The Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0, finish their four-game homestand to start the season facing off against the Arizona Coyotes, 1-1-1, for the second time in two nights.
The Vegas Golden Knights remained perfect at home to start the season defeating the Arizona Coyotes in their last outing by a score of four to two. They face the Coyotes again on Wednesday to round out their four-game stand at home and second consecutive against Arizona. The Knights rallied in the final period of the game after being down two to one at the end of two. Vegas scored three goals in the 3rd period to emphasize their win. Reilly Smith and Chandler Stephenson scored their first goals of the season in this game.
Season Leaders
Mark Stone leads the Knights in points with five so far this season via one goal and four assists. He leads the team in assists as well. Max Pacioretty leads the team in goals with three as well as shots with 16. The lead in penalties minutes goes to Jonathan Marchessault with six. Shea Theodore touts the best plus/minus on the team with a plus seven.
Jakob Chychrun leads the Coyotes in points with four thanks to one goal and three assists. He also leads the team in assists. Arizona has three players with double-digit shots including Chychrun, Clayton Keller, and Conor Garland. However, none of them lead the team in goals. That title belongs to Phil Kessel who has three so far this season. Johan Larsson is the Coyote most likely to be found in the penalty box with a team lead of four penalty minutes. Keller has the best plus/minus on the team with a plus three.
Down but Never Out
Vegas has been down in their past two games but rallied back to win both to remain perfect on the season. The Knights found themselves behind one goal to nothing at the start of the third period in their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 16th. William Karlsson scored with two minutes to go in that one pushing the game to overtime. Pacioretty scored seven seconds into overtime to win the game.
Then in their next game on Monday against the Coyotes, Vegas was down two goals to nothing halfway through the second period. Pacioretty, who scored his third of the season, got Vegas on the board. In the third, the Knights battled back with Smith scoring four minutes in to tie the game. Then four minutes later Stephenson scored to give the Knights the lead. Smith added the icing on the cake at the end of the third with a shorthanded empty-net goal to pad the lead.
Coyotes Howl Early
Arizona proved their offensive might by scoring the first two goals of the game in their last game against Vegas. They had 17 shots in the first period netting one goal. Six of their 10 goals scored this season have all came in the first half of the game. They continued to outshoot the Knights 32 to 28. They also were credited with more hits 30-21 getting physical early. The Coyotes had six penalty minutes in the first period.
The problem for Arizona thus far has been staying in games. They dropped their first game of the season to the San Jose Sharks in a shootout. They rallied back in this one scoring two goals in the third to tie but couldn’t capitalize in overtime or the shootout. In their second game of the season, they defeated the Sharks but again scored four of their five goals in the first half of the game. In their latest matchup against Vegas, they scored the first two goals of the game but surrendered four in the second half of the game; three coming in the third when Arizona still had the lead.
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