Reilly Smith scored two goals to highlight Vegas' three-goal third period as the Golden Knights rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Monday night in Las Vegas.
Robin Lehner made 30 saves to help the Golden Knights win their third consecutive game to start the season.
Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Golden Knights, who have outscored their opponents 7-0 in the third period this season.
Tyler Pitlick and Nick Schmaltz scored for Arizona while Darcy Kuemper finished with 24 saves.
Arizona, which claimed three of a possible four points in its opening home back-to-back set against the San Jose Sharks, took a 1-0 lead at the 8:24 mark of the first period on an unassisted, short-handed goal by Pitlick.
With Johan Larsson in the box for slashing, Pitlick intercepted Mark Stone's pass in the defensive zone and then raced up the right wing, where he fired a wrist shot over Lehner's glove for his first goal as a Coyote.
Schmaltz made it 2-0 midway through the second period with a power-play goal. He fired a shot from the right circle that deflected off the shin pad of defenseman Alec Martinez and went through the Lehner's legs.
Pacioretty cut it to 2-1 at the 17:02 mark of the second with his third goal of the season. He chipped in his own rebound, which caromed straight back to him off the back boards as he skated by the right post.
Smith then tied it at 4:11 of the third period when he roofed William Karlsson's no-look, between-the-legs backhand pass from behind the net. Stephenson then gave the Golden Knights their first lead four minutes later when Zach Whitecloud's shot from the top of the right circle bounced off his back and past Kuemper.
Kuemper was pulled with 1:15 to go and Jonathan Marchessault was then called for a slashing penalty two seconds later to give Arizona a six-on-four advantage. However, Lehner came up with two big saves before Smith sealed it with an empty-netter with 12 seconds remaining.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Vegas | |
Tyler Pitlick 1 | Points | Reilly Smith 2 |
Tyler Pitlick 1 | Goals | Reilly Smith 2 |
Derick Brassard 1 | Assists | Chandler Stephenson 1 |
Nick Schmaltz 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
Tyler Pitlick 1 | Short Handed Goals | Reilly Smith 1 |
Darcy Kuemper .889 | Save Percentage | Robin Lehner .938 |
Darcy Kuemper 24 | Saves | Robin Lehner 30 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Arizona | 32 | 2 | 1-5 | 5-5 | 10 | 37 |
Vegas | 28 | 4 | 0-5 | 4-5 | 10 | 35 |