Golden Knights explode early in win at Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The visiting locker room at Rogers Arena is painted black and gold, the colors of the local professional lacrosse team.

But the Golden Knights looked right at home Saturday.

The visitors scored five times in the opening period, a franchise record for goals in a period, and rolled to a 6-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

“Obviously any time you start the game with whatever we had there that quick, it’s a different kind of game,” defenseman Colin Miller said. “It was great that we got that early lead and then I think from there we took control, so it was great.”

Alex Tuch finished with a goal and two assists, and Mark Stone scored his first goal since being acquired at the trade deadline to help the Knights win their sixth straight.

Tomas Nosek had a goal and an assist, and Cody Eakin also added a goal as every member of the third line scored for the Knights.

“All four lines were good and solid tonight,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “I think the ice time was probably pretty equal all the way through. Everybody rolled it over tonight and we didn’t have to overuse anybody. Everybody played well and I had no issues.”

The Knights have outscored their opponents 23-9 during their win streak, and will finish off their back-to-back at Calgary on Sunday.

The Knights trail the Flames by eight points for second place in the Pacific Division.

“I’m not adding up the points,” Gallant said. “We’re getting ready to play a big game tomorrow. We’re worried about playing well and getting two points. We’re not worried about trying to catch somebody. We’re just worried about the points.”

Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 29 saves to earn his 438th career win, passing Jacques Plante for sole possession of eighth place all-time.

He earned his league-leading 34th victory and has won his past five starts, stopping 138 of the past 142 shots he’s faced.

“The most important thing is winning for our team right now,” Fleury said. “I think we’ve been playing better hockey lately and it shows.”

Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat scored for Vancouver, which fell to 2-6-2 in its past 10 games and 4-10-3 in its past 15.

Horvat’s goal at 3:56 of the second period cut the Knights’ lead to 5-2, but Nate Schmidt restored the Knights’ four-goal lead exactly one minute later when he shot deflected past backup goaltender Thatcher Demko.

“I think that Nate Schmidt goal was about as big a goal as we’re going to get in that game,” Stone said. “They make it 5-2 and they’re getting a little bit of momentum — obviously still a three-goal lead — when he scores that goal it just kind of deflates the building, deflates their team. From then on in, I thought we really just controlled the play.”

The Knights outclassed Vancouver in a 3-0 victory March 3 at T-Mobile Arena and picked up where they left off, scoring five times on 16 shots in the first period to chase Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

Stone banged home a rebound 1:32 into the period for his first goal since Feb. 18, and Tuch redirected Jon Merrill’s shot for his 18th goal at 5:03.

The Knights’ third line continued the onslaught when Eakin’s shot pinballed off Vancouver’s Tanner Pearson for a 3-0 lead at 8:33.

Nosek scored his first goal since Jan. 10 and matched his career high when he tipped in Miller’s shot for his seventh goal. Paul Stastny put the Knights ahead 5-1 with his ninth, sending Markstrom to the bench in favor of Demko at 14:17.

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.