Shea Theodore scored two goals and Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists as the Vegas Golden Knights remained unbeaten with a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
It was the third two-goal game of Theodore's career. Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo each added a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Vegas, which improved to 4-0-0, the best start to a season in the franchise's four-year history.
The Golden Knights have also won 12 of their past 13 games at T-Mobile Arena, including all four this season.
Nick Schmaltz and Phil Kessel scored goals and Darcy Kuemper had 24 saves for Arizona. The teams resume their four-game series with a back-to-back set in Glendale, Ariz., starting Friday night.
Vegas took a 2-0 lead in the first period by scoring on two of its first three shots of the game. Theodore got the first at 5:18, a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Alec Martinez for the first goal by a Golden Knights defenseman this season.
Vegas didn't have to wait long to get a second tally from a blue-liner. A little over three minutes later, Pietrangelo, coming off a career-high 16-goal season for the St. Louis Blues, made it 2-0 with his first goal in a Golden Knights uniform. He slapped in a rebound of a Tuch shot that had caromed to him off the boards into the right circle.
Stone extended the lead to 3-0 midway through the second period with his second goal of the season. He took a pass from Max Pacioretty and then broke in alone in the slot and slid a shot around Kuemper's left pad and inside the right post.
Arizona cut it to 3-1 at 11:52 of the second. Drake Caggiula stole the puck behind the net and backhanded a pass to Schmaltz, who rifled a shot from the right dot into the far upper corner of the net.
Vegas broke the game open with two goals in a 73-second span early in the third period. Theodore got the first when he knocked in Reilly Smith's crossing pass over Kuemper's right pad at 5:01, and Tuch followed with a power-play goal.
Kessel deflected in a Jakob Chychrun shot for his fourth goal of the season at 7:38 to finish the scoring.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Vegas | |
Phil Kessel 1 | Points | Alex Tuch 3 |
Phil Kessel 1 | Goals | Shea Theodore 2 |
Drake Caggiula 1 | Assists | Alex Tuch 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Alex Tuch 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Darcy Kuemper .828 | Save Percentage | Marc-Andre Fleury .913 |
Darcy Kuemper 24 | Saves | Marc-Andre Fleury 21 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Arizona | 23 | 2 | 0-4 | 6-7 | 14 | 26 |
Vegas | 29 | 5 | 1-7 | 4-4 | 8 | 28 |