Knights top Blackhawks, move into third in Pacific

Field Level Media|published: Wed 17th April, 01:07 2024

Apr 16, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) scores a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period at T-Mobile Arena. credits: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Logan Thompson made 22 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights moved into third place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Brayden McNabb, Michael Amadio and Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas (45-28-8, 98 points), which moved move one point ahead of the idle Los Angeles Kings (43-27-11, 97 points) into third with one game remaining for both teams.

Vegas finishes the regular season on Thursday against the visiting Anaheim Ducks, while Los Angeles hosts Chicago on Thursday. The Kings, who were idle on Tuesday while dropping into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, hold the regulation-wins tiebreaker.

The Golden Knights posted their third win in a row.

Jason Dickinson scored for Chicago, which took its fifth straight loss. Petr Mrazek stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Blackhawks, who fell to an NHL-worst 7-32-1 on the road.

Chicago had a chance to take the lead early in the second period when center Frank Nazar, appearing in just his second NHL game after playing for Michigan in the Frozen Four last week, broke down the slot on a partial breakaway, but McNabb poked the puck away before he could get a shot off.

The Golden Knights took a 1-0 at 16:25 of the second period. McNabb collected the rebound of a Tomas Hertl shot, spun and shot the puck inside the left post for his fourth goal of the season and first in the past 17 games.

Amadio extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:13 of the third period when he rushed up the right wing after blocking a shot and roofed a shot past Mrazek's glove side for his 14th goal.

The Blackhawks cut the deficit to 2-1 with 3:58 remaining when Dickinson scored his 22nd goal during a goalmouth scrum, putting in a rebound of a Connor Bedard shot that bounced in off the stick of Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin.

Chicago pulled Mrazek for an extra attacker with two minutes remaining, and Roy sealed the win for the Golden Knights with an empty-netter with 1:36 to go.

—Field Level Media

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