Raphael Lavoie scored the first NHL goal of his career, a tap-in eight minutes into the third period, and it put the Vegas Golden Knights ahead for good in a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. The AP reported it. The win ended a three-game losing streak. Braeden Bowman had given Vegas the lead with a power-play goal, and William Karlsson and Jack Eichel each added an empty-netter.
The goaltending situation is the part of the story most recaps skip. Yahoo Sports reported that Carter Hart was injured during the team's morning skate, and that Adin Hill made 25 saves in his place. It also said Lavoie went from an expected healthy scratch to the game-winning scorer. Our box score has Hill stopping 25 of 26 shots, including 5 saves on the penalty kill. No outlet in our feed gives a diagnosis or timeline for Hart. He has started all 8 of his appearances this season and is 4-3. Hill is 5-1 in six starts, so Vegas is covered while Hart is out.
The box score shows how Vegas won. The Golden Knights blocked 24 shots to Ottawa's 6 and were outhit 24-14. They also gave the puck away 24 times to Ottawa's 10. Shots were close, 29 for Vegas and 26 for Ottawa, with Jonas Johansson stopping 25 of 27 for the Senators. By the line score, Bowman's goal came in the second period, and Ottawa's lone goal came in the third. Lavoie broke the tie after that, and the two empty-netters closed it out.
Lavoie's goal was a small piece of a larger season. He has 1 goal and 2 assists in 10 games, with a plus-2 rating and 10 penalty minutes. He played 8:20 on Tuesday and took one shot, the one that went in. His 2026 line was a single game with no points, so the goal was a long time coming. Bowman's goal was his second of the year, to go with 3 assists in 13 games.
For Ottawa, Yahoo ran a headline saying the Senators suffered "yet another injury" in the loss. The piece's summary only says they had plenty of Grade A chances that didn't go in. We don't have the name or severity of the injury. Sportsnet's AP story framed the game as the start of a five-game road trip, and the Senators are 8-5, second in the Atlantic, with a loss to San Jose by 6-2 on Oct. 22 and a 7-4 win over the Rangers in between. They play at Los Angeles on Thursday.
Vegas is 9-4 and first in the Pacific, though the win was only its first in three games, after losses at St. Louis (6-2) and at Columbus (2-1). The Golden Knights host New Jersey on Friday. The open questions are Hart's status and whether Lavoie stays in the lineup.
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