Marc Gatcomb gave Vegas the last word Sunday at Rogers Arena, tapping home the decisive goal late in the second period as the Golden Knights held off the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.
Gatcomb struck 34 seconds after Jonathan Lekkerimaki had pulled Vancouver even, turning a rebound from Braeden Bowman’s wraparound into a tap-in at 18:28 of the middle frame. It was Gatcomb’s first goal since joining Vegas as a free agent on July 1.
Quick facts
- Vegas moved to 2-1-0 after its 4-3 loss to Anaheim on Friday.
- Vancouver fell to 2-2-0 while playing the second half of a back-to-back following Saturday’s 4-1 win over Calgary.
- Adin Hill stopped 17 shots for the Golden Knights; Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves for the Canucks.
- Mitch Marner and Victor Olofsson also scored for Vegas.
- Paul Cotter scored in his 300th NHL game and extended his streak to four games and six points.
Vancouver carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after Cotter scored at 18:52. With Jake DeBrusk out because of illness, Cotter stepped onto the top power-play unit and redirected Filip Hronek’s cross-ice feed from the upper left circle past Hill in close.
The goal was Cotter’s fourth in a four-game run that also includes two assists. He has six points during that stretch.
Marner squared the game at 9:01 of the second. Brayden McNabb’s shot from the point deflected off Vancouver defenseman Zeev Buium’s skate in the right slot and skipped across to Marner, open on the far side.
As Lankinen moved hard across the crease, Marner pulled the puck back toward the middle and finished for his first goal of the season.
Vegas took its first lead on a five-forward power play at 14:30. Jack Eichel fired a one-timer that created a rebound, and Mark Stone moved the loose puck across the crease to Olofsson at the bottom of the right circle. Olofsson buried the one-timer before Lankinen could reset.
Lekkerimaki answered for Vancouver at 17:54, arriving on a loose puck off the rush and snapping a far-side wrist shot from low in the right circle beneath Hill’s blocker.
That tie did not last. Bowman’s wraparound created the rebound on the opposite side of the net, and Gatcomb was waiting to put Vegas back in front for good.
