(Edmonton) The Vegas Golden Knights lost goaltender Laurent Brossoit, but capitalized on a two-goal performance from Jonathan Marchessault to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Monday in Game 3 of their first-round series.
The Golden Knights lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday in Edmonton.
Brossoit fell in action after 11:44 of play, after having stopped three shots and when the score was 1-1. He appeared to injure his left leg sideways to his right to frustrate Evander Kane, after conceding a return on a Connor McDavid throw.
Adin Hill picked up the slack and shined, fending off every one of the 25 shots aimed at him.
Jack Eichel provided a goal and two assists, while Zach Whitecloud and Chandler Stephenson also scored for the Golden Knights.
Warren Foegele scored the Oilers’ lone goal. Stuart Skinner conceded four goals on 23 shots in 32:03 of play, before giving up his place in net to Jack Campbell. He made nine saves.
Foegele gave the Oilers the lead after just 2:45 of play, but the celebrations were short-lived. Marchessault tied the game 1:59 later, scoring his first goal of the spring tournament.
Marchessault came back with 51 seconds left in the first period. He deflected a throw-in from Eichel into the back of the net.
Whitecloud pulled away at 7:25 of the second period, surprising Skinner in the top of the short-side net.
Eichel then ended Skinner’s work night by beating him on the mitt side in a two-on-one attack. On the sequence, Oilers defender Evan Bouchard looked bad, stumbling stupidly in the neutral zone.
Moments after Nicolas Roy was disallowed after the Oilers challenged Campbell for obstruction, the Golden Knights added a fifth goal to the board. Stephenson deflected a nice throw-in from Roy into the goal as the teams went four-for-four.
The Golden Knights were never worried in the third period. They managed to neutralize Leon Draisaitl, who had amassed 2.1 points per game so far this spring. The formidable German was cleared of the score sheet for the first time in the playoffs.
McDavid was also held in check, as the Oilers went 0-for-2 on the power play.
The Oilers had scored five goals in nine power-play opportunities in the first two games of the series.