Another strong third period as Knights rally past Arizona
There are still several areas of the Golden Knights’ game that needs work early this season, from puck management to the power play.
But their play in the third period continues to bail them out.
The Knights scored three times in the final 20 minutes Monday and escaped with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena.
Reilly Smith scored twice, including the tying goal early in the third period, and Chandler Stephenson tallied the go-ahead goal at 8:12 of the third in the first of four consecutive games between the teams.
The Knights own a plus-seven goal differential and have not allowed a goal in the third period through three games. They scored three times in the third to pull out a win over Anaheim in the opener and scored late in the second game before pulling out an overtime victory.
“I’m sure part of it is preparation and part of it is we have a veteran team that has a lot of confidence in their ability to win close games,’ coach Pete DeBoer said. “We were playing just well enough to stick around, but not well enough to win. We really dug in in the third.”
The Knights struggled to generate offense at five-on-five against Arizona and managed seven shots on goal at even strength through two periods.
But Max Pacioretty provided a spark late in the second period when he fired a shot wide then collected his own rebound behind the goal line and banked a shot off Arizona goaltender Darcy Kuemper at 17:02.
Pacioretty extended his goal scoring streak to three games, one shy of James Neal’s franchise record to open a season.
The Knights carried the momentum into the third and evened the score 4:13 into the period when Smith converted William Karlsson’s spectacular no-look, between-the-legs pass from behind the net.
Stephenson, who was snakebit in the opening series against Anaheim, put the Knights ahead with a little bit of luck. Defenseman Zach Whitecloud fired a shot from the point and the puck deflected off Stephenson, who lost his stick while battling with Arizona defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson in the slot.
“I guess I have to not try and maybe score some more goals this year without trying,” Stephenson said.
Robin Lehner (30 saves) won his second straight start and helped the Knights kill off a late six-on-four power play for the Coyotes.
The Knights were unable to convert on a two-man advantage in the first period and struggled to exit their own zone cleanly throughout the opening 20 minutes against the Coyotes forecheck.
Their sloppiness also led to Arizona’s first goal when Mark Stone turned over the puck in the offensive zone during a power play. Tyler Pitlick moved down the right wing on an odd-man rush then snapped a shot past Lehner’s glove at 8:24 of the first.
Nick Schmaltz added a power-play goal midway through the second period for Arizona before the Knights responded with four unanswered goals.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
