New York—Jonathan Marchessault sparks the Golden Knights offense against the Rangers with a hat trick. Adin Hill made 36 saves as the resurgent Vegas Golden Knights defeated the New York Rangers 5-2 Friday evening.

Then, Keegan Kolesar and Sheldon Rempal both found the net, adding two more goals. Ivan Barbashev notched three assists, while Nicolas Roy chipped in with two. All contributing to Vegas’ 5-0-1 record in their last six games.

Meanwhile, Blake Wheeler tallied a goal and an assist, with Kaapo Kakko also finding the net for the Rangers, who returned from a 1-2-1 West Coast trip. They have suffered nine losses in 13 games this month (4-7-2).

Igor Shesterkin who only had 15 saves.was pulled late in the game for an extra man. This lead to Marchessault knocking down his 25th goal of the season and second hat-trick.

“Sometimes you’re luckier than other times. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” Marchessault said. “When you’re hot, you just want to keep it going.”

In his second consecutive start following an undisclosed injury that sidelined him for over a month, Hill has stopped 76 of the 80 shots over the course of these two games.

“It’s just fun being back with the team,” Hill said. “I feel good, my body feels good and I’m able to do everything I need to do. It’s nice for the confidence and the mental side of it, so just keep building off of it.”

Rempal put the Golden Knights ahead 1-0 just 5:02 into the game, seemingly redirecting Paul Cotter’s sharp-angle shot from the right circle off his stick and past Shesterkin’s blocker. The 28-year-old Rempal found the net for the second consecutive game, following his first NHL goal three days prior in Vegas’ 3-2 victory against the New York Islanders.

Then in the second period Kolesar intercepted a pass from Artemi Panarin, raced up the ice on a breakaway, and scored past Shesterkin’s glove side at 3:18 , securing his fourth goal and giving Vegas a 2-1 advantage.

Less than a minute later, Marchessault redirected Barbashev’s floating shot from the left circle past Shesterkin, extending the lead to 3-1.

Big takeaway from this game was the need for work on the power play, the Rangers blanked them on 2 chances. on the whole, it’s great to see Adin Hill back, and VGK back to their winning ways.

Up next the Golden Knights are at Detroit Saturday night to finish an4 game road-trip before the All-Star break.

For the latest VGK and NHL news follow @vinquezada1 on X( formerly Twitter).

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By: Vincent Quezada

Photo Credit: AP/ Peter K. Afriyie