According to a release, the Golden Knights partnered with America's VetDogs to co-raise a future service dog for a United States veteran or first responder with disabilities.

America's VetDogs is a national nonprofit that helps provide specially trained service dogs to veterans, first responders, and active-duty service members with disabilities at no cost to them.

“The Knights’ commitment to excellence extends beyond the ice, as they join us in raising a future service dog for a veteran or first responder with disabilities," John Miller, president and CEO of America’s VetDogs, said. "This unique partnership symbolizes our shared values of dedication, teamwork, and a profound commitment to support those who have selflessly served our nation.”

The puppy, a seven-week-old yellow Labrador retriever, will join the team in the coming weeks and spend 16 to 18 months going through basic training while socializing with the players, staff, and fans.

The release said the pup will attend select events at T-Mobile Arena and other places to expose him to various environments. He will also be known to frequent the Knights front office.

“Supporting the veterans who have served our country is one of the key pillars that guide the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation,” VGK Foundation President Kim Frank said. “Working with America’s VetDogs allows us to fulfill that mission in a way that has energized the entire organization. We hope our fans are as excited to meet the new pup as our players and staff are.”

But... he needs a name. And that's where you come in!

If you have a suggestion for a name for the new pup, the Golden Knights created an online submission form. The form includes an option to opt-in to "VGK Pup Initiatives," such as meetups, retail items, and more.

The Panthers won for the sixth straight time, while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves to win his fifth consecutive start.

Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe also registered a goal and an assist, while Sam Bennett added a goal.

The Golden Knights' lone All-Star, Jack Eichel, was held off the score sheet despite a better start in the first 10 minutes of the game..

The Panthers completed a season sweep of the defending champs, not only exacting revenge for last season’s five-game loss in the Stanley Cup Final, but also winning in Vegas for the first time since the Knights joined the NHL.

“I think maybe we needed a little adversity to really dig down and find a way," Tkachuk said. "We had 20-plus guys that were just completely dialed in from the start of the day today and wanted to get that job done. There’s no secret we don’t like these guys for what happened last year. That’s human nature. Especially coming into this building where a team has not had success as of late and just really wanting to beat a team that kind of ruined our summer last year. I thought in the two games that we played them have been two of our best of the season.”

Which is saying something considering the Panthers lost a pair of key forwards — Evan Rodrigues to a lower-body injury and captain Aleksander Barkov to an upper-body injury — after one period.

Florida’s special teams proved to be the difference, finishing 3 of 6 with a man advantage and going in a perfect 6 for 6 on the penalty kill.

“It’s just the mindset of our team, just playing as hard as you can for the guy next to you, especially down two forwards, it was a big performance from all 10 of us that were able to pull through,” Tkachuk added.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored for Vegas, which has lost six of its last seven.

Knights goaltender Logan Thompson made 32 saves but continues to struggle for wins, as he’s lost three of his last four starts and 11 of 17 after opening the season 5-0. Thompson has now allowed three or more goals in six of his last eight starts.

“Tonight we weren’t a great team defensively, some net-front goals against, we got to take care of those,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The lack of winning affects everybody, goaltender more so than most, because he’s the last line of defense. But I think everyone could start to lose some confidence or question things when you don’t win.”

Thompson’s confidence might have been boosted early after captain Mark Stone’s initial shot was blocked but Dorofeyev was there to slam the rebound into an open net. It was the start Vegas needed to shake off Monday’s shutout loss at Seattle in the Winter Classic, as it dominated the action over the first eight minutes of the game.

But a penalty on William Carrier shifted momentum to Florida when Bennett one-timed a rebound off the end boards for the Panthers’ first power-play goal of the night.

They’d get another midway through the second when Tkachuk’s redirect off Brandon Montour’s shot from the point slipped past Thompson.

Verhaeghe silenced the crowd with a little more than a minute left in the period when he pounced on a loose rebound to the left of Thompson and notched his 20th of the season.

Reinhart scored his 25th goal of the season on a power play in the third when he one-timed a pass from Tkachuk from the slot to provide the final margin.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Visit Colorado on Saturday

Golden Knights: Host the Islanders on Saturday

Eichel is currently leading the Golden Knights in scoring with 40 points and has expanded his role on the team, playing more minutes as one of the team's penalty killers. He has scored 16 goals, one behind team leader Jonathan Marchessault, and he has 24 assists, one behind team captain Mark Stone.

Eichel leads the NHL with 46 takeaways, one short of tying the career-high he set last season. His time on ice of 76:04 this season is the highest total in his nine-year NHL career at this point in the season.

