Reilly Smith found the back of the net twice, leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a 7-4 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.
Jonathan Marchessault, William Carrier, Keegan Kolesar, Chandler Stephenson, and Max Pacioretty also contributed goals for Vegas, while Robin Lehner made 22 saves.
The Golden Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the second period, and despite a third-period surge from the Coyotes, they secured the win. Vegas improved to 12-5-0 all-time against Arizona, including 4-1-0 this season.
Nick Schmaltz, Dryden Hunt, Clayton Keller, and Michael Bunting scored for the Coyotes. Adin Hill stopped 27 of 32 shots in the first two periods before Ivan Prosvetov entered in the third, making three saves on four shots.
Arizona, playing its sixth game on a season-high nine-game road trip, came into the matchup having won six of its previous eight (6-2-0). The Coyotes are navigating a challenging stretch of 16 out of 20 games on the road.
Vegas wasted no time putting the pressure on, racing to a 4-0 lead in under nine minutes, with goals on a power play, short-handed, and from the fourth line. By keeping Arizona’s defense on edge and capitalizing on turnovers, the Golden Knights outshot the Coyotes 22-8 in the first period, including 13 of the first 14 shots of the game.
“That’s how we wanted to do it,” Smith said of the fast start. “Good effort up and down our lineup.”
Marchessault kicked off the scoring with a power-play goal off a pass from Pacioretty, and Carrier followed by punching home a rebound for a 2-0 lead. Arizona coach Rick Tocchet called an early timeout just 4:41 into the game in frustration, but it had little effect. Kolesar quickly added a goal by stealing the puck from Ilya Lyubushkin and beating Hill, and Smith scored on a 2-on-0 short-handed break to make it 4-0.
“Four or five guys had a really tough night,” Tocchet said. “Vegas, when they smell blood, they’ll give it to you. This team can’t have four or five guys who are not ready.”
Vegas extended their lead to 5-0 early in the second period when Stephenson scored, snapping a 13-game goal drought. Arizona responded late in the period when Schmaltz scored on a power play to break Lehner’s shutout.
The Coyotes added three quick goals to open the third period, but Smith’s second goal of the game restored Vegas’ cushion. Bunting answered shortly after with a goal of his own to cut the lead to 6-4. Pacioretty sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, the 299th of his career.
“We were falling asleep a little bit,” Smith said. “We need to play 60 minutes to put teams away.”
Vegas coach Peter DeBoer echoed that sentiment: “You should walk out feeling great about that game. We got away with it.”
Game Notes:
- Milestones: Pacioretty played in his 800th career game, and Shea Theodore reached 300 career games played.
- Injury Report: Coyotes forward Christian Fischer left the game after a hit from Carrier and was helped off the ice. His condition was not updated after the game.
- Ironman Streak: Phil Kessel, who had three assists, passed Steve Larmer for the fifth-longest consecutive games played streak in NHL history with 885 games.
Up Next:
- The teams will conclude their two-game series in Las Vegas on Sunday.
