EditorsNote: Fixed Vrana's 1st-name spelling in 3rd graf
Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 24 saves and Max Pacioretty scored the deciding goal as the Vegas Golden Knights moved into a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Monday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Pacioretty's goal was his sixth in the last six games. Reilly Smith and Nick Holden also scored goals for Vegas, which won its third straight game and split its two-game regular-season series with the Capitals.
T.J. Oshie scored two goals, his 29th career two-goal game, and Jakub Vrana had two assists for Washington, which suffered its second straight loss and sixth in the last nine games. Braden Holtby had 26 saves for the Capitals, who lost in regulation on the road for just the eighth time in 30 games (21-8-1).
Alex Ovechkin went scoreless for a season-long fifth straight game in his quest to become the eighth player in NHL history to score 700 goals. Ovechkin sits at 698.
Vegas jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 3:43 mark of the first period when Holden deflected a William Carrier pass from the right circle into a wide-open left side of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
Smith made it 2-0 near the end of the period with his 23rd goal of the season, taking a feed from Jonathan Marchessault while cutting to the net, then chipping a shot over Holtby's left shoulder and under the crossbar.
Pacioretty extended the Vegas lead to 3-0 near the end of the second period with his 27th goal of the season. William Karlsson stole the puck behind the goal, then hit Pacioretty camped out alone of the right side of the net where he quickly fired a shot past Holtby's glove side.
Oshie then scored two goals in the span of 1:53 midway through the third period to cut it to 3-2. The first came when he ripped a wrist shot from the right circle over Fleury's right shoulder and off the far post, snapping Fleury's shutout streak at 112:59. The second, his 24th of the season, came on the power play when he one-timed a Vrana pass from the right circle past Fleury's glove side.
--Field Level Media