Eichel, a native of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, helped lead the Knights to their first Stanley Cup, finishing the 2023 postseason as the NHL’s scoring leader with 26 points (6 goals, 20 assists) in 22 games. Eichel was acquired by the Golden Knights from the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 4, 2021, and his 131 points (57 goals, 74 assists) since making his debut with Vegas are the most on the club.

NHL All-Star Weekend will be Feb. 1-3 in Toronto this year. The Western Conference All-Stars are:

• F Frank Vatrano, ANA (1st)
• F Clayton Keller, ARI (4th)
• F Elias Lindholm, CGY (1st)
• F Sebastian Aho, CAR (3rd)
• F Connor Bedard, CHI (1st)
• F Nathan MacKinnon, COL (5th)
• G Jake Oettinger, DAL (1st)
• F Connor McDavid, EDM (7th)
• G Cam Talbot, LAK (2nd)
• F Kirill Kaprizov, MIN (3rd)
• F Filip Forsberg, NSH (2nd)
• F Tomas Hertl, SJS (2nd)
• F Robert Thomas, STL (1st)
• D Quinn Hughes, VAN (2nd)
• F Jack Eichel, VGK (4th)
• G Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (4th)

Representing the Eastern Conference:

• F David Pastrnak, BOS (4th)
• D Rasmus Dahlin, BUF (3rd)
• F Sebastian Aho, CAR (3rd)
• F Boone Jenner, CBJ (1st)
• F Alex DeBrincat, DET (2nd)
• F Sam Reinhart, FLA (1st)
• F Nick Suzuki, MTL (3rd)
• F Jack Hughes, NJD (3rd)
• F Mathew Barzal, NYI (3rd)
• G Igor Shesterkin, NYR (2nd)
• F Brady Tkachuk, OTT (4th)
• F Travis Konecny, PHI (2nd)
• F Sidney Crosby, PIT (6th)
• F Nikita Kucherov, TBL (5th)
• F Auston Matthews, TOR (5th)
• F Tom Wilson, WSH (2nd)

A few minutes later, a gaggle of Elvises – or would it be Elvi? – strode their way into the stadium in white jumpsuits, sunglasses and mostly fake hair.

“Believe it or not, Paul Cotter didn’t even wear a wig. That’s just naturally his hair,” Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar said. “So he was pretty spot on.”

The 15th version of the NHL Winter Classic had a decidedly local flair as both the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights tapped into two of the most well-known aspects of their communities.

Eventually, the theatrics were replaced by actual hockey. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 47,313, the Kraken posted a 3-0 victory, with Joey Daccord posting the first shutout in a Winter Classic.

“Just to walk out to the ice like that and hear the roar of the crowd was insane and I’ll never forget it,” Daccord said.

The victory capped a nearly perfect day for the home team. It started with Kraken minority owner Marshawn Lynch leading the team off the bus in outfits that paid tribute to the fishing industry and the workers at the nearby market who fling fish around every day.

Seattle's Jordan Eberle said there was talk of ditching the T-shirts under the overalls, but, “I thought we’d look like firemen strippers.”

For the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, well, was there any other choice than Elvis? It was the brainchild of veteran defenseman Alec Martinez.

“I mean, it’s literally Vegas,” defenseman Zach Whitecloud said.

T-Mobile Park was transformed into a nautical landscape tapping into the region’s maritime influence for the meeting of the NHL's two most recent expansion franchises. There were lakes created in the outfield, docks leading from the baseball clubhouses to the ice and a shipwreck in center field with the tentacles of a Kraken pulling the ship underwater.

The back of the shipwreck had a stage where Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Heart performed after the first intermission. The pregame featured Seattle native Sir Mix-a-Lot performing as the Kraken walked to the ice while stuffed fish were being thrown around them.

The NHL placed the game at the home of baseball's Seattle Mariners in part because of the retractable roof in case protection from the Pacific Northwest’s notoriously wet weather was needed. But the league got its wish for an open-air game as fog burned off by late morning and a day of sun and clouds covered the ballpark.

“I think we’d be silly to try to normalize it. It’s not. It’s a different environment. It’s an awesome environment,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “I think everybody should acknowledge that. But at the same time, you have to dial in and acknowledge that the two points are equally as important as any other two points throughout the year.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The reaction from the crowd was deserved after the young Seattle Kraken goaltender shut out the defending Stanley Cup champions on one of the NHL's biggest stages.

“It's truly the coolest thing in the world to have that support from them,” Daccord said.

Daccord made 35 saves in his second career shutout, Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and an assist, and the Kraken beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday in the Winter Classic.

A crowd of 47,313 at T-Mobile Park watched the Kraken dominate the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a matchup of the league’s last two expansion franchises. Seattle improved to 7-0-2 in its past nine games and continued its climb into playoff contention after a disappointing start to the season.

