Ville Husso made 33 saves for his first victory in six career starts against Vegas and the Detroit Red Wings snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Golden Knights on Thursday night in Las Vegas.
It was the 15th victory of the season for Husso, who was pulled after two periods Monday against Colorado, having allowed five goals on 22 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Avalanche.
On Thursday, Lucas Raymond, Dominik Kubalik and Joe Veleno scored goals for Detroit, which closed to within five points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Alex Pietrangelo and William Karlsson scored goals and Reilly Smith had two assists for Vegas, which has lost three games in a row for the first time this season. Adin Hill stopped 22 of 25 shots as the Golden Knights dropped to 13-13-0 at T-Mobile Arena this season.
Raymond gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at the 2:45 mark of the first period with his 14th goal of the season. Dylan Larkin set up the score when he stole the puck away from Nicolas Roy, drove down the left wing and slid a pass across to Raymond, who tipped it into the net. It marked the fifth straight game and the ninth time in the past 10 games that the Golden Knights fell behind 1-0.
Pietrangelo tied it with 37 seconds to go in the period with a one-timer from the top of the left circle that dipped under Husso’s glove. It was Pietrangelo’s fifth goal of the season and the first goal by a Vegas defenseman in eight games dating back to a 5-4 overtime win over Nashville on New Year’s Eve.
The Red Wings regained the lead early in the second period when Kubalik one-timed Oskar Sundqvist’s crossing pass through Hill’s pads on a power play. It was Kubalik’s 14th goal of the season.
Veleno made it 3-1 midway through the period when he broke down the right wing and fired a wrist shot past Hill’s stick side and off the far post and in for his sixth goal of the season.
Vegas pulled Hill for an extra attacker with 2:15 remaining, and Karlsson made it 3-2 with 43 seconds left when Jack Eichel’s pass into the slot caromed off his skate. It was Karlsson’s 10th goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
