The Vegas Golden Knights (7-2-3) found their way back into the win column when they secured a 1-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings (9-5-0) Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Akira Schmid made 24 saves for his sixth win of the year and first shutout as a member of the Golden Knights. Ivan Barbashev scored the lone goal for Vegas.

Noah Hanifin returned to the lineup after missing 10 games, and he did not look out of place.

The only goal of the game came 13:45 into the second period. For the third time this season, Vegas was able to take a 1-0 lead.

Barbashev’s fourth of the year came on a rebound after Detroit netminder John Gibson stopped Brandon Saad’s initial shot. Gibson had been leaving rebounds, and Vegas was finally able to take advantage.

Schmid made a pair of fantastic saves in the third period to rob Alex DeBrincat twice, swatting the rebound out of the air with his glove to keep the Red Wings off the board.

“[DeBrincat] was so close and shot so hard, it just popped out,” Schmid said. “I didn’t know if it hit him or our guy, but I just kind of threw my hand in the air hoping to hit it, and thank God I did.”

It appeared as though Jeremy Lauzon had scored his first goal as a member of the Golden Knights to make it 2-0 with just over five minutes in the third period. However, Detroit’s offside challenge was successful, as it was ruled that Brett Howden did not have control of the puck when crossing the blue line. It was a very similar play to the Nikita Kucherov goal that was called back in Vegas’ Oct. 26 overtime loss in Tampa Bay.

Though Lauzon’s goal didn’t count, he did record the secondary assist on Barbashev’s goal, giving him three assists on the year.

Detroit eventually pulled Gibson, but the Golden Knights were able to close out the win to improve to 7-2-3 on the year and 1-1-0 on this six-game homestand.

Despite the lack of offense, this was a solid overall performance by the Golden Knights, and it’s the kind of game Vegas can build on. Defensively, it was one of Vegas’ best games of the year.

To address the offensive side of things, Bruce Cassidy shuffled the lines, putting William Karlsson with Howden and Mitch Marner, Jack Eichel with Saad and Reilly Smith, and Barbashev with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev.

Cassidy said changing up the lines forces players to communicate more, which can help them reengage. He said he was looking for “a little spark offensively. We started the year, pucks were going in, power play included. And now, not so much. We’re not generating those looks.”

Many of the changes seemed to pay off, even if the scoresheet doesn’t reflect that.

For example, the Howden, Eichel and Barbashev line struggled mightily, trailing 12-3 in shot attempts and 4-0 in shots. However, the trio of Eichel, Saad and Smith led 10-4 in Corsi, 6-3 in shots and 0.74-0.16 in expected goals (82.37 percent) in six minutes of ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“It seems like it’s kind of the way it’s going right now with different injuries and different guys going on different nights,” Saad said about the line changes, explaining that it’s just important to be “prepared to play your game regardless of who you’re with. Luckily, we have a deep team, so whoever you’re with, you’re gonna have some chances.”

Saad had a particularly strong game, with the primary assist on Barbashev’s goal and a breakaway bid late in the third period. He is still waiting for his first goal of the year but recorded a game-high seven shots and a game-high 1.6 expected goals.

He attributed this uptick to “just finding the areas, being around the net, [getting a] couple of good bounces. Obviously want one to go in, but it’s about getting the chances, and keep building on that.”

The Golden Knights played a relatively clean game without many mistakes. It was a grind to break through offensively, but the Golden Knights did what they needed to do to take the lead, maintain the lead and secure an important two points. In other words, the Golden Knights were able to “stick with it,” as both Saad and Cassidy put it.

“We had our ups and downs throughout the game, but I think when we turned over pucks, we did a good job of just clogging the middle and playing good defense,” Saad said. “We know [the Red Wings] can capitalize on their chances, so for us it was just playing good defense.”

Schmid, who is now 6-1-0 this season, played a key role in the club’s defensive effort.

“He was great,” Saad said about the Vegas netminder. “He made some timely saves for us, so that’s always huge to give you confidence going the other way.”

But the defense as a whole looked stronger with the return of Hanifin, who recorded three shots and played 22:40, trailing only Shea Theodore (22:53). Hanifin also was active offensively, which is an encouraging sign for a Vegas blue line that has not produced much this year.

“He was active, engaged in the game,” Cassidy said. “It sure looked in the offensive zone that he wanted the puck and was willing to move to get it and willing to move to create a lane for himself. I thought, defensively, he looked sound for a guy that hadn’t played in a while.”

Hanifin’s presence gives the team a boost in confidence on both sides of the puck.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Schmid said. “He looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He looked great out there.”

Saad echoed those sentiments.

“He’s a top skater, and you can see the way he moves with his legs and can skate around guys. He makes a big difference, and obviously we’re happy to have him back.”

Overall, the Golden Knights are still struggling to put the puck in the net. It’s a far cry from seemingly being able to score at will, as was the case for Vegas at the start of the year. Mark Stone’s absence continues to be a factor, though the power play wasn’t fully tested with only one opportunity in the game.

Even so, there is value in winning a close game.

“Coaches are generally happy when you pitch a shutout,” Cassidy said. “Now, we have some other things to work on. … But you gotta find a way to win when you don’t get very many goals, and we were able to do that tonight.”

The Golden Knights’ six-game homestand continues Thursday against the Predators.

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.