“To have the opportunity to do this in this ballpark, in front of our home fans, get the result that everybody wanted makes it pretty special and that's the best way to remember this event,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.

Tolvanen scored his 10th of the season, redirecting Vince Dunn’s shot from the blue line early in the first period. Tolvanen picked up the assist on Will Borgen’s slap shot that beat Vegas goalie Logan Thompson early in the second.

Yanni Gourde gave Seattle a 3-0 lead 2:10 into the third on an effort play, stealing the puck from Paul Cotter at the blue line and poking it into the net after Thompson whiffed trying to sweep the puck aside.

But the biggest development for Seattle in this game and for the past few weeks has been Daccord, who seems to be establishing himself as Seattle’s No. 1 option in net.

“You always talk about goalies and what a really good goalie is and the best way to describe it is he saves the ones he needs to and then he saves one or two more that he shouldn't save. And that's what he's done for us basically every game,” Seattle center Matty Beniers said.

Daccord posted the first shutout in a Winter Classic and fifth shutout overall in the NHL’s 39 outdoor games since 2003. The Kraken are 6-0-2 in Daccord’s past eight starts, and he posted his second shutout in the last three weeks after blanking Florida on Dec. 12.

Daccord made the easy saves look easy and stood strong when the Golden Knights threatened. Jack Eichel had a great opportunity late in the first period off a turnover by Brian Dumoulin, but Daccord made a solid save with his left pad.

Mark Stone hit the post with a redirected shot late in the second. Eichel hit the crossbar with seven minutes left and a few minutes later was robbed on a glove save by Daccord.

Since he didn't get a chance at shooting toward the empty Vegas net in the closing seconds, the glove save was the moment that stood out the most for Daccord.

Played in almost perfect condition with party cloudy skies, temperatures in the 40s and most importantly the retractable roof of T-Mobile Park wide open, the Kraken rewarded a sellout crowd with one of their more complete performances of the season.

After Tolvanen put Seattle in front, Borgen made it 2-0 with his first goal since Game 4 of last season’s first-round playoff series against Colorado.

Seattle’s nine-game point streak is the longest in franchise history, topping an eight-game win streak last season.

Vegas lost for the fifth time in six games and struggled to generate many good scoring chances against Seattle.

“I thought we’d be better, to be honest with you," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It got to be 2-0 and we didn’t have the urgency required early on. By the time we got it, we’re chasing the game, which has happened to us lately. I’m a little disappointed in that we weren’t better out of the gate.”

The Golden Knights arrived for the game in Elvis costumes but their performance lacked the showmanship of “The King.”

The flash on this afternoon belonged to Seattle’s young goalie.

“It was something that I’ll never forget and probably one of the coolest days my whole life,” Daccord said.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host Florida on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup final.

Kraken: Host Ottawa on Thursday.

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And it’s at the crux of why the NHL felt comfortable bringing its marquee event to start the new year in a place known to be rather damp in wintertime.

When the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken meet on Monday in the Winter Classic, the NHL hopes the story is centered on the clash between the league’s two newest franchises, one of which happens to be the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

But bringing the game to the Pacific Northwest meant relying on a mechanical structure the league hopes won’t be needed on the day of the game but has proven invaluable in protecting the rink in the leadup to the event — the retractable roof of T-Mobile Park.

That’s part of the story, too.

“I think it’s a good story and it’s part of the story of Seattle,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “This is a place that has a little rain.”

The game Monday will be the 39th outdoor game the NHL has conducted. And they have every intent of it being a truly outdoor game, even with the possible protection provided by playing in the retractable roof stadium.

For now, the forecast seems to be in the NHL’s favor. After a stretch of wet days, the weather on game-day looks to be a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures in the mid-40s.

But it’s the leadup to the game where the roof that allows the Seattle Mariners to play baseball games protected from the region’s notorious rain and drizzle has proven invaluable in the process of building a hockey rink.

For previous outdoor games, the league has built contingencies into the construction schedule in case weather became an issue. In Seattle, those contingencies remained, but were mostly not needed. The roof remained closed for the process of building the rink and all the associated elements that come with putting on a hockey game in a baseball stadium.

“We always leave some room in there if we get a really bad rain day or something like that, especially when we start building the ice,” said Dean Matsuzaki, the NHL’s executive vice president of events who has been involved with every outdoor NHL game since the first Winter Classic in 2008. “But this we were able to really schedule with a lot of confidence kind of right down to the hour everything that we’ll be able to get done.”

