Pacioretty heats up, Golden Knights get some welcome bounces against Coyotes

By Justin Emerson

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 | 9:40 p.m.

Vegas’ most prized offseason acquisition is starting to be the difference-maker he was expected to be.

Max Pacioretty scored 3:36 into overtime on Wednesday, gobbling up a rebound with a back-hander to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 road victory at the Arizona Coyotes.

It was Pacioretty’s finest game as a Golden Knight, as he scored two goals.

“It’s good to see him smile and see him get a big goal for us again tonight, get the game-winning one,” Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said to AT&T SportsNet. “When he gets those big goals, obviously it gives us a better chance to win, and it’s a good feeling.”

Here are three takeaways from the victory:

Pacioretty heating up

Pacioretty, for whom Vegas had to part with three key pieces to acquire, only had two goals in his initial 16 games. But the current road trip started and Pacioretty started to show flashes of his dominating ways.

His two goals Wednesday gave him four in his last three games, as he also scored Sunday in Edmonton and Monday in Calgary. His second goal Wednesday came as a result of three-on-three overtime and open ice, and his first goal was just as pretty.

Pacioretty entered the zone and gave it to Alex Tuch, who threaded the puck through three Coyotes to Cody Eakin, who drew Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper to the far right side of the net. Eakin dished to Pacioretty, who fired in the second Vegas goal.

Pacioretty has not failed to score 30 or more goals in any of his five NHL seasons where he played at least 70 games. Since 2011-12, his worst output on a per-game basis was his 17 goals in 64 games last season.

That means more performances of the past week — and not those early games — could be forthcoming.

“(Tuch) made a great play to (Eakin) and he made a great play to me,” Pacioretty said to AT&T SportsNet after the second period. “Our line is creating some good chemistry, but I think we can get even better."

Vegas gets the bounces

When things aren’t going great, the Golden Knights will take a goal however they can get it. Tomas Nosek’s game-tying goal in the second period looked like it was a harmless flick at the net, but Arizona defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin didn’t get all of his block.

It deflected off his stick, and Kuemper didn’t have a chance. It was Nosek’s second goal of the season, and first since Oct. 11 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bounces also kept goals out of the Vegas net. In the first period, Arizona forward Christian Fischer sprang loose from behind the goal and fired one that went off the crossbar. In the second, Arizona’s Clayton Keller slid a breakaway try between Fleury’s legs and off the pipe.

“He’s pretty shifty and he came across and put it between my legs and I thought, 'Oh I thought it was it is in for sure,' then I turned around and it hit the post,” Fleury said to AT&T SportsNet. “Two emotions quickly but I had to say thank you to the post there.”

It was the best time for Vegas’ best road trip

Funny how a series that included the worst loss of the season was also the best of the year. Vegas entered the three-game road trip 3-8 on the road this season, then proceeded to go 2-1 against Pacific Division opponents: a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers and a 7-2 loss to the Calgary Flames. It was the Golden Knights' first winning road trip of the year.

The next two games are also against Pacific foes, both at home: Friday against Calgary, and Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.

The Golden Knights are 10-12-1, tied with the Oilers and Anaheim Ducks and one point out of a playoff spot.

“Things didn’t go the way we wanted in the last one,” Fleury said to AT&T SportsNet. “It was another division game for us. We need those points. We need all those wins to climb back into the standings a bit.”