3 takeaways from Knights' win: Olofsson goal caps impressive road trip

Danny Webster, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Apr 7, 2025

Published in Hockey

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Victor Olofsson shot so much Saturday it was a surprise he couldn’t find the back of the net.

He needed only five shots to break through Sunday.

Olofsson scored a go-ahead goal with 3:14 remaining and the Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at Rogers Arena.

The left wing’s heroics came one day after he set a career high with nine shots in the Knights’ 3-2 overtime win over the Calgary Flames.

Left wing Ivan Barbashev and center Nicolas Roy also scored in their team’s fifth straight road win, while goaltender Adin Hill made 19 saves.

The victory put the Knights (47-22-8) five points up on the second-place Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division with five games left in the regular season. The Kings (44-23-9) have a game in hand.

The Knights started slow Sunday in their second game in less than 24 hours. The Canucks (35-29-13) had a 6-1 edge in shots on goal through the first 4:46 and grabbed a 1-0 lead when left wing Nils Hoglander pounced on a rebound.

The goal woke the Knights up.

They fired the game’s next five shots and scored twice in that span. Barbashev tied the game 8:36 into the first period after using a backhand move to get around Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen. Roy gave the Knights a 2-1 lead with 6:45 remaining until the first intermission after his shot bounced off defenseman Victor Mancini’s skate and into the net.

The Canucks responded in the second period with a goal from center Aatu Raty 8:03 into the frame. Coach Bruce Cassidy challenged for goaltender interference given Raty appeared to impede Hill’s movement in the crease on the play, but the call was upheld.

The Knights didn’t let it affect them. They dominated the third period, outshooting Vancouver 12-2 and taking the lead on Olofsson’s late goal.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Back-to-back

This weekend couldn’t have gone better for the Knights.

They were coming off a tough homestand that featured a 3-2 loss to the Oilers on Tuesday and a 4-0 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Cassidy asked his team to focus on being tougher around the crease against the Flames and the Canucks and it paid off in a huge way.

2. Lankinen strong

Lankinen kept Vancouver in the game even when the Knights dominated.

The Canucks’ backup goalie made 32 saves in the loss.

The defeat put a significant damper on Vancouver’s playoff chances. The Canucks are eight points back of the Minnesota Wild, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, with five games to play.

3. Rare Eichel penalty

Knights center Jack Eichel hasn’t been in the penalty box often this season.

Eichel was called for a high-sticking penalty with 2:51 remaining in the first period. It was just his fourth minor penalty this season, and first since Dec. 12.

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