Max Pacioretty has twice reached 67 points in a season, but the way he’s performing this year, he’s on pace to surpass that mark by a wide margin.
Pacioretty scored two goals and added two assists to help the Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 on Sunday night.
With 15 goals and 19 assists through 36 games, the 12-year NHL veteran is on track for a career-best 77 points this season.
“I’ve been getting opportunities all season,” said Pacioretty, whose career highs are 39 goals and 34 assists. “I’m playing on a great line with two really good players and getting tons of chances. My job is to make sure I finish those chances.”
Pacioretty found the back of the net twice in the third period to secure the win for the Golden Knights, who recently struggled with 10 losses in 13 games. They are now second in the Pacific Division, just one point behind Arizona.
Nick Holden, Valentin Zykov, Jonathan Marchessault, and Mark Stone also scored for Vegas, marking the fifth time the Golden Knights have had five players score in a game this season.
“It was a complete game from everyone tonight, from the goalie to the defense,” Pacioretty said, who extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, the second-longest of his career. “We’ve got a lot of important games, especially within the division and the wild-card race. We know that, but we’re just focused on playing our game, and we’ve been doing that well lately.”
Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves and improved his career record to 12-2-1 against the Canucks. He hasn’t lost in regulation to Vancouver since 2006. Fleury delighted the 18,066 fans in attendance with his signature highlight-reel saves, particularly a diving poke check to stop Josh Levio on a breakaway in the second period and a quick sliding save on Elias Pettersson in the third.
“Those are the fun ones as a goalie,” said Fleury, who earned his 452nd career win, just two behind Curtis Joseph for sixth all-time. “It’s more enjoyable when those saves don’t go in.”
Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Jake Virtanen scored for Vancouver, while Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves, dropping to 1-6-1 in his career against Vegas. Michael DiPietro replaced Markstrom late in the third, allowing one goal on seven shots.
Playing the second game of a back-to-back after a loss to San Jose, the Canucks fell to 6-12-4 when their opponent scores first and 2-10-1 when trailing after the first period.
“We weren’t very good tonight,” Vancouver coach Travis Green admitted. “Giving up the first goal is tough in this league, but that was the least of our worries.”
Vegas is now 8-0-1 all-time against Vancouver and has tallied 11 goals in its last two home games, the most they’ve scored in consecutive home games this season.
“We love playing in this building and getting the crowd behind us,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant. “Scoring first helps a lot, and I thought we played a really good game tonight. Guys stepped up, scored big goals, and we were strong all around.”
Game Notes:
- The Golden Knights played their 200th regular-season game and boast the second-best record (111-69-19) in NHL history for a franchise through 200 games.
- Vancouver made several roster moves, including placing Sven Baertschi on waivers, reassigning Zack MacEwen to Utica (AHL), and activating Tyler Motte from injured reserve.
- Fleury passed Sean Burke for 14th place in NHL history with his 821st game played.
- Mark Stone extended his point streak to four games.
- The Canucks dropped to 1-8-2 when allowing four or more goals and 4-13-2 when scoring three or fewer.
UP NEXT:
- Canucks: Host Montreal on Tuesday to kick off a five-game homestand.
- Golden Knights: Host Minnesota on Tuesday to close out a two-game homestand.