Max Pacioretty has patchwork debut for Golden Knights

Max Pacioretty’s Golden Knights’ debut mirrored the performance of the rest of his team.

The forward, who the team acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens in September, was dangerous in spurts but had plenty of shifts where he failed to make an impact. He finished with one shot in the Knights’ 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, though he showed glimpses of the two-way game that spurred his acquisition.

“The energy was OK. The execution, it seemed as if we weren’t able to string together passes,” said Pacioretty, who had 16 friends and family members in attendance. “So you know what, we got the first one out of the way. Now we look to build off it.”

While Pacioretty’s offensive game didn’t get going against the Flyers, he still made an impact on defense. He finished tied for the team lead with five hits and added two takeaways.

The former Montreal captain also showed he was ready to step up for his new teammates by dropping his gloves near his own net in the second period. He earned a pair of minor penalties for the act but showed he’s not willing to be pushed around.

That kind of backbone, especially on defense, is something general manager George McPhee felt the Knights’ second line lacked last season. And at least in Game 1 the difference Pacioretty brought was noticeable.

“That line has to be better this year defensively,” McPhee said Wednesday. “Analytically, that’s what the data told us and you can look the other way or you can do something about it. We did something about it.”

Simmonds reflects on opening-night crowd

Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, who scored two goals against the Knights, complimented the announced crowd of 18,555 at T-Mobile Arena.

“The building was bumping, and even from warmups the place was packed,” Simmonds said. “I thought we did a really good job controlling our emotions and did a good job just focusing on the game.”

No positives for Gallant

Knights coach Gerard Gallant was succinct when asked if he took anything positive out of the team’s opening-night performance.

“Nothing,” Gallant said. “No, it wasn’t a good game.”

Record ratings

Thursday’s opener drew a 7.2 rating in the Las Vegas market on NBC Sports Network, making it the channel’s highest-rated regular-season Knights’ game.

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.