Golden Knights top Flames, set record for points in first NHL season

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights set an NHL record for points by a team in its inaugural season when they defeated the Calgary Flames 7-3 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
The Golden Knights (40-16-4, 84 points) passed the 1993-94 Florida Panthers, who had 83 points in 84 games. They are one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning atop the NHL standings and three ahead of the Nashville Predators for first in the Western Conference.

"It's a great accomplishment so far," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "We're real happy and we're playing well, but to be honest with you, we don't talk about expansion anymore. We know it's our first year and all that, but we're talking about playing well and getting points.
"We've got another six weeks to play, and that's the goal. Work hard, get as many points as we can, and see what happens April 7 (when the Golden Knights play their final regular-season game)."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Ryan Carpenter, Reilly Smith, Alex Tuch and Luca Sbisa each had a goal and an assist, and David Perron had two assists for the Golden Knights, who got their 23rd win in their 29th home game, passing the 1979-80 Hartford Whalers (22-12-6) for most home victories by a team in its first NHL season. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves.

TJ Brodie, Dougie Hamilton and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Flames, who have lost two games in a row and are 2-4-1 in their past seven.
Calgary (30-22-9, 69 points) is two points behind the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings in the race for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, and four behind the Anaheim Ducks for third in the Pacific Division.
"That was frustrating, that loss," Tkachuk said. "Maybe we should start caring about maybe looking at each other and asking ourselves, 'What do we want to do? Do we want to go home early, or do we want to make the playoffs?'"
Carpenter scored at 2:28 of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Brodie's goal at 16:45 tied it 1-1.
William Karlsson scored his 31st goal, fourth in the NHL, on the power play with 31 seconds left in the first to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.

Hamilton tied it 2-2 20 seconds into the second period. Smith scored at 1:18 to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead.
Tkachuk scored on the power play at 11:07 to tie it 3-3. After Hamilton's pass deflected off Vegas forward Cody Eakin's skate, the puck went in off Tkachuk in front of Fleury.
Tuch scored at 13:58 to put the Golden Knights ahead 4-3.
Calgary appeared to tie it 4-4 at 1:29 of the third period when Sean Monahan beat Fleury, but Gallant challenged the goal, which was overturned after video review because Monahan was offside at 1:02.
"I was pretty nervous," Tuch said. "That was the turning point. It was a really smart decision (to challenge)."
Vegas scored three times after the overturned goal.
"I didn't think we had a lot of pushback after that," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We didn't react as well as we could have. It was a close game, it's 4-3, it's a game of inches."

Sbisa scored at 3:17 to make it 5-3, and Tomas Nosek (11:15) and Eakin (14:18) scored 3:03 apart to extend the lead to 7-3. It was Eakin's first goal in 19 games dating to Jan. 5.
Flames goalie David Rittich allowed seven goals on 26 shots.

Goal of the game

Carpenter's goal at 2:28 of the first period.

Save of the game

Fleury stopping Mikael Backlund at 17:07 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Tuch's goal at 13:58 of the second period.

They said it

"We've a got a few guys that were cruising, and it's not a time to cruise. It's a time to push. You've got to be ready to play. We're playing the top team in the League, so you can't play two periods, or one good period and expect to win." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"That's what makes good teams: to be able to bounce back from bad games. It's good that we're finding ways to put it behind us quickly and move on quickly and get ready for the next one." -- Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on their performance after a 2-0 loss to the Ducks on Monday

Need to know

Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau had an assist on Tkachuk's goal. His 70 points are tied for second in the NHL with Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux behind Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (78). … Tuch had the first Gordie Howe Hat Trick in Golden Knights history. He fought Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic at 10:50 of the third period. … Sbisa's goal was his 100th NHL point. … Vegas defenseman Jon Merrill (undisclosed) was activated from injured reserve and was plus-1 with two hits in 19:41 in his first game since Jan. 5.

What's next

Flames: At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, SNW, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, SNP, NHL.TV)