LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — On Hispanic Heritage Knight, the Vegas Golden Knights celebrated by defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Thursday.
Jonathan Marchessault's three-goal night helped lead VGK to a third straight win. Vegas improves to an NHL-best 10-0-1 on the season, continuing to own the best-ever start by a defending Stanley Cup champion.
A hat trick for Jonathan Marchessault! 🧢
— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) November 3, 2023
The Conn Smythe winner’s 4th-career 3-goal game has #VGK leading Winnipeg 5-2 and well on their way to being the NHL’s first team to hit double digit wins. pic.twitter.com/SHC3DPtPzk
After a slow offensive start with only three combined shots on goal between the Knights and Jets in the first 10 minutes of action, Vegas started the scoring with a William Karlsson goal midway through the first period.
The Knights took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Early in the second frame, the VGK defense would be tested when Winnipeg found scoring opportunities.
An impressive penalty kill and several saves in traffic by goaltender Logan Thompson kept the Jets scoreless. But the Knights' shutout wouldn't last. Winnipeg got on the board with a score from Kyle Connor to tie the game up at 1.
The Golden Knights would take no time to answer. Shortly after the Jets' goal, following a double minor penalty that kept Winnipeg's Mason Appleton in the box for four minutes, Vegas notched a power play score by Jonathan Marchessault on a feed from Mark Stone to retake the lead. Just over a minute-and-a-half later in the same power play, Ivan Barbashev found the back of the net to extend the Knights' advantage to 2.
Vegas used the quick pair of scores to hit the final frame on top 3-1.
Early in the third period, the Jets used a goal to cut their deficit to 1. But as they did earlier in the game, the Golden Knights responded quickly. Marchessault scored twice the rest of the period, once on an open net, as the Conn Smythe winner's fourth-career hat trick let VGK pull away for the 5-2 win.
Despite all the scoring, the play of the night may have come on a pass. While Logan Thompson recorded 29 saves in a solid night in-net, his shining offensive moment came on a 2nd-period assist for a Marchessault goal. It was the goaltender's first point of his four-season NHL career.
"He must be practicing," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo jokingly told media after the game. "It was a heck of a pass. I thought (Shae Theodore) passed it, that's how good of a pass it was. So credit to him. He played good at his real job, but that was an impressive play."
"I was pretty shocked that he brought that up because he doesn't do it often," Marchessault told reporters in the locker room. "It was a great heads-up play. He saw all four guys leaving, and (Mark Stone) was ready. I was just filling lanes there in the middle, and I got lucky."
Next up, the Knights will return to the Fortress to take on the Colorado Avalanche this Saturday night. The puck drops at 7.