th goal of the season as he now has 28 goals and 29 assists this year. Marchesault’s goal came on a 5-on-3 power play for the Knights, making it his ninth power play goal which leads the team this year. Nine power play goals is the second most by a VGK player in a season with Erik Haula leading the way during the 2017-18 season at 11 power play goals.
Goaltender Laurent Brossoit got the start in net for Vegas Tuesday night and made 20 saves on the 21 shots he faced for a final save percentage of .952.
With this win, Brossoit improves his record to 6-0-3 this season and has the most starts without a regulation loss by a goalie in 17 years. Brossoit has given up an average of 2.29 goals a game while posting an average of .923 for save percentage during that time.
“We’ve found a lot of consistency and structure even with injuries,” Brossoit said. “We’re still buying into the system, playing well, playing defensively which is the type of hockey you want to play in the playoffs.”
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