Karlsson breaks tie in 3rd, Golden Knights edge Canucks

LAS VEGAS -- William Karlsson scored the go-ahead goal at 3:44 of the third period for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Karlsson gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead by scoring on a rebound of his own shot near the left post.

“I guess I was trying to get it close to my body, but I don't know if he had my stick or something,” Karlsson said. “It all happened fast, but I got a shot off, and then I was lucky enough to get the rebound. Just a muck goal.”

Brett Howden had a goal and an assist, and Alex Pietrangelo also scored for Vegas (21-8-3), which has won two in a row and six of seven. Adin Hill made 19 saves.

“It's important now to accumulate points and get yourself in a position to be able to play in the tournament at the end of the year,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You can't let these games get away from you. … It's important for your psyche for later on to know that you can be in these games because they tend to get closer as they get more important towards the end of the year in playoffs. So you have to be comfortable in these games.”

Teddy Blueger scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 18 saves for Vancouver (16-10-6), which was coming off a 3-2 overtime loss at the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday.

“Not a big difference between winning and losing,” Blueger said. “Not a lot of changes through two periods. It hurts to give up that late one in the second. Just fine margins. It felt a little bit like that. Kind of disappointing to come out of it on the losing end."

Blueger gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 8:15 of the first period by wrapping in a goal far post against Hill.

“We played well. We didn’t give up much. They didn’t give us much,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “We had a good start. Really liked our first period. They’re a good team. They’re going to press. … We just couldn’t get that equalizer.”

Pietrangelo tied it 1-1 at 17:35 of the second period with a slap shot from the point.

“After the first, we realized we've got to wake up,” Howden said. “There were no excuses. We had a few days off to rest and recover, and we didn't like our first, so I thought we did a good job [after the second period]. As the second period went on, we started building our game and got to where we like our game the best."

Howden scored an empty-net goal at 19:10 of the third for the 3-1 final.

“This one was very tight. A lot of defense, but we’ve shown we can win like this,” Karlsson said. “In other games, we've shown that we can score a lot of goals. So we have a little bit of everything, and that's a good thing to have.”

NOTES: The Golden Knights earned their 12th come-from-behind victory of the season, tied with the Winnipeg Jets (12) for the second most in the NHL behind the Washington Capitals (13). … Vegas, which outscored Vancouver 2-0 in the final period, increased its third-period goal differential this season to plus-21 -- the best mark in the League.