The Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights celebrated their banner-raising ceremony with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night. Jonathan Marchessault scored, and Adin Hill made 23 saves to secure the win.
Marchessault, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, continued his tradition of scoring in the first game of the season, marking his fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in seven seasons with Vegas.
Chandler Stephenson, Ivan Barbashev, and Jack Eichel also scored for the Golden Knights, who improved their home opener record to 6-1-0 with their only loss in 2018 to Philadelphia. Vegas has outscored opponents 26-14 in these games.
Jared McCann scored the lone goal for Seattle, while Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves.
The Golden Knights struck early in the first period with a tic-tac-toe play involving Mark Stone, Brett Howden, and Stephenson. Stone sent a cross-ice pass to Howden, who passed it to Stephenson for the finish.
Vegas doubled their lead when Brandon Tanev’s clearing attempt was deflected by Marchessault past Grubauer. Barbashev extended the lead to 3-0 early in the second period with a breakaway snapper. McCann responded for Seattle midway through the period with a wrist shot from the slot.
Seattle had a prime opportunity to close the gap in the third period when Howden was assessed a match penalty for a hit to Tanev’s head. However, Hill made six crucial saves during the penalty kill, reminiscent of his performance during the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup run.
“Our penalty kill was outstanding,” Hill said. “We focused on being aggressive during camp, and it paid off tonight. We limited their chances well.”
Eichel sealed the game with an empty-net goal in the final minutes.
“We had enough scoring chances,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We executed well but didn’t finish. We missed a couple of nets on good opportunities, and suddenly we were down 2-0 in a period where we did a lot of good things. Ultimately, we didn’t capitalize when it mattered, whether 5 on 5 or on the power play.”
Injury Update: Golden Knights forward William Carrier left in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Seattle forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare left the bench after blocking a shot with his left hand but returned for the third period.
Up Next:
- Kraken: At Nashville on Thursday night.
- Golden Knights: At San Jose on Thursday night.