The NHL wanted to reward Seattle for how the city and region instantly latched onto the Kraken by bringing the Winter Classic to the area. From the start, playing the game at T-Mobile Park was the preferred option because the roof existed, even though Lumen Field has a larger capacity and better sightlines, and Husky Stadium provided a more picturesque setting on the shore of Lake Washington.

While the goal for Monday is to retract the roof, it’s a multiprong process in making the final call. The league consults with a local meteorologist in the days leading up to the game and the morning of. There will be regular communication with executives from the league and the NHLPA as the game draws closer, including about two hours before puck drop when final decisions are made.

In a worst-case scenario should the forecast change and rain become an issue, the NHL could opt to have a panel of the retractable roof cover the ice while leaving the rest of the stadium exposed for a modified open-air experience. The T-Mobile Park roof was constructed in sections, meaning only part of the stadium can be covered. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

The only other time the league played one of its stadium events in a building with a retractable roof came in 2014 up the road in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a Heritage Classic game between the Canucks and Ottawa Senators. But a mix of rain and snow led to the roof of BC Place never being opened.

It was a stadium game, but not an outdoor game and it lacked the feel the league wanted. That’s why while the roof has been crucial in the build-up, the NHL wants Monday’s event to be played without the umbrella over the top.

“The NHL does an amazing job and each year it gets better and better,” Kraken forward Jared McCann said Thursday after getting his first look at the setup. “And obviously, we have the facility here with T-Mobile and the roof and everything to host something much more special and we’re going to try and make the most of it.”

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Jack Eichel, Michael Amadio and William Karlsson scored for Vegas — all in the first two periods. The Golden Knights had dropped five of six overall.

“It's our culture to be winning in this building,” Knights forward Paul Cotter said. “I think this is the start, hopefully, of a nice little streak going here.”

Los Angeles had won four of five. Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Trevor Moore also scored. Cam Talbot made 29 saves.

Thompson surrendered four goals on Anaheim's first nine shots during a 5-2 loss at the Ducks on Wednesday night, but then stopped 14 of the next 15. He carried that play into the matchup with the Kings.

Coach Bruce Cassidy was critical of his goalies after the loss to Anaheim. That position has been hit hard by injuries for the second season in a row. Adin Hill, who is 10-2-2 with a 1.93 goals-against average, hasn't played since Nov. 30 because of a lower-body injury. Thompson, an All-Star as a rookie last season, has been in and out of the lineup with injuries.

“I think mentally this was the toughest month of my career,” Thompson said. “Just taking a step back and being grateful I'm in the NHL. I don't know how long I'm going to be in the NHL and how long I'll be a Vegas Golden Knight, but I come to the rink every day with a smile on my face.”

Thompson said he wanted to return to the crease right after the loss to the Ducks.

“I need to be better," he said. "I expect a lot more out of me.”

He got help from his teammates, who blocked a season-high 34 shots.

“Our guys will play hard for whoever's in there,” Cassidy said. “We're going to do our part there. We just want the goaltender, not to win us games, we just don't want them to lose games.”

It was just the second regulation road loss for the Kings, who are 13-2-1 away from home.

Knights defenseman Ben Hutton didn't play the final two periods because of an upper-body injury.

With chances at a premium during a defensive first period, Eichel took advantage of a small opening. Ivan Barbashev delivered a cross-ice pass to Eichel, who beat Talbot high from the left circle. Eichel has 40 points in 37 games.

Vegas twice extended that lead to two goals in the second period. Amadio scored off a rush after receiving a pass from Pavel Dorofeyev, and Karlsson scored his 15th goal from the slot on a pass from Cotter from behind the goal line.

Cotter has four points in his past four games and eight for December. He had seven in the first two months.

“I think the disappointing part for me is the type of goals we gave up,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “A couple of them were gifts. I really thought the second goal killed us.”

Kopitar got his 14th goal at 13:07, with Adrian Kempe recording his 20th assist on the play. Kopitar has 32 points in 32 games, and Kempe has 31.

LA's Kevin Fiala scored midway through the third period on a blast from the left point, but the goal was wiped out because of goaltender interference by Moore.

Moore made up for it by scoring on a 6-on-5 with 1:59 remaining. It was his 17th of the season.

“I thought as the game wore on, we got more connected,” McLellan said. “When they have the lead, they're going to defend a little bit more. We spent more time in their zone. They did an outstanding job of blocking shots and clearing the net, which they're very good at."

UP NEXT

Kings: Host Edmonton on Saturday.

Golden Knights: At Seattle on Monday in the NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park.

“I thought we started strong. As a line and individual we were playing fast, shooting pucks and getting lots of chances,” said Leason, who has six goals and 11 points this season.

