EditorsNote: tweaked 5th graf
Robin Lehner made 32 saves in his Vegas debut, and Reilly Smith scored two goals as the Golden Knights tied a franchise record with their eighth consecutive victory with a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in Las Vegas.
William Karlsson and Nicolas Roy also scored goals for Vegas, which won its seventh straight home game. The Golden Knights, who increased their Pacific Division lead to six points, matched their record eight-game win streak set from Dec. 14, 2017 to Jan. 2, 2018.
Lehner, obtained at the trade deadline on Monday from Chicago, allowed a goal on the first shot he faced before stopping the next 30 in a row against the team he played for from 2015-18.
Dominik Kahun and Jeff Skinner scored goals, and Carter Hutton finished with 24 saves for the Sabres.
Buffalo took a 1-0 lead at the 2:16 mark of the first period when Kahun, playing on his first shift for the Sabres after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, ripped a shot from the slot into the top left corner of the goal for his 11th of the season. The score was set up by Jimmy Vesey, who intercepted a pass from Zach Whitecloud in the Vegas zone and then fed Marcus Johansson, who set up Kahun with a drop pass in the slot.
The Golden Knights tied it midway through the period when Nick Cousins found a wide-open Roy driving down the slot. Roy then deked Hutton and slid a forehand shot under his left pad for his fourth goal of the season.
Karlsson gave Vegas a 2-1 lead early in the third period with his fourth goal in three games and 14th of the season. He took a pass from Max Pacioretty while crossing in front of the crease and then beat Hutton with a backhand shot on his blocker side.
Smith followed with his career-high 26th goal just 2:19 later when he skated in from the right wing behind the net and put in a wraparound shot inside the left post.
Hutton was pulled for an extra attacker with 3:05 remaining, and Smith sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:49 to go. Skinner ended the scoring with 11.8 seconds left when he banked in a shot off Lehner's back for his 13th goal of the season.
--Field Level Media
