Pietrangelo gets first goal with Golden Knights in win against Coyotes

LAS VEGAS --Alex Pietrangelo scored his first goal with the Vegas Golden Knights in their fourth straight win, 5-2 against the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

The Golden Knights are 4-0-0 for the first time in their history; they won the first three games of their inaugural season in 2017-18.
Pietrangelo, who signed a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with Vegas on Oct. 12 after playing the first 12 seasons of his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues, scored at 8:33 of the first period when the puck caromed off the boards to the defenseman in the right circle to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.
"We were talking before the game that the [defense] didn't get one [goal] through three games, so we were due," said Pietrangelo, who also had an assist. "Always nice to get that first one under the belt. Gets the confidence going, especially this early in the season."
Shea Theodore scored twice, and Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights, who won the first two of four straight games against the Coyotes; they will play the next two at Gila River Arena. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves.
"This is a really tough league to win in at any time. We talked the entire time coming into this season about getting off to a good start," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "The guys put in an awful amount of work during training camp. This is the direct result of how ready they were for the season."

Nick Schmaltz scored for the second consecutive game, and Phil Kessel scored his fourth goal for the Coyotes (1-2-1). Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves.
"We got outplayed," Arizona forward Derick Brassard said. "We all know they're a big team, they have big bodies, but tonight we didn't skate enough. We didn't think the game well."
Theodore scored with a one-timer from the top of the right circle at 5:18 of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.
Mark Stone made it 3-0 at 10:39 of the second period on a breakaway.
Schmaltz quickly made it 3-1 at 11:52 of the second, a one-timer from the right circle after Fleury turned the puck over behind the net.
Theodore gave Vegas a 4-1 lead when he powered his way to the net and redirected a pass from Reilly Smith for his second goal of the game at 5:01 of the third period.
Tuch slipped a backhand shot past Kuemper at 6:14 to make it 5-1. It was the Golden Knights' first power-play goal of the season (1-for-14).

Stone finished with a goal and an assist; he leads the NHL with seven points (two goals, five assists) through four games and is the fourth player in NHL history to score a point on the winning goal in each game of a team's 4-0-0 start (Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens in 1970-71, Pat Verbeek, Dallas Stars in 1996-97 and Radek Bonk, Ottawa Senators in 1999-2000).
Kessel scored at 7:38 for the 5-2 final.
"It's a great start," Stone said. "When we looked at the schedule, we had the opportunity to have a great start with four games at home. We haven't quite played our best hockey. Tonight was our best, but the first three games we kind of eased into it a little bit; a little bit of exhibition-style hockey, getting the kinks out.
"I think we're playing really well right now. For sure, good to start off with four big wins. Now it's about getting better every day."
NOTES: Vegas forward
Keegan Kolesar
scored his first NHL point with an assist on Pietrangelo's goal. … It was Theodore's third two-goal game in the regular season with Vegas. … Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty extended his point streak to four games (three goals, one assist). … Kessel has six goals in nine games against Vegas.