LAS VEGAS (AP) William Karlsson had the first hat trick in Vegas history and added an assist to help the streaking Golden Knights beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Sunday.
The Western Conference-leading Golden Knights have won seven straight and have earned points in 12 consecutive games, both NHL records for a first-year team. An NHL-best 11-1-1 in December, the Golden Knights are 16-2-1 at home and 26-9-2 overall.
Karlsson pushed his team-leading goals total to 20. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Erik Haula and Jonathan Marchessault also scored, and Malcolm Subban made 19 saves.
Auston Matthews scored twice for Toronto, Patrick Marleau added a goal, and Frederik Anderson stopped 25 shots.
Toronto is 11-7-1 against the Western Conference and 8-5-0 against Pacific Division team. The Maple Leafs, who played their 10th road game of the month, finished a five-game trip 2-2-1.
Toronto went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
Moments after Toronto defenseman Martin Marincin blocked Alex Tuch to thwart a 2-on-1, Bellemare's backhand slipped under Anderson's glove to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
Two minutes later, Vegas defenseman Deryk Engelland ignited a 2-on-1 break and fed the puck to Reilly Smith, who found Karlsson for a one-timer that beat Anderson stick side. Haula, playing in his 399th career game, made it 3-0 when he grabbed a loose puck at the red line and fired a wrist shot over Anderson's glove.
Marleau got Toronto on the board in the second period, when he took Connor Brown's pass in front of the crease and spun around to slip it past Subban.
Vegas went back up by three when Marchessault grabbed an errant pass that bounced off the referee's skate and fed Karlsson for his second of the game.
Matthews scored his 16th and 17th goals, connecting with less than a minute left in the second period and again 27 seconds into the third.
Vegas responded, however, when defenseman Shea Theodore entered the zone with Toronto skaters on his heels, then found Karlsson, who assisted Marchessault perfectly to put the Knights back up by two, 5-3.
NOTES
Matthews reached the 100-point plateau for his career. ... Maple Leafs G Calvin Pickard was Vegas' first pick in the expansion draft, from the Avalanche and was later traded to Toronto.
UP NEXT
Toronto: Hosts Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
Vegas: Hosts Nashville on Tuesday night.
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