Lavoie Scores Game-Winner as Vegas Beats Ottawa 4-1

Raphael Lavoie scored his first career NHL goal midway through the third period to push the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Vegas, which improved its record to 9-4-1 on the season.

Lavoie Capitalizes on Unexpected Opportunity

Lavoie was originally slated to sit out as a healthy scratch before goaltender Carter Hart suffered an injury during the morning skate, forcing a late lineup change. Making his 10th appearance of the season and 27th overall in the league, the forward broke a 1-1 tie at the 8:01 mark of the final period by converting a chance near the net.

“Just before I left the rink, they told me I was playing,” Lavoie said. “So yeah, guess that’s how it was supposed to happen, I guess.”

Ville Heinola and Nic Dowd earned assists on the decisive goal. Heinola picked up a point in his Golden Knights debut, while Dowd reached 200 points for his career. Head coach Ryan Craig noted that defender Marc Gatcomb initiated the play in the defensive zone before Heinola joined the rush, leading to the finish.

“Pretty much everybody on the ice touched the puck,” Lavoie said.

Hill Delivers Clutch Performance

Goaltender Adin Hill provided a strong base for Vegas, stopping 25 of 26 shots to earn his fifth win of the campaign. Ottawa established an 11-4 shooting advantage during a goalless opening period, but Hill preserved the tie early in the second by denying Tim Stützle on a cross-crease back-post opportunity.

Hill’s most crucial intervention came late in the second period while Vegas was on a power play. As Ottawa’s Ridly Greig broke away on a shorthanded attack, Hill charged out toward the right faceoff circle to poke the puck away. The Golden Knights immediately transitioned up the ice, leading to Braeden Bowman scoring off an Ivan Barbashev rebound with 11 seconds remaining in the period.

“At the end of it, just did a butterfly, kind of aimed to make sure he didn’t get the puck through me,” Hill said. “And yeah, we had a little collision there.”

Closing Out the Win

Ottawa responded quickly in the third period, evening the score just 34 seconds in when Drake Batherson set up Shane Pinto for a power-play goal. The tally marked the sixth consecutive game in which Vegas has surrendered a power-play goal. Senators netminder Jonas Johansson made 25 saves in the loss.

After Lavoie restored the lead, Vegas tightened its defensive play before William Karlsson added an empty-net goal with two minutes remaining. Jack Eichel scored another empty-netter with seven seconds on the clock to cap the 4-1 result.

The Golden Knights will wrap up their two-game homestand on Friday afternoon when they host the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena.