The Vegas Golden Knights (26-9-3) continued their dominance at T-Mobile Arena with their NHL-best 16th home-ice victory in 20 contests. Their 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers (17-18-4) moved them to within one point of the league-leading Winnipeg Jets in the standings, who have 56 points in 40 games to Vegas’ 55 in 38.
Game Recap
The Flyers’ Tyson Foerster started the scoring for this game just 21 seconds into the first period. The assists came from Noah Cates and Bobby Brink, his high-flying linemates. Despite the early goal, that was the only tally of the opening frame.
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The Golden Knights’ Mark Stone took no time at all to tie the game up once the second period began, letting just 51 seconds tick off the clock before he did so. Jack Eichel notched his 39th helper of the season, while Noah Hanifin got his 13th.
Just over a minute later, Nicolas Hague got on the board for his third goal of the season. Keegan Kolesar got the assist. This gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the night which they did not relinquish.
Vegas’ third second-period strike came in the final two minutes of the frame. Pavel Dorofeyev scored his 14th goal of the season to go up 3-1. The assists came from defensemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb.
BAR DOWN DOROFEYEV 🚪🤩 pic.twitter.com/GQHhWZ7sgB
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) January 3, 2025
The Golden Knights continued their hot streak in the third period, scoring at the 2:46 mark. Alexander Holtz, for the third time this season, found the back of the net with a goal. Hanifin got his second assist of the night while fellow blue-liner Alex Pietrangelo got his first.
The Flyers responded with a power-play goal from Travis Konecny at 4:56. Owen Tippett and Morgan Forst got the assists, making it somewhat of a game with 15 minutes to spare in the third. However, it was not to be. Tanner Pearson’s late empty-net goal made it 5-2, with assists coming from Stone and Eichel. That being Eichel’s 40th assist, it’s a new career-best in Vegas, surpassing his 2022-23 total of 39.
Between the pipes, Vegas’ Ilya Samsonov had a solid night, turning aside 23 of 25 Philadelphia shots. For the Flyers, Aleksei Kolosov closed the door on 22 of 26 shots, continuing his rookie-year jitters.
What’s Next for the Golden Knights & Flyers?
Next up, the Golden Knights will be back at home against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. PST. The Flyers will continue their road trip as they face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. EST.