Frank Vatrano and Troy Terry also had goals for Anaheim, which found the back of the net four times in the opening 12 minutes. It was the 16th time in franchise history they have scored at least four times in the first period and the first since March 16, 2021, against Colorado.

Mason McTavish had three assists, Cam Fowler had two and John Gibson stopped 30 shots.

Alec Martinez and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights, who have dropped four straight. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.

“I just don’t think we were ready to play, myself included. Too many breakdowns, not good enough gaps,” Martinez said. “They’re a real offensive team, good on the rush, we gave them too many opportunities, but also credit to them, they buried on it."

Leason opened the scoring at 3:23 of the first period with a redirect of Cam Fowler's shot from the blue line. Leason then put in a rebound at 17:45 of the second to put the Ducks up by three goals.

Drysdale, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft, got the puck just inside the right faceoff circle and ripped a snap shot past Thompson 8:23 into the first period to give the Ducks a 2-0 advantage.

The 21-year old defenseman missed most of last season due to a torn labrum in his left shoulder and was out for the first 29 games this season due to an upper-body injury.

“It’s obviously nice to get on the board, but it’s also nice to get a win here against a team like that, especially at home, where we've been struggling a little bit,” Drysdale said.

The Ducks had 11 players with a point in the opening 20 minutes.

The four-goal onslaught included a pair within 40 seconds. Vatrano had a one-timer at 11:38 for his team-leading 16th goal of the season and Terry followed with a wrist shot that went between Thompson's legs at 12:18 for his ninth.

“It’s tough for them. The fly in this morning and have to play a game and guys were probably spread all over the place for the holiday. I’ve always said that the home team has an advantage on these games after a break. We had energy and we were buzzing,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.

After Martinez's fourth goal of the season at 7:23 of the second period, Stone extended his point streak to five games with a power-play goal at 12:34. Stone has two goals and seven points during that span.

“We didn’t start on time today as well as we could have, yet we generated five or six chances as well. It wasn’t a one-sided first period by any means, theirs went in, ours didn’t,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Ducks: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Friday.

Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Brandon Montour each finished with two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.

Mark Stone and Pavel Dorofeyev scored for Vegas, which topped Florida in five games last spring for the title. The Golden Knights matched a season-worst by losing their third straight and are just 10-9-4 following an 11-0-1 start to their title defense.

Jiri Patera stopped 38 shots for Vegas. Florida had lost four of five before Saturday.

“They got our best tonight,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We were pretty good. ... We couldn't win the Cup or lose the Cup tonight, but we did as well as we could have.”

The Panthers came out flying, taking 15 of the game's first 16 shots. Add in those shot attempts that missed the net or were blocked in the first 15 minutes of play, and Florida had 29 of the game's first 30 tries to get a puck on goal.

“We're grinding and trying to get pucks to the net,” Verhaeghe said. “We're getting really good chances. Some of them aren't going in but it was nice to see a couple go in finally and hopefully we can continue that.”

And there were clearly memories of what happened last June, including the hit from Vegas' Keegan Kolesar that left Tkachuk with a fractured sternum and out of the series. Kolesar fought Florida's Ryan Lomberg midway through the first period Saturday; the fight lasted exactly one punch, with Lomberg landing the first and only blow before Kolesar wound up on the ice.

Kolesar seemed shaky at the time, but eventually had an assist on the second Vegas goal Saturday.

“He gave me the chance to kind of even the score. Obviously, he's a pretty tough customer,” Lomberg said.

But Patera stoned Florida time and again despite the early flurry of pucks headed his way, and then Stone opened the scoring early in the second.

Bennett tied it for Florida and Forsling scored to put the Panthers on top, before Dorofeyev seemed to give Vegas a big shot of momentum by tying the game with 22.3 seconds left in the second period. He stayed locked in on a pass into the slot by Ben Hutton that hit the stick of Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, and then slid the deflected puck into the open side of the net.

Verhaeghe's goal from the high slot just 17 seconds into a power play put Florida on top for good, and Reinhart provided the insurance tally about 2 minutes later — with Tkachuk helping by perfectly screening Patera on the play.

Vegas went 0-3-0 on its trip east to Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.

“It’s probably a good time for the break,” Stone said. “This wasn’t our best road trip by any means. We didn’t play enough 60-minute hockey in those three games, but we’ve been through adversity before and we've got to come out of the other side of the break rested and recovered.”

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Visit Anaheim on Wednesday.

Panthers: Visit Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Paul put home a rebound for his second straight three-point game.

“It was big game,” Paul said. “I think it was just a lot of resilience from us.”

Tampa Bay right wing and NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists. Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, and Alex Barré-Boulet also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 30 shots.

Jiri Patera, playing in his third game this season and fifth overall, made 31 saves filling in for the injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body).

