Marc Gatcomb scores late as Vegas Golden Knights hold off Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at Rogers Arena

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Marc Gatcomb scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at Rogers Arena on Sunday. The Golden Knights improved to 2-1-0, bouncing back from a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

The scoring opened with a Vancouver power-play goal from Paul Cotter, who scored in his 300th NHL game to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 18:52 of the first period. With Jake DeBrusk listed as ill, Cotter took his place on the top power play unit, tipping Filip Hronek’s cross-ice pass from the top of the left face-off circle over Adin Hill.

Mitch Marner tied the game at 9:01 of the second period, converting a play that began with Brayden McNabb’s point shot. The puck deflected off the skate of Vancouver defenseman Zeev Buium in the right slot and rolled across the ice to an open Marner, who pulled the puck back into the middle of the slot as Kevin Lankinen moved across to his left for the first goal of Marner’s season.

Victor Olofsson put Vegas ahead 2-1 at 14:30 as part of a five-forward power play. Mark Stone’s pass came off a rebound of a Jack Eichel one-timer and slid across to Olofsson at the bottom of the right face-off circle for a one-timer, before Lankinen could get across his net.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki evened the score 2-2 at 17:54, skating onto a loose puck off the rush and snapping a far-side wrist shot under Hill’s blocker arm from low in the right face-off circle. The goal levelled the contest with 2:06 remaining in the second period.

Vegas regained the lead 34 seconds later, when a rebound of Braeden Bowman’s wraparound attempt was collected by Gatcomb at the other side of the net for a tap-in. It was Gatcomb’s first goal since signing with the Golden Knights on July 1 as a free agent.

In net, Adin Hill made 17 saves for Vegas, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 25 shots for Vancouver. The Canucks dropped to 2-2-0 after playing back-to-back games following a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.