Recap: Sloppy OT Costs Coyotes Point vs. Golden Knights

GLENDALE --The Coyotes scored a late power-play goal to set up overtime vs. Vegas on Wednesday night, but they couldn't ride the wave of momentum deeper into the third period or the extra session and lost, 3-2, at Gila River Arena.
Max Pacioretty notched his second goal of the game with 1:24 left in OT to seal the win for Vegas, which outshot Arizona, 5-0, after the third period.

"In overtime we never had the puck," Coyotes Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "We had the puck a couple times, we threw pucks away … It was discombobulated ... That was disheartening because we never even had a chance. Vegas had the puck basically the whole overtime."

Arizona led, 1-0, after one period, but the Golden Knights seized control of the game in the second; Vegas scored twice within a span of 10:01. A third Vegas goal scored by Cody Eakin early in the third period was disallowed after Arizona challenged citing off-side.
Derek Stepan scored twice in regulation, including a power-play goal with 6:49 left in the third period off a perfect saucer pass from Alex Galchenyuk that tied the score 2-2. The Coyotes entered the game ranked 30th in the NHL in power-play success (10.3 percent) on home ice.
"We scored a big goal to give our team a chance to win the game," Stepan said. "We've had a lot of discussions about the power play lately and now we can go forward with that."
Tied 2-2, Arizona was awarded another power play with 1:55 left in the third period. This time, Vegas clamped down defensively, won all three face-offs taken and held the Coyotes to just one shot attempt by Dylan Strome, which was blocked.
"I'd like to see us get a chance or two on that other power play at the end," Tocchet said. "I don't know if we were spooked or what. They really played aggressive on us and we had to make that one play to get through the pressure. We just couldn't make that one play."

• Stepan scored his first goal of the game from the slot with 52 seconds left in the first period. Jakob Chychrun, playing his first home game of the season, set the goal up nicely with a shot pass from the left point, just inside the blue line.

• Darcy Kuemper started his eighth consecutive game in place of injured starter Antti Raanta and made 22 stops, including an old-school windmill save on a shot by Eakin in overtime.
"I'm frustrated we lost," Kuemper said. "I really liked our effort. That's a hardworking team across the hall, and I thought our effort matched them all night ... Our power play got us a huge goal to at least get us a point. We just came up a little bit short in overtime."
• With the loss, Arizona dropped to 1-2-3 vs. Vegas since the Golden Knights entered the NHL last season.
"They do a lot of the same things we do, like trying to bait them into coming into a trap and turning over pucks, trying to have a quick transition," Stepan said. "I thought it was a good hockey game. Both teams had their pushes and their moments, and both teams had their mistakes."

• Chychrun returned to the lineup after missing the first two games of the homestand because of an upper-body injury. He played 20:47, took two shots on goal and blocked four shots. His assist on Stepan's first goal was his first point of the season.

• Like Chychrun, Alex Goligoski also returned to the lineup after missing the past five games because of a lower-body injury. Goligoski skated 22:05, took two shots on goal and blocked four shots.
• Clayton Keller had a terrific chance to score his first goal since Oct. 27, but his backhanded breakaway shot that went between the legs of Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury hit the left post.
• Arizona was 2 for 2 on penalty kills, raising its NHL-best success rate to 91.9 percent.
• The Coyotes played minus Josh Archibald, who served the second game of a two-game NHL suspension for an illegal hit to the head vs. Nashville on Nov. 15.
• Stats that jump off the Event Summary: Arizona blocked 20 shots, Brad Richardson won 14 of 19 face-offs, and Christian Fischer delivered a team-high six hits.