The defending Stanley Cup champions, coming off a 6-3 loss at Carolina on Tuesday, got two goals from Jonathan Marchessault. Ivan Barbashev and Paul Cotter had the other goals, while Jack Eichel extended his franchise-record point streak to 12 games with two assists.

“It's tough to swallow knowing that you did a lot of good things in the third to give yourself a chance to win," Eichel said. “It's tough to find positives when you don't get any points here.”

Eichel had a great scoring chance stopped by Vasilevskiy with three seconds left. The puck got behind the goalie, who dove on it to keep out of the net.

Marchessault got Vegas within 4-3 with an early third-period power-play goal after Kucherov received an unsportsmanlike penalty. Kucherov thought a penalty should have been called on his breakaway and was sent off after yelling at a referee.

“I was standing right besides him when the ref called the penalty,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was an uncharacteristic call for a referee. It struck a chord for some reason. I wasn't putting anything on Kuch at all.”

Kucherov said “like four words,” Cooper added. “None of them was profanity. It was something that probably gets said a thousand times in game.”

Cotter tied it four minutes later.

The Lightning went up 4-2 after scoring three times in a 2:55 stretch late in the second. Kucherov had a 5-on-3 goal and assisted on Point's power-play goal 33 seconds later. Kucherov set up another Point goal to end the surge.

Kucherov now has 57 points.

Marchessault and Barbashev had first-period goals.

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had three assists.

Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who took a shot off the back of his left foot Tuesday, didn’t play. Cooper is hopeful that Sergachev will only miss a game or two.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Continue a road trip Saturday night at Florida.

Lightning: Play at Washington on Saturday night.

Thompson (10-5-3, 2.71 goals-against average) left Tuesday night’s 6-3 loss at Carolina early in the third period with an upper-body injury.

Hill (10-2-2, 1.93 GAA) missed the first seven games in December with a lower-body injury and lasted just 6:25 in his return against Ottawa on Dec. 17.

Jiri Patera made his second appearance this season in relief of Thompson on Tuesday. Isaiah Saville was recalled from Henderson of the AHL.

“We’ve got some untested goaltenders going in there, we’ve got play well in front of them,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “For us, every team goes through different parts of the year where you get tested. That’s what we’re doing right now.”

Patera has a 3-0-0 record and a 2.70 goals-against average in four career NHL games. Saville has not appeared in an NHL game.

“I will say this, actually, we’re probably the only team that’s dressing a tandem in the NHL with undefeated goaltenders.” Cassidy said. “That’s the positive, right?"

Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Seth Jarvis also scored, and Sebastian Aho had three assists as the Hurricanes extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2). Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves to earn his third victory in eight nights.

“It’s an easier sell when you get rewarded,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think we’ve been playing well here lately.”

The Hurricanes were 3 for 3 on power plays and killed all four of the Golden Knights’ power plays.

“You build momentum off the power play,” Bunting said. “You can’t ask for anything more from special teams on our end.”

William Carrier had two goals and Nicolas Hague also scored for Vegas, which lost for the second time in three games following a seven-game points streak. Brett Howden had two assists. Logan Thompson gave up six goals on 28 shots before he was pulled with more than 15 minutes remaining, and Jiri Patera stopped all 10 shots he faced.

“In their power play, they just executed through and got shots from the elbows,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We didn’t do a good enough job getting in shooting lanes, pushing it farther away from our net.”

Svechnikov, back in the lineup after missing six games with an injury, took his time after receiving a pass from defenseman Skjei before floating a shot past Thompson to complete Carolina’s first power play of the game with 9 1/2 minutes left in the first period. It was Svechnikov’s second goal of the season in his 17th game.

“I wasn’t sure how he would look,” Brind’Amour said. “He was impactful. That’s what we were missing.”

It’s like a restart to the season that already was delayed for Svechnikov, who was coming off last season’s knee surgery before his latest ailment.

“I had some juice,” Svechnikov said. “Trying to make the plays and make it easier on the boys.”

Carrier snapped a 20-game goal drought by pushing in a rebound after Brayden McNabb’s shot was blocked by Kochetkov, tying the score 1-1. It was his fourth.

The Hurricanes were in control after that.

Kotkaniemi had gone 10 games without a goal until converting at 10:11 of the second period. Bunting’s power-play goal came 1:28 later. Jarvis and Skjei scored in the opening 4:44 of the third.

Vegas center Jack Eichel’s franchise-record points streak reached 11 games as he assisted on Hague’s goal with 1:24 remaining.

Carrier finished the scoring with 32 seconds left for his fifth.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

Hurricanes: At Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev each had a goal and an assist, while Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights.

