CHICAGO — Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore each had two goals and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks 8-3 on Tuesday night for their season-high fourth consecutive victory.
Alex Tuch added a goal and an assist as Vegas continued its resurgence in the opener of a three-game trip. William Karlsson, Ryan Reaves and Daniel Carr also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for his sixth win in his last seven starts.
The Golden Knights (13-12-1), who made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season as an expansion team, improved to 4-0 against the Blackhawks since entering the league.
Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist in his Chicago debut, but the sliding Blackhawks lost for the third time in four games. Defencemen Gustav Forsling and Erik Gustafsson also scored.
Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 24 of 30 shots before he was replaced by Cam Ward for the third period. Ward finished with 11 saves.
Strome and Brendan Perlini were acquired in a trade with Arizona on Sunday night for Nick Schmaltz in a swap of former first-round draft picks. Strome, who went No. 3 overall in 2015, looked quite comfortable while centring a line with former junior hockey teammate Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane.
But that was about the only bright spot for Chicago (9-11-5), which got off to another slow start and committed a couple of ugly errors in its worst defensive performance of the season.
Carr, Tuch and Eakin scored in the first as Vegas jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Carr got his first of the season at 2:10, Tuch picked off Crawford’s errant pass and extended his goal streak to three games at 12:14, and Eakin converted a slick backhand in front at 16:14.
The Blackhawks have been outscored 11-1 in the first period over their last four games.
Fleury lost a shutout streak of 150 minutes, 54 seconds when Forsling’s shot ricocheted off Karlsson and into the net 29 seconds into the second. Karlsson responded with a power-play goal at 6:27.
Theodore and Reaves also scored in the second to extend the Golden Knights’ lead to 6-2 going into the third. Eakin got credited for his 10th of the season when his shot went off Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith all alone in front and into the net midway through the final period.
NOTES: Vegas D Deryk Engelland had three assists. … Blackhawks D Henri Jokiharju was held out because of an illness. Fs Chris Kunitz and Andreas Martinsen also were scratched. … Blackhawks D Brandon Davidson had right knee surgery. He is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Visit the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Blackhawks: At the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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Jay Cohen, The Associated Press