NHL

Vegas Golden Knights at Montreal Canadiens

· National Hockey League

Shea Theodore's 4-point game powers the Golden Knights to a 6-5 win over the Canadiens

Mark Stone nets late winner for Vegas in 11-goal thriller vs. Canadiens

Jack Eichel and Mark Stone each had a goal and two assists, and Brett Howden, Brayden McNabb and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas (13-3-1), which was coming off a 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Adin Hill, who entered the game with a .939 save percentage, stopped 23 shots.

“You’re going to have to win games in completely different ways every night in this league,” Stone said. “You’re going to have to win some of these run-and-gun games along the way, that’s what makes good teams good.

“I think six was probably pretty light tonight, with all the chances we had,” Stone said of Vegas' scoring.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy gave credit where it was due.

“They have a say in that too, right?” Cassidy said of the missed chances. “Their goaltender was excellent, then eventually you keep putting pucks at him and you’re going to get something to go usually — and that’s how it played out.”

Jesse Ylonen scored twice and Alex Newhook, Johnathan Kovacevic and Justin Barron added goals for Montreal (7-8-2). Nick Suzuki and defenseman Mike Matheson each had two assists. Cayden Primeau made 36 saves in his third start of the season.

The Golden Knights went 3 for 7 on the power play, while the Canadiens failed to convert on three man-advantage situations.

“We played with fire tonight, and got burned,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said.

Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher took a double-minor penalty for high sticking Pavel Dorofeyev with 2:51 left in the third period. Eichel and Stone scored for the Golden Knights with the man advantage.

Barron got one back for Montreal with the goalie pulled with 54 seconds left, but the Canadiens failed to get the tying goal.

Down 2-0, Vegas outscored Montreal 4-2 in a back-and-forth second period, tying the game entering the third.

Howden got Vegas on the board by beating Primeau short-handed at 2:33 with a shot that trickled under the netminder’s arm.

Ylonen replied at 8:28, scoring on a breakaway after tipping the puck between both Golden Knights defensemen at Montreal’s blue line and deking out Hill.

McNabb scored 18 seconds later to make it 3-2, and Marchessault added another at 11:20 to tie the game.

Ylonen scored his second of the night 33 seconds later, off a pass from behind the net by Michael Pezzetta to quickly regain the lead.

Theodore evened the score with a power-play goal off a shot from the point.

After the Golden Knights opened the game with the first eight shots, Newhook scored on Montreal’s first chance at 6:43 with a wrister from a sharp angle. It was his fourth goal of the season, and his first in 14 games.

Kovacevic then scored his first of the season at 10:03.

INJURIES

Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj left the game with an upper-body injury after falling to the ice from a heavy hit from Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev. Xhekaj exited favoring his left shoulder.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Canadiens: At the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

VGK wins series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 6:43 Alex Newhook Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (8), Mike Matheson (9)
Goal 1st Period 10:03 Johnathan Kovacevic Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Alex Newhook (5), Nick Suzuki (9)
Goal 2nd Period 2:33 Brett Howden Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Keegan Kolesar (2)
Goal 2nd Period 8:28 Jesse Ylönen Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: none
Goal 2nd Period 8:46 Brayden McNabb Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Shea Theodore (10), Jack Eichel (10)
Goal 2nd Period 11:20 Jonathan Marchessault Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Ivan Barbashev (2), Michael Amadio (7)
Goal 2nd Period 11:53 Jesse Ylönen Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Michael Pezzetta (2), Gustav Lindstrom (1)
Goal 2nd Period 16:07 Shea Theodore Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Jack Eichel (11), Mark Stone (11)
Goal 3rd Period 18:04 Jack Eichel Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Shea Theodore (11), Mark Stone (12)
Goal 3rd Period 18:48 Mark Stone Goal (5) Wrap-around, assists: William Karlsson (11), Shea Theodore (12)
Goal 3rd Period 19:06 Justin Barron Goal (4) Slap Shot, assists: Cole Caufield (10), Mike Matheson (10)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/vgk.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originVGK https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/mtl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMTL
13 Blocked Shots 26
29 Hits 23
8 Takeaways 5
42 Shots 28
3 Power Play Goals 0
7 Power Play Opportunities 3
42.9 Power Play Percentage 0.0
1 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
33 Faceoffs Won 35
48.5 Faceoff Win Percent 51.5
7 Giveaways 12
3 Total Penalties 6
6 Penalty Minutes 14
Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Phillip Danault, C Day-To-Day Dec 22
Sam Montembeault, G Out Dec 21
Jake Evans, C Injured Reserve Dec 21
Kaiden Guhle, D Injured Reserve Dec 20
Kirby Dach, C Injured Reserve Dec 20
Vegas Golden Knights Vegas Golden Knights Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jack Eichel, C Day-To-Day Dec 22

Game Information

Bell Centre

Location: Montreal, QC
Attendance: 21,105 | Capacity:

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Anaheim 21 14 44 2
Vegas 16 8 42 10
Edmonton 18 13 42 6
Los Angeles 15 11 39 9
San Jose 17 16 37 3
Seattle 14 14 34 6
Calgary 15 17 34 4
Vancouver 15 18 33 3

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Detroit 21 13 45 3
Tampa Bay 20 13 43 3
Montreal 19 12 43 5
Boston 20 16 41 1
Florida 19 14 40 2
Ottawa 18 13 40 4
Buffalo 17 14 38 4
Toronto 15 15 35 5
Full Standings