Golden Knights report: Pete DeBoer loses friendly wager to ex-coach

Knights win 3-2 (SO)

RJ’s three stars

3. Knights center Brett Howden — The ex-Ranger scored and had an assist in his first game against his former team. The fourth liner is plus-three at five-on-five the last two games.

2. Rangers center Mika Zibanejad — He had a goal and an assist against one of his favorite teams to face. He has six goals and four assists in seven games against the Knights.

1. Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit — He made 27 saves and stopped all three shootout attempts he faced to win for the fifth time in seven starts. It was his fifth start with a save percentage of .923 or above.

Key play

Defenseman Dylan Coghlan’s third-period goal.

The Rangers did a good job sitting on their 2-1 lead early in the third. The Knights had a lot of possession, but only two shots on goal through the first 14 minutes. Then Howden won an offensive zone faceoff back to defenseman Nic Hague, who tapped the puck to Coghlan over the stick of left wing Filip Chytil.

Coghlan shot from the top of the right circle and scored for his second goal in as many games. It was his third of the season, matching the total he had as a rookie.

The goal tied the game with 5:16 left in the third period and paved the way for the Knights to improve to 4-8 when trailing after two periods.

Key stat

3-0 — The Knights record in overtime.

Friday was their second shootout win in two tries after defeating the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 Oct. 29. They also beat the Dallas Stars in overtime 3-2 Oct. 27.

Dating back to last season, the Knights are 13-2 in overtime and shootouts.

DeBoer loses bet

Knights coach Pete DeBoer received a text from one of his friends in the coaching business Friday morning. It said “I won.”

It came from Paul Maurice, who resigned as coach of the Winnipeg Jets on Friday because he said he believes his players needed a new voice. DeBoer worked under Maurice on the Ontario Hockey League’s Detroit Junior Red Wings for two seasons from 1993-95 and they’ve remained friends since.

Maurice has coached 1,684 NHL games and DeBoer has coached 962.

“We have an ongoing joke,” DeBoer said. “We’re lifelong coaches, both of us. We started together when we were in our mid-20s. It was always who was going to walk away first and grab a fishing pole and go to the lake and he texted me today that he won. I’m not sure he won’t be back though. We’ll see. I’m not going to pay that debt yet.”

Knights’ next 10

At N.Y. Islanders, 11 a.m. Sunday

Vs. Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. Tuesday

Vs. Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Thursday

Vs. Colorado, 7 p.m. Dec. 27

At Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28

Vs. Ducks, noon Dec. 31

Vs. Jets, 1 p.m. Jan. 2

Vs. Predators, 7 p.m. Jan. 4

Vs. Rangers, 7 p.m. Jan. 6

Vs. Blackhawks, 7 p.m. Jan. 8

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.