LAS VEGAS (AP) — Zach Whitecloud scored the first game-winning goal of his career late in the third period to lift the Vegas Golden Knights over the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Tuch and Nicolas Roy also scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury, now 17-4-0 against the Ducks, improved to 5-0-0 this season after making 19 saves.
The Golden Knights are 7-0-1 at home, earning 15 of 16 possible points.
Isac Lundestrom, Troy Terry, Adam Henrique and Ryan Getzlaf scored for Anaheim. Ryan Miller made 26 saves.
Vegas has scored at least four goals in all but one home game this season, a 2-1 overtime win against Anaheim on Jan. 16. The Golden Knights have outscored their guests 34-21.
After William Carrier sent the puck to the net, Whitecloud’s keen instincts found him skating into the slot where he punched home the rebound for his second goal of the season with 3:56 left in regulation. The goal came after Anaheim scored three straight in the third period to tie it 4-all.
Vegas improved to 8-1 all-time at home against the Ducks, outscoring them 34-17.
Stephenson opened the scoring with his third goal in two games. He skated in on an odd-man rush, took a pass from Mark Stone and went forehand-backhand to beat Miller through the legs. Stone’s assist was his 400th career point, while Dylan Coghlan got his first NHL point with the secondary helper.
Marchessault was in the right place at the right time, as he skated into the crease just in time to redirect a shot from linemate Reilly Smith to make it 2-0 just before the end of the first period.
Tuch pushed the lead to three goals early in the second when he collected a pass from Cody Glass and whipped a backhand over Miller’s glove.
Anaheim finally got on the board when Lundestrom skated into the high slot and beat Fleury with a wrist shot, cutting the deficit to two.
Glass picked up his second assist of the game when he dropped the puck off for Roy, who blistered a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that Miller never saw.
Anaheim scored three consecutive goals in the first half of the third period to tie it.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Ducks and Golden Knights conclude their two-game set in Vegas on Thursday.
___
More AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
