Canucks continue tough trip in Vegas

The Vancouver Canucks go from one Stanley Cup Finals participant to the next, losing to the defending champion Washington Capitals at home Monday night and traveling to Las Vegas to play the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night at the T-Mobile Arena.

Vancouver coach Travis Green said he believes the Canucks (5-4-0) can learn from the way the Capitals played in his team's 5-2 loss on Monday night.

"They don't just go out there and just play summer hockey. They play the game the right way," Green said of Alex Ovechkin and Co. "These are valuable experiences and lessons for our players, our young players especially.

"They're big, they're strong, they're skilled, they win puck battles, they manage the puck. They do everything that Stanley Cup winning teams do. And they're deep. Man, that's a good hockey team."

The same could be said about Vegas (4-4-0) in the Golden Knights' dreamy inaugural season last year, when they shocked the NHL by advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Capitals.

The Golden Knights have shown flashes of yesteryear in their present three-game winning streak, which includes a dominating 3-1 win over the first-place Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

William Karlsson, Ryan Reaves and Jonathan Marchessault scored off a season-high 45 shots while allowing the Ducks to attempt only 18. Marchessault's score came on an empty net.

"Our forecheck was amazing," Marchessault said. "We played fast. We got a lot of shots off -- not necessarily quality ones -- but we still got good chances. ... It was good to get a good home game here."

Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 17 saves for his 408th career victory and passed Glenn Hall for 10th on the all-time list for goaltenders.

Fleury has allowed two goals in his last three games and has stopped 69 of 71 shots in that span.

Vancouver goalie Anders Nilsson had a much tougher night against Washington, allowing five shots to reach the net out of 33 attempts.

Penalties played a big part in the Canucks' loss, with Washington netting two power-play goals. The Canucks also converted on a power play, a point of emphasis for them.

Right winger Brock Boeser fired a hard shot with puck bouncing off the pads of Capitals goalie Braden Holtby and on to Sven Baertschi's stick. Holtby didn't have time to reset before Baertschi fired the shot past him for his third goal of the year.

"For us on the power play, we've talked about taking more shots, playing more direct and not trying to be too cute," Vancouver center Bo Horvat said. "(Boeser) made the right play, put it on net and (Baertschi) was right there for the rebound."

Horvat echoed Green by saying the Canucks can learn from how the Capitals played --aggressive, creating penalty opportunities and capitalizing on them.

"They were moving their feet, getting on the forecheck, taking the play to us at times," Horvat said.

The Golden Knights hope to put together a strong first 20 minutes against Vancouver similar to how they played against the Ducks. They had more than twice as many shot attempts as Anaheim (27-12) and held a 15-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Despite that discrepancy, Vegas did not score until 13.7 seconds remained in the first period on a power-play goal by Karlsson when he redirected Marchessault's shot in the net. It was Karlsson's second goal in as many games after he was held without a goal in the first six games.

"We played a good team and controlled the play a lot," Fleury said. "It's still early in the season, but when the playoffs come around and you need to push to make it, getting those early points can help you win the race."