VANCOUVER — Max Pacioretty scored twice to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
The victory extended the Knights’ win streak to five games, and adds to a slump where the Canucks have just one win in their last 11 match ups.
William Carrier and William Karlsson also scored for Vegas (14-12-1).
Brock Boeser got a pair of goals for Vancouver (11-14-3), while Alex Edler rounded out the Canucks scoring.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 27 shots for the Canucks and Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for the Golden Knights.
Vegas had yet to register a single shot when the Canucks opened the scoring nearly 10 minutes in.
Vancouver rookie Elias Pettersson picked the pocket of Vegas defenceman Nate Schmidt in front of the Knights’ net, then sent a no-look pass to Boeser from his knees.
Boeser got the puck in the slot and hammered a quick wrist shot past Fleury.
The Knights tied things up before the end of the first following a flurry of activity in front of the Canucks’ net.
Markstrom made a save but couldn’t smother the rebound, and the puck popped off of Carrier’s skate and into the net.
Pacioretty added a power-play goal early in the second frame after Canucks defenceman Troy Stecher got called for high sticking.
He put another past Markstrom 1:13 into the third, rocketing a one-timer over the goalie’s shoulder.
The former Montreal Canadiens captain now has eight goals in his last seven games.
Edler brought the Canucks back within less than a minute later, putting a rebound from Bo Horavat’s shot into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
Boeser knotted the score again midway through the third, sneaking around the side of the Vegas net and putting a wrister in past Fleury.
The right-winger’s sixth goal of the year and comes after he missed 11 games this month with a lower-body injury.
Karlsson netted the winner — a short-handed goal — 13:35 into the third after Reilly Smith found him down low on the Canucks power play.
Vancouver’s five-game homestand will continue Saturday afternoon when they host the Dallas Stars.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