Adin Hill, who allowed one goal, made just two saves in his return to the net for the first time since Nov. 30. He left 6:25 into the game.

Thompson showed signs of a lower-body injury suffered in the third period, as he hunched over between shots, and was slow to get up each time he went down to block a shot.

Vegas captain Mark Stone said he was disappointed for Hill.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” said Stone, who finished with three assists. “He’ll get right back to work tomorrow to try and get back in the lineup. Definitely not worried about him. LT came in and played really well for us and got us the win.”

Vegas, which improved to 10-1-0 all-time against the Senators, extended its win streak against Ottawa to nine games. The Golden Knights have outscored the Senators 47-29 and have scored three or more goals in 10 of the 11 meetings.

Both teams finished 2 for 5 on the power play, as Vegas improved to 6 for 17 with an extra attacker over its last four games. Since a four-game drought without a power-play goal in mid-November, the Golden Knights are 17 for 68 (25%), tied for eighth-best in the NHL in that span.

“I think that’s something that we’ve really been good at this year,” Stephenson said. “It’s helped us win games, create momentum, kind of all the above, so it’s something that we’re confident in right now.”

Josh Norris, Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators and Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves.

After Friday’s disappointing collapse against Buffalo, the defending champion Knights wasted no time getting on the board, as Barbashev skated in on a 2-on-1 with Eichel, who kept the puck for himself and beat Korpisalo with a snapper 1:37 into the game.

Eichel extended his point streak to a franchise-record 10 games.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Hill would be evaluated before the team leaves for a four-game trip that begins Tuesday in Carolina.

Ottawa has lost four straight and eight of its last 11.

“Everybody wants to win so badly, and, of course, it’s not as easy to do in this league,” Tkachuk said. “We’re seeing that right now that it’s hard to win. We have to find a way to find a way to just give our absolute best on Tuesday.”

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit Arizona on Tuesday.

Golden Knights: Visit Carolina on Tuesday.

Zach Benson and former Golden Knight Alex Tuch also scored for Buffalo in the third and Dylan Cozens had a first-period goal and added two assists.

Mittelstadt tied it at 2 at 5:01 of the third. Benson gave Buffalo the lead at 9:29, then set up Tuch’s goal with 8:48 left. Mittelstadt capped the scoring with an empty-net goal for his eighth of the season.

“I think they scored with 14 minutes left, so we had 14 minutes to come back and we got a lot of skill in this room,” Benson said. “So, you’re down by one, we’re not too scared, we got a lot of weapons in this room and we saw that tonight.”

For Levi, it was a celebration of sorts, during his first trip to Las Vegas.

“I think we were all excited for this game,” Levi said. “Personally, being able to go against the Cup champs from last year, it’s pretty special. I think everyone wants to beat them, it’s a great team on the other side of the ice.

“It’s really cool being in Vegas, my first time here, so I just enjoyed myself. I just felt like a little kid in Disneyland the last few days. Just a great trip overall.”

Buffalo has won three of its last four meetings with the Golden Knights, including two straight in Las Vegas.

“It was a big challenge tonight going against the defending Cup champs,” Cozens said. “We talked about it before that it was going to be a man’s game. And I think we did a lot of things good tonight, we played kind of a full 60, we didn’t make too many mistakes and we capitalized on our chances.”

Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel scored for defending champion Vegas, and Logan Thompson made 22 saves. Former Sabres star Eichel has a nine-game points streak.

Buffalo, 10-1-1 when scoring first, got on the board immediately after coming off a power play. Cozens skated into the slot and sniped a shot past Thompson to give the Sabres the lead at 7:42 of the first.

The lead didn’t last, though, as Barbashev skated in and cleaned things up with a flood of traffic in front of Levi. Eichel gave the Knights a 2-1 lead early in the third period when he snared a rebound from Paul Cotter’s miss and ripped it past Levi.

This time it was Buffalo with an immediate response, with Mittelstadt beating Thompson with a shot from the right circle.

“We had a ton of great looks early,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “It would have been nice to get out the first period with a lead. We put ourselves in the right position up 2-1 with 12 minutes left in the game. We got to close those out.”

UP NEXT

Sabres: At Arizona on Saturday night.

Golden Knights: Host Ottawa on Sunday night.

Chandler Stephenson, Ivan Barbashev and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights while Logan Thompson made 27 saves. Stone also had two assists for a four-point game.

After Calgary's Yegor Sharangovich scored his second goal of the game to tie it with one minute remaining, sending the Golden Knights to their seventh extra period in 13 games, Stone streaked in alone and beat Flames netminder Dustin Wolf and to give Vegas its fourth straight win.

