Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Golden Knights finish strong at Arizona, have momentum heading into 2019

Golden Knights at Arizona

Ross D. Franklin / Assocaited Press

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) scores a goal against Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz.

Marc-Andre Fleury smiled when he was told where the Golden Knights sat in the standings after their last game of 2018, a 5-1 win tonight against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.

He knew their 50 points were tied for most in the Pacific Division. He was pleasantly surprised to hear they were also at the top of the Western Conference.

“I’ll take that,” the goalie said through his patented grin. “We had a tough start to the year and we had a lot of ups and downs, and we’ve been playing better and more consistent every night. We have a chance to win every night and we’ve been climbing the standings a little bit.”

Granted, Calgary has three games in hand in the race for the Pacific and Winnipeg has four in the hunt for the West, but the Golden Knights are certainly pleased considering where they were earlier in the season.

Through the initial 20 games, the Golden Knights had just 17 points and couldn’t duplicate the winning ways of the previous season when they reached the Stanley Cup Final.

Then they heated up.

They are 15-4-3 since Nov. 17, with tonight’s effort against Arizona a microcosm of how the season has played out.

Paul Stastny scored for the Golden Knights at 3:35 of the first period, but the Coyotes didn’t go away. Even when Vegas went up 2-0, the Coyotes capitalized on a 5-on-3 chance, and went into the third period down a goal.

But the third period belonged to Vegas, as it scored three unanswered goals to close the game. Brandon Pirri, who last year played just two games with Vegas and this season has been with the team for less than two weeks, scored his fifth goal on an assist from Brayden McNabb.

“It’s a lot of fun playing here because everybody is contributing and we’re doing well,” Pirri said. “I’ve always believed in myself, and I’m getting the opportunity. When you get the opportunity you’ve gotta reward the people that put you in this spot and at the same time gotta reward myself for putting in the work.”

Ryan Carpenter closed the scoring with a short-handed to give Vegas the most goals in a game since Dec. 4 against the Washington Capitals and plenty of momentum heading into 2019.

The Golden Knights hung around at the beginning of the season and they’ve won three in a row since the Christmas break. The first 20 games didn’t go how they wanted, but now they will end 2018 calendar year in the same place they ended the 2017-18 season: right near the top.

“The first 20 was tough. It was like pushing uphill,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “We’re playing well and we’re on the second half of the season and I’ve like the way we’ve played the last three games.”