NHL

Ottawa Senators at Vegas Golden Knights

· National Hockey League
Final
3 - 6

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev lift Golden Knights over Senators 6-3

Senators lose 4th straight in D.J. Smith's final game behind the bench

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev each had a goal and an assist, while Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights.

Adin Hill, who allowed one goal, made just two saves in his return to the net for the first time since Nov. 30. He left 6:25 into the game.

Thompson showed signs of a lower-body injury suffered in the third period, as he hunched over between shots, and was slow to get up each time he went down to block a shot.

Vegas captain Mark Stone said he was disappointed for Hill.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” said Stone, who finished with three assists. “He’ll get right back to work tomorrow to try and get back in the lineup. Definitely not worried about him. LT came in and played really well for us and got us the win.”

Vegas, which improved to 10-1-0 all-time against the Senators, extended its win streak against Ottawa to nine games. The Golden Knights have outscored the Senators 47-29 and have scored three or more goals in 10 of the 11 meetings.

Both teams finished 2 for 5 on the power play, as Vegas improved to 6 for 17 with an extra attacker over its last four games. Since a four-game drought without a power-play goal in mid-November, the Golden Knights are 17 for 68 (25%), tied for eighth-best in the NHL in that span.

“I think that’s something that we’ve really been good at this year,” Stephenson said. “It’s helped us win games, create momentum, kind of all the above, so it’s something that we’re confident in right now.”

Josh Norris, Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators and Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves.

After Friday’s disappointing collapse against Buffalo, the defending champion Knights wasted no time getting on the board, as Barbashev skated in on a 2-on-1 with Eichel, who kept the puck for himself and beat Korpisalo with a snapper 1:37 into the game.

Eichel extended his point streak to a franchise-record 10 games.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Hill would be evaluated before the team leaves for a four-game trip that begins Tuesday in Carolina.

Ottawa has lost four straight and eight of its last 11.

“Everybody wants to win so badly, and, of course, it’s not as easy to do in this league,” Tkachuk said. “We’re seeing that right now that it’s hard to win. We have to find a way to find a way to just give our absolute best on Tuesday.”

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit Arizona on Tuesday.

Golden Knights: Visit Carolina on Tuesday.

Regular Season Series

VGK leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 1:37 Jack Eichel Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Ivan Barbashev (8), Ben Hutton (5)
Goal 1st Period 6:25 Josh Norris Goal (9) Snap Shot, assists: Tim Stützle (23), Jake Sanderson (10)
Goal 1st Period 10:55 Ridly Greig Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Claude Giroux (16), Jakob Chychrun (16)
Goal 1st Period 13:32 Jonathan Marchessault Goal (15) Wrist Shot, assists: Brett Howden (4), Brayden McNabb (10)
Goal 2nd Period 9:53 Nicolas Roy Goal (5) Backhand, assists: Ben Hutton (6)
Goal 2nd Period 11:31 Chandler Stephenson Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Mark Stone (20)
Goal 2nd Period 19:48 Ivan Barbashev Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Nicolas Hague (5), Mark Stone (21)
Goal 3rd Period 5:43 William Karlsson Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Mark Stone (22), Jack Eichel (22)
Goal 3rd Period 18:39 Brady Tkachuk Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Drake Batherson (13), Josh Norris (7)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/ott.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOTT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/vgk.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originVGK
12 Blocked Shots 18
41 Hits 25
6 Takeaways 10
25 Shots 31
2 Power Play Goals 2
5 Power Play Opportunities 5
40.0 Power Play Percentage 40.0
0 Short Handed Goals 1
0 Shootout Goals 0
34 Faceoffs Won 26
56.7 Faceoff Win Percent 43.3
2 Giveaways 8
5 Total Penalties 5
10 Penalty Minutes 10
Vegas Golden Knights Vegas Golden Knights Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Ottawa Senators Ottawa Senators Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Tyler Kleven, D Out Dec 23
Lars Eller, C Out Dec 17
Shane Pinto, C Injured Reserve Dec 6

Game Information

T-Mobile Arena

Location: Las Vegas, NV
Attendance: 17,892 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Detroit 22 13 47 3
Montreal 20 12 45 5
Tampa Bay 20 13 43 3
Florida 20 14 42 2
Ottawa 18 13 41 5
Boston 20 17 41 1
Buffalo 18 14 40 4
Toronto 16 15 37 5

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Vegas 17 8 44 10
Anaheim 21 14 44 2
Edmonton 19 13 44 6
Los Angeles 15 12 39 9
San Jose 17 17 37 3
Seattle 15 14 36 6
Calgary 15 18 34 4
Vancouver 15 18 33 3
Full Standings