Pietrangelo helps Golden Knights defeat Coyotes

LAS VEGAS --Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and two assists for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

"Sometimes you kind of get lucky. Sometimes you go through spells when you get nothing," Pietrangelo said. "Sometimes you get the bounces."
Jonathan Marchessault had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 25 saves for Vegas (14-4-0), which had lost two straight.
"For the most part, we played a good hockey game. You got to play the game in front of you," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "In the second period, we got sucked into that game a little bit and got away from what we needed to do for a little bit. … I was glad to see the guys get it back. Then we started executing better. There was a pocket of execution in the second period that we need to learn from, and we did."

Phil Kessel was honored with a pregame ceremony for playing his 1,000th consecutive game.
"It was neat," Kessel said. "Obviously, 1,000 games in a row is a lot. I don't know how I did it, but it's a good thing."
Clayton Keller scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 35 saves for Arizona (6-9-1), which has lost three in a row.
"We look at our last couple of games where we play really well for a long time, but we cannot close the deal or get the big goal," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. ""We missed Grade A opportunities. We had other plays where we needed to be quicker with our shot to get the goalie in motion, stuff like that. There's a lot of work to do offensively for us."
Pietrangelo gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 12:21 of the second period, scoring with a one-timer from the point on a power play.
"Sometimes you got to attack, keep it simple and shoot the puck," Pietrangelo said. "I didn't know if it was going to go in or not. Sometimes you got to shoot and hope for the best."
William Carrier scored 31 seconds into the third period to make it 2-0. He curled around the right circle while holding off Coyotes forward Matias Maccelli, cut toward the slot, and shot short side on Vejmelka.
"We knew that the next goal was going to be real important," Carrier said. "We're trying to get something going. … Obviously, it was a big goal. Big play by [Keegan Kolesar] in front, gave me a little bit of room and I took the room."
Mark Stone extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:53 when he batted the puck into the net after Pietrangelo's one-timer deflected off the stick of Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown.

Keller cut it to 3-1 at 11:29 when his centering pass deflected in off the stick of Alec Martinez.
Reilly Smith scored on a one-timer at 18:56 for the 4-1 final. He has scored seven goals in his past seven games.
"[Reilly] is going to need to score for us to be successful," Cassidy said. "How much exactly, I don't know. Right now, he's on a bit of a roll."
NOTES:Keller has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak. … Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy left in the third period with a lower-body injury, but Cassidy said he expects him to play against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. … Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson had the secondary assist on Stone's goal to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, seven assists).