Nylander gets 1st NHL hat trick, Blue Jackets defeat Golden Knights

COLUMBUS -- Alexander Nylander scored his first NHL hat trick for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 6-3 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Nationwide Arena on Monday.

Nylander has six points (four goals, two assists) in five games since being acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Emil Bemstrom on Feb. 22.

“This is a really good spot for me,” Nylander said. “They gave me a great opportunity here, so I'm really happy.”

Justin Danforth, Yegor Chinakhov and Erik Gudbranson also scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 37 saves for the Blue Jackets (21-30-10), who have won two straight for the first time since Nov. 22-24.

“The magic happens when you start having confidence in your teammates, and that’s what we’ve been seeing recently,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “I’ve been saying that for some time now. They’re starting to believe in each other and playing for each other, and that changes everything.

“When you’re rewarded with a win, it’s even better because it reinforces good habits.”

Mason Morelli, William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson scored, and Adin Hill made 27 saves for the Golden Knights (33-22-7), who have lost three straight and are 2-7-1 in their past 10 games.

“I see a team right now that is losing a lot of puck battles that we usually win,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That comes from within. Compete comes from the individual. We’ve got to want it, and that comes from within. We’ve got to find it.

“We’ve got to want it. We don't want it right now. (It's) very evident in our game.”

Vegas forward Jack Eichel returned to the lineup after missing 19 games because of a knee injury. He was minus-1 in 19:55 of ice time.

Danforth gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 6:16 of the first period. Zach Werenski flubbed a shot from the right point, but Sean Kuraly passed the bouncing puck in the slot to Danforth, who quickly scored glove side on Hill.

Nylander made it 2-0 at 13:11, scoring on his own rebound from the edge of the crease.

Morelli cut it to 2-1 at 17:19 on a wraparound at the right post, and Karlsson tied it 2-2 at 18:01 with a shot short side from above the left circle.

“We always seem to be down in games and have to chase it,” Karlsson said. “We battled back to tie it, then they get the next one and we have chase it again. That’s one of the common denominators.”

Gudbranson put the Blue Jackets back in front 3-2 at 17:21 of the second period, scoring blocker side with a slap shot from the top of the right circle.

It was his first goal since Dec. 19 (28 games).

“It’s been a while. I like to score goals. Everybody likes to score goals, so it felt good,” Gudbranson said. “We played well and I think we’re feeling a little bit of confidence, which has been hard to find lately and even through last year.”

Nylander extended the lead to 4-2 at 3:23 of the third period, beating Hill low glove side from the left circle on a rush.

“We know they're the defending champs and we had to play hard, fast,” Nylander said. “We've got a fast team, and that's what we did throughout the whole game.”

Stephenson cut it to 4-3 at 10:16, but Chinakhov responded at 11:20 to push it to 5-3.

“They wanted the puck more than we did,” Cassidy said. “Didn't manage it. It's going to happen sometimes, but our will right now to compete on pucks just isn't good enough to win consistently in this league, and that's exactly what we're going through.”

Nylander completed the hat trick by scoring into an empty net at 18:49 for the 6-3 final.

“I wasn't thinking about that until the end,” he said.

NOTES: Vegas completed a five-game road trip 1-3-1. ... Danforth's goal was his first since Dec. 27 (25 games). ... Karlsson's goal was his 400th NHL point. ... Gudbranson has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 57 games this season, an NHL career high.