51°F
weather icon Cloudy

Golden Knights top Coyotes, take over 1st place in Pacific

It had all the makings of a big-game atmosphere, which hadn’t been seen at T-Mobile Arena for some time.

Saturday night on the Strip. The second-largest crowd of the season. First place in the Pacific Division at stake.

And the Golden Knights didn’t disappoint.

Mark Stone scored two goals in the first period as the Knights took over the top spot in the standings with a convincing 4-1 victory over Arizona before an announced gathering of 18,461.

“If I can watch this every night, I’d be real happy,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “We played a hard game, a physical game, but we also played a skilled game. We were first on pucks and real nice goals from our top players. I liked the game.”

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 27 saves to move into a tie for sixth on the all-time wins list.

Chandler Stephenson and Paul Stastny had goals in the opening 1:54 of the second period to chase Coyotes starter Antti Raanta. Defenseman Shea Theodore added three assists and has 11 points in his past eight games.

The Knights, who opened a season-long seven-game homestand, went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and snapped a two-game losing skid.

They improved to 21-15-6, and their 48 points are two more than second-place Arizona.

“We’ve been too up and down, and now we’re finding our game and know what we’re capable of,” Stastny said. “I think we just have to keep focusing on what makes us good. If we worry about ourselves, then we’ll be fine.”

Here’s what stood out from the Knights’ win:

1. Bounce back for Fleury

Fleury was coming off two straight disappointing outings before the holiday break, including a career-high seven goals allowed in Monday’s loss to Colorado that he called “embarrassing.”

But Fleury made back-to-back saves in the opening four minutes to get himself in the game early and was sharp the rest of the way.

“I think it was good to get a little break, just relax,” Fleury said. “I didn’t do nothing. Just stayed home with the family and ate.”

Fleury’s win was No. 454 of his career, matching Curtis Joseph for sixth all time. He is four behind the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist for fifth place.

“CuJo is a guy I grew up watching,” Fleury said. “I loved his feistiness and his battle in the game, and his style. He always had nice gear, too.”

2. Ballot box

Fleury is the favorite to represent the Knights at the All-Star Game next month, but Stone and Max Pacioretty are stating their case to be included for the first time.

After struggling in November (six points in 14 games), Stone has four goals and 16 points in 14 games this month. He’s second on the team with 39 points.

Pacioretty finished with two assists and leads the Knights with 40 points, equaling his output from last season. He even had a third-period fight with Lawson Crouse.

The duo combined for the Knights’ second goal, when Pacioretty controlled the puck behind the net and found Stone, who went forechand to backhand at the near post for his 15th goal.

“We’re talking after the game tonight that there was even more to give,” said Stone, who was briefly injured in the third period but returned. “I thought we played well but there’s still more, I think, for us with Chandler.”

3. Power play slump ends

The Knights went five games without scoring on the power play (0-for-8) and Gallant made a small personnel change, moving Alex Tuch off the unit that includes William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith in favor of Cody Glass.

But it was the other unit that helped the Knights go 2-for-3 against Arizona.

Coyotes defenseman Jason Demers was hit in the face by the puck and Stone muscled him aside before flipping a shot past Raanta for the opening goal. The goal came less than two minutes after the Knights killed off a double-minor penalty to Ryan Reaves for high-sticking.

Stephenson added another power play tally 12 seconds into the second period.

More Golden Knights: Follow at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @GoldenEdgeRJ on Twitter.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.

THE LATEST
 
3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Stars stymie late chances

The Golden Knights were unable to start a winning streak Friday, losing to the Dallas Stars in the second game of a back-to-back despite two goals from Jack Eichel.