Golden Knights pick up crucial win over Oilers

LAS VEGAS (AP) Nick Cousins scored in his Vegas debut and the Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Wednesday night in a matchup between two of the top teams in the Pacific Division.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves to earn his 61st career shutout, tied for 17th all-time with Turk Broda. The 16-year-veteran netminder is now 5-0-0 in his last five starts.

Cousins, acquired from Montreal at the NHL's trade deadline Monday, became the 10th player in Golden Knights history to score a goal in his team debut. He knocked home a rebound on a power play for his sixth overall goal to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead midway through the third period.

Max Pacioretty and Shea Theodore also scored for Vegas, which won its seventh straight game.

With the victory, the Golden Knights increased their lead to four points ahead of the Oilers and Vancouver, each with 74 points. Just six points separate the top four squads in the Pacific as Calgary holds the top wild-card spot, two points better than Nashville.

Vegas improved to 11-3-2 under Peter DeBoer, who replaced fired Gerard Gallant on Jan. 15.

Edmonton is 18-13-3 on the road and lost for the first time when playing on the second of back-to-back nights, dropping to 6-1-0.

Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves for the Oilers.

Pacioretty put Vegas on the board when he skated in on the right side, past Josh Archibald, and lasered a wrist shot over the shoulder of Koskinen. It marked the fifth 30-goal season in Pacioretty's career, and first since 2016-17.

Theodore extended Vegas' lead to 3-0 when he took a pass from Alec Martinez off a draw and fired a shot from the point past Koskinen.

NOTES: Oilers forward Andreas Athanasiou left with a lower-body injury after one shift in the third period and did not return.

UP NEXT

Oilers: host Winnipeg on Saturday.

Golden Knights: host Buffalo on Friday.

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