VANCOUVER — Mitch Marner scored his first goal of the season as the Vegas Golden Knights held off the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Sunday in Vancouver. Victor Olofsson added a power-play tally and Marc Gatcomb notched his first goal in a Golden Knights jersey late in the second period for Vegas (2-1-0), which has now won eight straight games against Vancouver (2-2-0) dating back to Dec. 19, 2024.
Paul Cotter opened the scoring late in the first period with a power-play goal for Vancouver, extending his season-opening point streak to four games with four goals and two assists. Vegas took the lead at 14:30 of the second period when Kevin Lankinen stopped a shot from Jack Eichel, the rebound popped to Mark Stone at the goal line and Stone sliced a pass to Olofsson for a blast into the top of the net to make it 2-1. Gatcomb then added his first in a Vegas jersey late in the second, while Jonathan Lekkerimaki also scored for Vancouver.
Adin Hill stopped 17 of 19 shots for Vegas, including a key sliding save well out of his crease to deny Liam Ohgren on a short-handed breakaway midway through the third period. Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves for Vancouver in a bounce-back performance after giving up eight goals on 20 shots in Thursday's 9-7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Vancouver entered Sunday coming off a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Vancouver struggled to generate offense after scoring 17 goals over its first three games, registering just 19 shots with only 11 on goal entering the third period. Vegas had ample opportunities with five power plays and found success with the extra man while utilizing a five-forward unit. The Golden Knights appeared poised to add an empty-net goal after Vancouver pulled Lankinen with 2:15 left, but solid defensive work prevented the clincher and gave the Canucks time with the extra attacker.
Vancouver begins a six-game road swing Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes, while Vegas hosts the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. The high-scoring start for Vancouver followed its wild split with the Oilers earlier in the week.