Golden Knights defeat Oilers, pad lead for third in Pacific

LAS VEGAS --The Vegas Golden Knights extended their lead for third place in the Pacific Division with a 6-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

The Golden Knights (40-27-5) are seven points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes after winning for the eighth time in their past nine games. They trail the San Jose Sharks by nine points for second place.
Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals, Reilly Smith and William Karlsson each had two assists, and Malcolm Subban made 16 saves for Vegas.
"When you're facing a team that's on a back-to-back, sometimes they get a little worn down," Marchessault said. "You're just trying to play the right way, get the forecheck going, and that's what we did."
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Kris Russell scored for the Oilers (32-33-7), who are 2-3-0 in their past five games, including a 3-2 overtime win at the Coyotes on Saturday. Edmonton trails Arizona by seven points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"That's a team, they come at you in waves," Oilers forward Sam Gagner said of the Golden Knights. "We did a good job when we were making them turn it over and playing in their end, but it wasn't enough."
Edmonton's Connor McDavid had two assists to become the first NHL player with eight straight multipoint games since Vincent Lecavalier for the Tampa Bay Lightning from Nov. 3-19, 2007.
Mark Stone scored to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 5:40 of the first period. It was his first goal at T-Mobile Arena since being acquired in a trade from the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 25.
"We have a lot of good players in our lineup," Marchessault said. "They have to respect our lineup top to bottom. I think we take a lot of pride in having four lines that can produce and play defensively as well. It makes it harder on the opponent."

Nugent-Hopkins scored a power-play goal at 13:14 to tie the game 1-1, but Cody Eakin scored at 19:05 to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.
Draisaitl scored his 43rd goal 22 seconds into the second period to tie it 2-2.
Marchessault scored at 2:12 to give Vegas a 3-2 lead and again 40 seconds into the third period to make it 4-2.
"I'd rather it be a 2-1 game," Marchessault said, referring to a 2-1 win at the Dallas Stars on Friday. "The pace is a little more higher, the game is less open. I think it fits our style better. Whoever we face, I just think we need to worry about us and play the right way."

Russell scored at 5:52 to get the Oilers to within 4-3.
"We did keep pushing a little bit after that early third-period goal," Nugent-Hopkins said. "For the most part, I thought it was a pretty good game. They capitalized on our mistakes and breakdowns. That was the story."
Brayden McNabb made it 5-3 at 9:45. Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld after video review showed contact between Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and goalie Mikko Koskinen (28 saves) had no bearing on the puck entering the net.
Alex Tuch scored at 16:32 for the 6-3 final.
"You have to keep pressing forward," Tuch said. "You can't let them get back in it. They have a couple of superstars over there. … I thought our team played great tonight. We capitalized on some opportunities and had some good shots on goal."

They said it

"I think they play at a tempo that's hard to match. They're deep and they come at you with four lines. We negated them in our building (a 2-1 Edmonton win Dec. 1), but they were on top of us for most of the night." -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock
"It's definitely been a tough stretch. Obviously, tomorrow we have a much bigger opponent. San Jose's a great team. Especially on a back-to-back, we just need to keep it simple and manage the puck." -- Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault

Need to know

McDavid is three points from tying his NHL career high (108), set last season. ... Draisaitl is two points from 300 in the NHL. ... Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (lower body) will not travel with the team to San Jose on Monday. Vegas coach Gerard Gallant did not say who will be the starting goaltender against the Sharks. Maxime Lagace was recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League on Sunday and backed up Subban.

What's next

Oilers: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights: At the San Jose Sharks on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCA, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)