Blog: Golden Knights allow 3 in third, fall to Coyotes

By Justin Emerson

Published Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 | 3:57 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 | 9:40 p.m.

The Golden Knights' offense disappeared in the third period and the Coyotes found theirs, giving Arizona a 5-2 victory at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

It was the fourth-straight loss at home for Vegas, matching a franchise-worst. It was the first loss in three games against the Coyotes.

The Golden Knights had nine shots in the third period, finishing the game with a 43-26 advantage.

Arizona retook the lead at 9:21 of the third when Marc-Andre Fleury moved himself to the far right of the crease to make a save, but tumbled over getting back. Nick Cousins slid one right into Fleury's armpit that was in the net, and it was 3-2 Coyotes.

The Coyotes scored with 2:21 left on a 2-on-1 when Josh Archibald tried to center the pass, but Nate Schmidt dove to break it up. It deflected off him right back to Archibald, who put the rebound into the net.

Richard Panik had an empty-net goal with 57 seconds left for Arizona.

Electric second period yields 2-2 tie

The first period saw a lot of action and no goals, and the second period saw a lot of action and plenty of goals.

The Coyotes scored twice to take a two-goal lead and the Golden Knights countered them both as the period ended with a 2-2 score.

The Coyotes scored on a power-play goal from Jordan Oesterle at 9:38 of the second to open the scoring. William Karlsson and Reilly Smith were the forwards killing off the first half of the penalty, with both their other usual penalty-killing forwards unavailable, Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty hopped over the boards before Oesterle scored.

Stastny fills in regularly on the penalty kill, but Pacioretty had amassed just 10:13 of penalty-kill time before the play.

Alex Galchenyuk doubled the Arizona lead at 14:00, walking in and deking past Marc-Andre Fleury's poke-check attempt and scoring before following the puck into the net.

Before Vegas had time to panic, Brandon Pirri scored for the first time in seven games just 29 seconds later, beating Darcy Kuemper up high with a wrister. Cody Eakin and Jon Merrill earned the assists to make it 2-1 Arizona.

Reilly Smith had a chance to even the game with a penalty shot at 16:33, beating Kuemper but his back-hander hit off the left post. The Golden Knights have one penalty-shot goal this season.

With 29.7 seconds left in the frame, Pacioretty slid a pass from Kuemper's right through the Arizona defense to a wide open Nate Schmidt, who lasered the puck into the back of the net to even the game.

Vegas led in shots on goal 34-16 after two periods.

Scoreless after the first

Neither team lit the lamp in the first period, but there was a lot of action in the visitors' end as the Golden Knights and Coyotes played to a 0-0 draw,

William Carrier was the best player for the Golden Knights, generating two strong chances in the frame off feeds from Ryan Reaves. Both were saved, but he has had a spring in his step since returning from injury last weekend.

Alex Tuch forced a great chance for Vegas as the period wound down, out-racing defenseman Jordan Oesterle to the trapezoid behind the net and feeding Paul Stastny, but Darcy Kuemper stood tall.

The Golden Knights sent 16 shots on Kuemper, and allowed six.

Pre-game

The Golden Knights' defining characteristic earlier this season was that even when they were struggling, they won at home.

They've won two of their last three games, but dating back to before the All-Star break, they have dropped three straight at T-Mobile Arena, a trend they are looking to buck at 7 p.m. against the Arizona Coyotes.

"This is it. This is the time to catch the teams in front of you," Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "You have a chance to make something happen in this home stand."

The good news for Vegas is that it doesn't lose often when it is a heavy favorite. The Golden Knights are a minus-235 favorite against Arizona, and are 7-1 when they are more than a minus-200 favorite. They have played well against the Coyotes, winning both games in Arizona this year, moving to 6-1 all-time against their desert rivals.

Arizona is coming off a home win against the Stars on Saturday, which was its first win in five games since the All-Star break.

"We haven't taken advantage of the home crowd and playing at home yet," Las Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore said. "We've played well against Arizona this year and we've played well at home against them in the past, so I'm looking forward to a good game from us tonight."

Do not expect a lot of power-play goals. The Coyotes' 85.1 percent success rate on the penalty kill is the best in the league, and the Golden Knights run at a 88.7 percent at home, second-best in the league.

Add in that the Golden Knights and Coyotes have only the 20th and 21st best power plays in the NHL at 18.1 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively, and goals with an extra man should be at a premium.

"They're very aggressive. They make you make real good plays, and they're tops in the league, so they've done a great job with their PK for sure," Las Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "You've got to move the puck quick, and you've got to get to the net quick."

Emerson's Prediction: Golden Knights 4, Coyotes 1

Season record for predictions: Keefer 5-5, Emerson 12-7

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-235, Coyotes plus-215; over/under: 5.5 (minus-113, plus-103)

Golden Knights (31-22-4) (16-7-3 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)

Points leader: Alex Tuch (40)

Goals leader: Jonathan Marchessault (19)

Assists leader: Alex Tuch (24)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.51 gaa, .911 save percentage)

Coyotes (24-26-5) (14-13-2 road)

Coach: Rick Tocchet (second season)

Points leader: Clayton Keller (38)

Goals leaders: Christian Fischer, Alex Galchenyuk, Conor Garland, Clayton Keller, Brad Richardson, Derek Stepan (11)

Assists leader: Clayton Keller (27)

Expected goalie: Darcy Kuemper (2.75 gaa, .911 save percentage)

Golden Knights expected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg, Cody Eakin, Brandon Pirri, William Carrier, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban