Golden Knights score 5 in 2nd, ease past Canadiens

MONTREAL -- The Vegas Golden Knights scored five straight goals in the second period and won 6-2 against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

“It was a great feeling, even better that we were able to close it out,” Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar said.

Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel each had a goal and two assists for Vegas (13-6-2), which won 3-2 at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, and has won four of six. Adin Hill made 15 saves.

“I thought it was a lot of good things, it wasn’t just luck,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “And once you get a lead like that, then you should be able to finish the job, and we did.”

Brendan Gallagher had two assists for Montreal (7-11-2), which lost for the first time in three games.

“We played a pretty good game in the first and third, and just let it slip away in the second,” Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki said. “Some bad turnovers cost us and they’re a good team and they took advantage. So if we clean that up we’re right in and it’s probably a closer game.”

Sam Montembeault, who shut out the Edmonton Oilers on Monday in his previous start, made 20 saves in two periods. Cayden Primeau made two saves in the third period.

The five goals tied Vegas’ record for most in one period in franchise history, and were the most Montreal has allowed in one period this season.

“We heard the boos at the end of the second period,” Montembeault said. “That’s too bad. We caused those, we didn’t play well in the second.”

Tomas Hertl gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 4:39 of the second period. He shot into a wide-open right side after Nicolas Roy screened Montembeault’s view of Brayden McNabb’s cross-ice pass to Hertl from the left face-off circle.

Callahan Burke made it 2-0 at 8:18 when he scored his first NHL goal in three games for Vegas since he was recalled from Henderson of the AHL on Tuesday.

“That’s the dream come true right there, so it feels good,” Burke said. “It takes a bit of the pressure off knowing that you can do it, and you’ve got a goal so you’re not always fishing for it anymore.”

Burke, whose father was at the game, one-timed a shot from the slot on Barbashev’s pass from behind the net to score in his sixth NHL game, including two with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022-23, and one last season with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“To score my first goal assisted by Eichel and Barbashev is pretty good,” Burke said. “’Barby’ made a good pass, put it on a platter for me. I just try and work for them and get pucks back and open up space for them so they can do their thing. And it’s nice because I feel like when I get open, they’re always finding me, and it’s fun to play with those guys.”

Barbashev pushed it to 3-0 at 9:09. He finished off a give-and-go return pass from Eichel on a 2-on-1 after Montreal forward Juraj Slafkovsky turned over the puck inside the Vegas blue line.

“If I put the puck down the wall, they don’t have a 2-on-0 on the other side,” Slafkovsky said.

Tanner Pearson made it 4-0 at 10:35 on a shot from the inside edge of the right face-off circle on a backhand pass from Noah Hanifin.

Kolesar scored at 17:02 for a 5-0 lead. He scored stick side on Montembeault, who dropped Zach Whitecloud’s shot from the point at his feet.

“When you’re minus-4, I don’t even know what to say,” Slafkovsky said. “You can’t really get worse, in my opinion, than tonight’s second period. So you can only play better and make better decisions with the puck because that was just stupid.”

Emil Heineman cut it to 5-1 with a power-play goal at 2:03 of the third period. Jayden Struble scored at 13:03 to make it 5-2.

Eichel one-timed Barbashev’s cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1 at 18:12 for the 6-2 final.

“They had a good night,” Cassidy said. “Let’s face it, in the third period we got off our game, they pushed us. I know it’s late, but at the end of the day, good on them to make a play.”

NOTES: Eichel has 32 points (seven goals, 25 assists) in 21 games. He is the fastest player in Golden Knights history to reach 30 points in a season. Mark Stone got his 30th point in his 24th game in 2020-21. … It was Eichel’s 15th three-point game with Vegas, tying William Karlsson for third in franchise history. Jonathan Marchessault had 25 three-point games with the Golden Knights, and Stone has had 20. … Vegas’ previous high for goals in a period this season was three, most recently in the third period of a 4-2 win at the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 15. … The Golden Knights scored five goals in the first period of a 6-2 win at the Vancouver Canucks on March 9, 2019, and in the third period of a 7-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 5, 2023. ... Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague played 15:09 and had one shot and four hits after missing eight games with an undisclosed injury.