LAS VEGAS (AP) – In a game that included William Karlsson’s natural hat trick and Marc-Andre Fleury getting his 48th career shutout and 401st win
Chris Bigras Jersey Womens , Vegas coach Gerard Gallant credited a hit by forward Ryan Reaves as the biggest play.Barely two minutes into the second period, Reaves – acquired from Pittsburgh on Feb. 23 – flattened TJ Brodie with a blast that sidelined Calgary’s defenseman the remainder of the game while sparking the Golden Knights‘ recent stagnant offense.”That was the difference,” Gallant said of Vegas’ 4-0 win over the Flames on Sunday. ”That changed the game around. It was a big, clean hit. Ryan’s been here for 10, 11, 12 games with us right now and he’s doing a good job, he’s playing his role real good and that hit changed the game around for sure.”Colin Miller also scored as Vegas snapped a four-game home losing streak and improved to 25-9-2 at T Mobile Arena. In splitting its last four games, the Golden Knights had been outscored 15-10 and hadn’t scored more than three goals in a game since a 4-0 win at Detroit on March 8.”We weren’t happy with the way we played over the last couple of weeks,” Gallant said. ”We had some real good games in there, we had some games where I thought we played OK and lost. Tonight I thought we had a tough first period and we played real good to battle back and win an important game.”Fleury, who made his 20th start in 21 games, stopped 42 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, He also moved into a tie with Chris Osgood for 12th on the NHL’s career wins list.”I thought we played well in our zone and came out as a group together and created that way as a team going down on the other side,” Fleury said. ”I could see most pucks, and that makes a big difference and when there (were) rebounds, they took their guys away. It’s the little things that makes a big difference in a game.”Vegas improved to 3-0-0 against Calgary while outscoring the Flames 15-5. The teams meet once more, in the regular-season finale at Calgary on April 7.Mike Smith stopped 27 shots as the Flames
Jack Johnson Jersey Womens , one of the league’s better road teams this season, dropped to 20-11-6 away from home.”That team we’re playing there, they can score,” Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan said. ”They got some juice from a mistake and they got their juice started with the power play. We just couldn’t put one past them – especially early.”The Flames outshot the Golden Knights, 20-6, in the first period. But with the game scoreless early in the second, Brodie looked to clear the puck as he came from behind the net when Reaves leveled him and sent the 18,075 fans in attendance into a frenzy.”I hope it got a little energy into the boys,” Reaves said. ”But big goals at big times, we needed to get the first one. We’ve been struggling to get the first goals the last couple of games, so getting the first one is even bigger. … The last two games we’ve come out in the first period kind of lazy and waiting for the game to go, we did it again today. That’s when I go and try and find a spark, whether it’s a hit or a fight, or just getting in somebody’s face, that’s what I try and bring to the team.”Not too long after Reaves’ thunderous hit, and with Vegas on the power play, Miller found the back of the net with a vicious slap shot from the point 5 1/2 minutes into the period. Vegas has scored at least one power-play goal in 18 of its last 27 games.Less than one minute later
Brett Howden Jersey Womens , James Neal made a steal at the blue line, created space in Calgary’s zone and fed a streaking Karlsson, who one-timed it to give Vegas a 2-0 lead.Karlsson’s second goal came after he set up near the left circle, took Jonathan Marchessault’s pass from behind the net, and fired a shot that deflected off Smith’s glove with just under seven minutes left in the middle period.The 26-year-old center completed his natural hat trick when he took a pass from defenseman Nate Schmidt in Vegas’ zone, skated the length of the ice and lifted a wrist shot over Smith’s blocker to make it 4-0 with 5:11 remaining in the second.”I just got the chances and managed to bury them, turned out to score three goals,” Karlsson said. ”We had that hit by Reavo, kind of got the momentum swing for us and I think we played great hockey after that. Those little things that can make a huge difference.”Karlsson moved to the top of the NHL list of Swedish players with 62 points this season. Karlsson’s 39 goals bring him closer to tying Henrik Zetterberg’s single-season mark for a Swedish-born player, with 43.NOTES: Calgary’s Matt Stajan is now two games shy of 1,000 for his career. … Vegas’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare played in his 300th career game. … Gallant is two wins away from his 200th.UP NEXTCalgary: Visits the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.Vegas: Hosts the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) Darcy Kuemper bounced back nicely for the Arizona Coyotes.Just 2 1/2 weeks after being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings – and one night after being worked over in a 5-2 loss at Colorado – the goalkeeper earned his 11th career shutout with a 1-0 victory over Vancouver on Sunday night, his and Arizona’s second win over the Canucks in four days.Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored on a power play for the only goal Kuemper needed. Ekman-Larsson is now two shy of 100 career goals.Kuemper, in his fourth straight start for the injured Antti Ranta since being acquired Feb. 21 from Los Angeles, stopped 27 shots.”It’s nice to get these consecutive starts like this and just kind of get in the rhythm out there,” he said. ”Every start I feel more and more comfortable with the team and how we play. Tonight was just a gutsy effort from everyone.”Kuemper’s previous shutout was Feb. 3 for the Kings against the Coyotes.”It was a very solid game. He looked big to me tonight,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. ”A very solid play. It looked like when they shot nothing was going to go in.”Kuemper had 24 saves in the Coyotes’ 2-1 win at Vancouver on Wednesday in his Arizona debut.Although long out of the playoff picture
Paul Carey Jersey Womens , Arizona rebounded from a 5-2 loss at Colorado the previous night and improved to 10-3-2 in its last games. Vancouver lost its third straight and is 4-10-3 in its last 17.”It’s frustrating,” Canucks forward Bo Horvat said. ”At the same time we need to take the positives out of this one. I thought we did battle hard until the end. I think we came on a little stronger there in the second half, we just have to capitalize on our chances instead.”After mostly uneventful play through one period and most of the second, the Coyotes finally broke through on a power play.With Vancouver defenseman Derrick Pouliot in the penalty box for high-sticking, Ekman-Larsson got loose and sent a sharp shot from outside the circle, just to the right of goalie Jacob Markstrom and Arizona led 1-0 with 4:53 left in the second. It was Ekman-Larsson’s 10th goal of the season. Derek Stepan and Clayton Keller got assists.Kuemper shut down any attempts to tie it after that with 13 third-period saves.Ekman-Larsson said Kuemper has been an easy fit.”It makes it easy when he’s a great guy and you want to battle for him,” Ekman-Larsson said. ”I think everybody’s doing a really good job, too. We’re playing better as a team, too. It makes it easy on everyone.”With the victory, Arizona pulled within one game of Buffalo, and two of Ottawa, to escape the bottom of the NHL standings. The Coyotes are four points behind Vancouver in last place in the Pacific Division.The Canucks know they need to step up the offensive pressure early in games.”It’s easier said than done,” coach Travis Green said. ”It’s easy to say from the outside let’s go out and get 10 to 15 shots. We gave up only six (in the first period). I thought we passed up a few chances, a few shots early in the game, but I’d like to see us put the puck in the net. You got to execute, you got to make passes to get scoring chances. That was a tight game both ways.”NOTES: Ranta missed his fourth straight game with a lower body injury. … Coyotes opened a five-game homestand. … Canucks are 6-13-1 against the Pacific Division. … Ekman-Larsson has scored at least 10 goals in five consecutive seasons. He has a point in five of his last six games. … Coyotes lead season series 2-1.UP NEXTCanucks: At Los Angeles on Monday night.Coyotes: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