"I got a step so all I got to do is really make a good shot," Stone said.

The Golden Knights, who lead the NHL with 45 points, improved to 9-1 all-time when hosting Calgary. Vegas extended its point streak to nine games, now 6-0-3 since Nov. 27.

“We know we have a good team and we know that we can come back any night,” Karlsson said. “I think we believe in ourselves that much and we battled back today. Unfortunately, they tied it up again, but we showed some resilience and got the dub.”

Mackenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri also scored goals, while Wolf stopped 34 shots for the Flames, who have now lost five of six after a promising 8-3-2 run.

Calgary was playing the second leg of a back-to-back after blowing a 5-3 third-period lead in Denver on Monday.

“We were competitive all night tonight,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. "For me, the difference of course when you look at it is special teams — they score two on their opportunities. We weren’t able to generate anything but I’m not faulting or not unhappy with the way we competed or worked tonight.”

It was a game of back and forth, the teams exchanging goals every step of the way until Vegas took a 4-3 lead in the third period when Karlsson’s shot from his knees with a little less than four minutes remaining in the game gave the Golden Knights their first lead.

Weegar ignited things for the Flames when he one-timed a long rebound from Thompson’s pad save from the top of the right circle. Stephenson put Vegas on the board later in the first when he was positioned perfectly in the middle of a goal-mouth scramble during a power play and he was able to punch home a rebound.

The Flames got the lead back in the second period when Connor Zary’s shot from the slot caromed off Kadri’s back and into the net. Three minutes later Barbashev snared a loose puck from the slot to tie it once again. Sharangovich put the Flames ahead late in the period when his shot from the top of the right circle trickled through Thompson’s pads.

Stone tied the game early in the third period when he skated down the slot, took a pass from Karlsson and went forehand-backhand to beat Wolf.

UP NEXT

Flames: Conclude a three-game road trip in Minnesota on Thursday.

Golden Knights: Host Buffalo on Friday.

Chandler Stephenson and Brayden McNabb also scored for the Golden Knights, who have won three straight and five of their last six to lead the league with 43 points. Jiri Patera stopped 35 shots in his season debut.

Mike Hoffman had two goals, and Mario Ferraro and Calen Addison also scored for San Jose, which had won five of its previous seven games. Kaapo Kahkonen finished with 23 saves.

The teams put on a much better show for local fans than the Raiders did in a 3-0 loss to the Vikings hours earlier in the NFL’s lowest-scoring game in 16 years less than two miles away at Allegiant Stadium.

After blowing leads of 3-1 and 4-2 in the third period, the Golden Knights survived overtime and got goals from Marchessault and Jack Eichel in the shootout for the win.

Already having scored twice in regulation, Marchessault said he studied Kahkonen’s first two save attempts during the shootout and was confident when he came out to attempt the game-winner.

“He played pretty deep there, so that kind of works into my strength to be able to just shoot the puck and, you know, just looking for a hole and shot it,” said Marchessault, who leads Vegas with 14 goals.

The Golden Knights were playing the second of a back-to-back after a Saturday win at Dallas, where they finished a quick two-game trip. The defending champs opened a four-game homestand after playing 10 of their previous 13 on the road.

“It’s great,” Eichel said. “Feels like we’ve been on the road for quite a while. We’ve had a few games here, but not too many. So take advantage of a little home cooking sleeping in your own bed and spending time with your family. Obviously, it’s the holidays. But we got a couple of games this week we got to take care of, so it’s nice to be home.”

McNabb extended Vegas’ lead to 3-1 at 1:43 of the third with a wicked snipe from the left circle, beating Kahkonen far side with his second goal of the season.

Hoffman answered a little more than two minutes later on the power play when he bounced the puck off Vegas defenseman Kaedan Korczak’s skate to cut the Knights’ lead to one.

Marchessault’s second of the night and 14th of the season pushed the Golden Knights’ lead back to two at 9:23, but Addison brought the Sharks within striking distance with 3:45 left.

Hoffman scored his second of the night with 39 seconds left, tying the game.

After opening the season 3-15-2, the Sharks head home with a 5-2-1 mark in their last eight games.

“We’ve created a blueprint of how we’re gonna have success here over the last month,” Sharks coach David Quinn. “We’ve been doing it, but not as consistently as we have over the last two games, and our guys pretty much understand how we’re going to have success. I thought we defended pretty well. Not a lot of big-time chances. I thought they had a five-minute stretch in the third where they kind of hemmed us in a little bit, but a month ago that’s 25 minutes of hemmed-in hockey that we were trying to fight through.”

UP NEXT

Sharks: Host Winnipeg on Tuesday night.

Golden Knights: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.