Pacioretty leads Golden Knights’ scoring barrage against Coyotes

By Justin Emerson

Friday, Dec. 3, 2021 | 10:15 p.m.

There was no deflection, no fancy deke, no goalie out of position for an easy tap-in on either of Max Pacioretty's goals. He just beat the goalie clean twice, showing the league what the Golden Knights were missing in his absence.

Pacioretty scored once on the power play and once on a breakaway, part of a barrage of Golden Knights goals against the last-place Arizona Coyotes and a 7-1 victory at Gila River Arena on Friday.

“He’s an elite goal-scorer,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “You put guys like that with the puck on their stick with a little bit of room, and there’s a lot of guys that can’t put the puck in the net, and he’s one guy who doesn’t need a lot of opportunity.”

It was just the kind of game Vegas needed. Loser of two in a row and three in four, the Golden Knights needed the type of low-stress game that lets a team exhale. Arizona entered the game with the worst points percentage and goal differential in the NHL, so even for a team still finding its legs like Vegas, this was a mismatch on paper.

It turned out to be a mismatch on the ice too. Jonathan Marchessault converted a 2-on-1 with Nicolas Roy 6:58 into the game, and after the Coyotes scored less than a minute later, Pacioretty netted his first before the period was over for a 2-1 lead.

In the second, things got out of hand. Chandler Stephenson scored short-handed for the Golden Knights, their third such goal in their last two games, then Pacioretty added his second as his own penalty expired and he had a free look coming out of the goal. Michael Amadio scored his first as a Golden Knight and Evgenii Dadonov scored his sixth, and Vegas led 6-1 after two periods. Nicolas Roy added a seventh in the final frame.

“The boys dominated,” goalie Laurent Brossoit said. “The boys looked great. They made it easy on me tonight, and it’s always nice to get a decisive win like that.”

Pacioretty’s goals were his vintage self. He scored twice on opening night, then missed the next 17 games with a broken foot. He returned last week with assists in his first two games, then returned to the goals column in Wednesday’s loss to the Ducks.

And on Friday, he whipped out his trademark wrister twice. On the first goal he set up just outside the right faceoff circle, stepped into it and fired a laser between goalie Karel Vejmelka’s pad and blocker. It might be a save a goalie should make, but that’s easier said than done when Pacioretty is shooting.

Then in the second period, he collected Mark Stone’s outlet pass on his escape from the penalty box and found himself one-on-one with Vejmelka again, beating him clean once more. He didn’t pull out any special shootout moves, just shot high to the blocker. Vejmelka never moved.

Pacioretty has five goals and nine points in six games this season.

“Max is a big part of our offense. He’s our most-gifted goal-scorer,” Marchessault said. “It’s been great to have him back, and you definitely feel his presence, not just offensively but physically as well.”

Vegas has beaten the Coyotes, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, the only teams in the league with a points percentage below .300, by a combined 16-4 score. The Golden Knights are doing their job against the league’s worst teams.

Next up on Sunday night are the Calgary Flames, who lead the Pacific Division by total points. 

The Knights tied the season-high for most goals in a game, and the six-goal margin of victory was the largest of the season. Exactly what should be done against the last-place team in the league.