Mark Stone broke open the third period with a natural hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights rolled past the Calgary Flames 6-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
Key takeaways
- Stone scored three unanswered goals in the final period, recording the second regular-season hat trick of his NHL career.
- Jack Eichel posted a goal and two assists, while Ivan Barbashev supplied three helpers for Vegas.
- Carter Hart turned aside 28 shots as the Golden Knights improved to 7-2-0 and claimed their sixth win in seven games.
- Calgary fell to 1-6-0 despite goals from Jake Middleton and Matt Coronato.
- Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for the Flames, who had entered the game off a 4-2 win over Anaheim on Tuesday.
Vegas builds the lead, answers Calgary push
The Golden Knights were on the board 25 seconds after the opening faceoff. Mitch Marner sent Brett Howden away with a backhand stretch pass, and Howden entered the left circle before snapping the puck over Wolf’s glove.
Vegas doubled its edge at 9:34 of the first, and it came while killing a penalty. Eichel jumped a neutral-zone pass from Yegor Sharangovich, broke in alone and beat Wolf on the glove side for a short-handed goal.
Middleton gave Calgary a lift at 10:15 of the second period, finishing an odd-man rush while the Flames were shorthanded to cut the margin to 2-1. The Golden Knights did not let the momentum sit for long.
Still working on that same power play, Vegas restored its two-goal cushion 48 seconds later. Barbashev found Braeden Bowman in the right circle, and Bowman hammered home a one-timer at 11:03.
Stone takes over in the third
Eichel and Stone connected early in the third to put the game out of Calgary’s reach. At 1:06, Eichel fed Stone at the right post, where the Vegas captain converted the backdoor chance for a 4-1 lead.
Stone struck again on the power play at 12:09. Noah Hanifin’s shot created a rebound in front, and Stone knocked it in for his second of the night.
The captain completed the natural hat trick at 16:13, stretching the Golden Knights’ advantage to 6-1. It was Stone’s second regular-season three-goal game, following his previous hat trick on Jan. 15, 2024.
Coronato scored on a Calgary power play with 1:20 remaining, but the late goal only set the final score. Vegas had already put together another decisive home performance, powered by Eichel’s three-point night and Stone’s finishing kick.
