William Karlsson got the 100th point of his career with his 30th goal of the season as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 Thursday night.
Ryan Carpenter, Jonathan Marchessault and Erik Haula also scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots to improve to 18-6-2 and move seven wins shy of 400 for his career.
Leon Draisaitl scored Edmonton’s lone goal, his 17th of the season, and Cam Talbot finished with 24 saves.
Impressive division record
Vegas improved to 14-1-1 against Pacific Division teams in its inaugural season, while avenging its two losses, which both came against the Oilers. The 8-2 loss in Edmonton on Nov. 14 still ranks as the worst loss in Vegas’ 57-game history.
The Oilers, who are have been rumoured to be sellers as the Feb. 26 trade deadline approaches, have now lost five straight and continue to descend in the Western Conference standings.
Edmonton All-Star Connor McDavid, tied for third in the NHL in points (66), was limited to just two shots. He now has eight goals and four assists in six games this month, and came in with five points in the first two meetings with Vegas.
The Golden Knights scored a power-play goal in 11th time in 12 games. Edmonton, which ranks 30th in the league with its power play, was 0 for 1 in its lone attempt with a man advantage.
Carpenter opens scoring
Carpenter opened the scoring when he tapped home a rebound after Talbot stopped Deryk Engelland’s shot, giving Vegas a 1-0 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the first period.
A little more than four minutes into the second, Marchessault was in perfect position in front of the net to redirect Nate Schmidt’s wrist shot from the point, past Talbot stick side.
Karlsson picked up his milestone point when he took a pass from David Perron, raced past Darnell Nurse along the boards, skated in on Talbot and beat him with a sneaky backhand that slipped under his arm with 7:13 to go in the middle period.
Haula, who was a late scratch from Tuesday’s game versus Chicago due to the flu, scored his 22nd goal of the season after camping out in the crease and one-timing James Neal’s pass from behind the net at 4:15 of the third to make it 4-0.
Draisaitl spoiled Fleury’s attempt at his third shutout of the season and 47th of his career when his wrist shot from the side snuck through top shelf with 7 1/2 minutes to go.