Barbashev, Olofsson lead Knights to fourth straight win, 5-3 over Mammoth

LAS VEGAS — If Ivan Barbashev’s game was going to suffer after being moved off the Vegas Golden Knights’ top line, we haven’t seen it.

The veteran left wing appears comfortable skating with Tomas Hertl and Victor Olofsson on the Knights’ third line while Trevor Connelly works with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone on Ryan Craig’s top line.

Barbashev scored twice in the second period to help Vegas build a 4-1 lead over the Utah Mammoth, and while he was unable to notch a hat trick, it was enough offense to propel the Knights to their fourth straight win as they topped Utah 5-3 at T-Mobile Arena.

Barbashev had just two goals in 19 games entering Wednesday’s contest. He doubled his season output in less than four minutes. He missed a hat trick by inches in the final seconds shooting at an empty net.

More important, the entire line had six points with Olofsson contributing a goal and a pair of assists and Hertl assisting on Barbashev’s second goal.

“I thought we played really well, especially in the second period,” Barabshev said. “We kept putting the puck behind them and we got rewarded.”

Every coach seeks balance from his lines. And when your third line is generating offense, it usually means success for the team.

“Players want continuity,” Craig said. “When you have all three lines working, and our fourth line was also very good tonight, when everyone’s contributing, it allows you to have some flow to your game.”

Both teams came into the game missing key pieces. Defenseman Noah Hanifin is considered week-to-week by Craig after suffering an upper body injury Sunday in Buffalo. Parker Wotherspoon, who missed 13 games himself with an upper-body ailment, returned to the lineup.

Utah was without forwards Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther as well as defensemen Nate Schmidt and John Marino. Then it was without Nick Schmaltz, who was hit by Brett Howden in the first period and did not return. But the Mammoth pride themselves on their resiliency and it showed again Wednesday even though it fell behind early.

It didn’t take the Knights long to get going offensively — just 2:15 after an Utah penalty 59 seconds in put Vegas on the power play. Mitch Marner set up Jack Eichel at the left circle and his one-timer whistled past Sebastian Cossa and in for a 1-0 lead.

Utah got it back a few minutes when Lawson Crouse backhanded a rebound of Andrew Peeke’s shot past Carter Hart to tie it 1-1. The Knights had a great opportunity late in the first to regain the lead as they were on a full two-minutes 5-on-3 power play. But they were unable to generate much from it and it remained even going into the second period.

But Barbashev’s pair of goals helped erase the sour taste of the squandered opportunity. His first came into a yawning cage as Olofsson tried to shoot but it wound up more of a pass and Barbashev probably won’t have an easier chance this year save for an empty net goal opportunity.

“I wish,” Olofsson said of his “shot” that wound up a pass. “I fanned on it pretty bad but it turned into a perfect pass.”

His second was a beauty. He stickhandled past a befuddled and stationary Mikhail Sergachev, deked Cossa and beat him with a forehand move that made it 4-1.

“I saw some space between the two defensemen, made a move and it was nice to score a goal,” Barbashev said.

Both Barbashev and Olofsson, who had just returned to the lineup after missing 12 games, said the simplicity of what they do is what’s making the line effective.

“Everybody’s skilled, everybody’s working hard and it’s been fun,” Barbashev  said. “We just want to get the puck behind (the defense) and go to work.”

Olofsson said: “It’s been a little rusty but I feel like i’m getting there. Tonight was probably our best game. We played it kinda simple and it was pretty effective.”

The Mammoth pulled within 4-3 before Howden tipped in William Karlsson’s shot from 50 feet away to restore Vegas’ two-goal advantage, 5-3 with 9:41 to go.

The Knights limited Utah’s offensive opportunities, holding the Mammoth to just 17 shots total. Meanwhile, the Knights got points from their top three lines, including Mark Stone’s assist on Eichel’s first-period power play goal.

Why is that significant? With the assist, the captain is now one point from tying Jonathan Marchessault as the franchise’s career scoring leader. Stone now has 416 points and has done it in 419 games. He’ll have a chance to tie or surpass Marchessault Friday when Marchessault’s current team, the Nashville Predators, visit T-Mobile. Marchessault, an original Golden Misfit who played for the Knights from 2017-2024, had 417 points in 514 games.

Marchessault has been dealing with a lower-body injury and he did not play Wednesday in Anaheim against the Ducks, the fifth straight game he has missed. His status for Friday against the Knights is unknown.

But the Knights have momentum on their side at the moment. Four straight wins will instill confidence in the locker room.

“We did a good job getting back to our game whenever the momentum shifted,” Howden said. “We’ve been doing some good things of late. The puck hasn’t been going in but I thought we did a good job of sticking with it. We had quite a few good looks throughout so it’s funny how the one that goes in is the one you don’t expect to go in.”