Rondbjerg, Cotter each scores first NHL goal, Golden Knights defeat Wild

LAS VEGAS -- Paul Cotter and
Jonas Rondbjerg
each scored their first NHL goal for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-2 victory against the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Cotter, a fourth-round pick (No. 115) by Vegas in the 2018 NHL Draft, played in his second NHL game. Rondbjerg was a third-round pick (No. 65) by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Draft. Had a goal and an assist playing his seventh NHL game.
"Being in Vegas is a treat," Cotter said. "This arena is crazy. I think when you score that first one you kind of zone out and you're in a daze a little bit. You still hear the roar of the crowd when you're skating back to the bench. It's a feeling you can't describe."
Jonathan Marchessault scored for the fifth time in five games, and Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves for the Golden Knights (8-6-0), who have won seven of nine.
"When you get a call-up like this I think you need to take advantage of it, and I think those two guys did," Marchessault said. "From the moment they showed up they've been playing good hockey everywhere on the ice. It's fun for them to get rewarded."
Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Hartman scored, and Cam Talbot made 32 saves for the Wild (9-4-0), who had their four-game winning streak end in the second game of a back to back. They defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 on Wednesday.
"We didn't have a great start, looked a little sluggish," Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. "Just didn't get to our game early."
Cotter gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 6:08 of the first period on a wrist shot from the right circle.
"That's my default move," Cotter said, starting with a stutter step and going backhand to forehand for the finish. "I've done it a few times in my career, so I was comfortable doing that."

Rondbjerg made it 2-0 at 16:41. He avoided a pinch from Minnesota defenseman Alex Goligoski, drove to the net and scored stick side.
The Golden Knights were called for delay of game twice in 21 seconds during the second period when defensemen Nicolas Hague (12:52) and Alex Pietrangelo (13:13) each cleared the puck over the glass. The penalties gave the Wild a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:39.
Brossoit made five saves during the penalty kill, including a one-timer from Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek in front at 14:51.
"I thought our PK was really, really good," Brossoit said. "They were moving it pretty well, but I thought our guys cut off seams really well."
The Golden Knights penalty kill finished 6-for-6.
"We take a ton of pride in [the penalty kill]," Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. "It's been off and on as of late, and we wanted to fix it. I thought we did a great job tonight. [Brossoit] played awesome."
Marchessault scored his team-leading seventh goal at 19:53 of the second period to increase the lead to 3-0. Reilly Smith forced a turnover at the blue line on Wild defenseman Matt Dumba to start an odd-man rush, and Marchessault scored into the top-left corner.
"When you get opportunities like that you got to make do with it," Foligno said. "We didn't get that done. It gives them a little more momentum."

Spurgeon cut it to 3-1 at 1:20 of the third period off a backhand pass from Kirill Kaprizov.
Hartman made it 3-2 at 13:35 on a one-timer from the right circle, his fifth goal in the past seven games.
"We've been fortunate enough to have a lot of comebacks here," Spurgeon said. "The belief was there. But if you have a 5-on-3 for that long and you don't capitalize, that hurts the team."
The Golden Knights killed a 6-on-4 in the final 1:03 after Marchessault was called for tripping.
Brossoit, who signed a two-year contract with the Golden Knights on July 28 after playing the previous three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, made his third start of the season. He allowed four goals in a 5-2 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday; his last start prior to that was Oct. 27 in a 3-2 overtime win at the Dallas Stars.
"I did 'LB' a little bit of a disservice," Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. "He had that great first game for us in Dallas, and then he probably went another 10 days, two weeks before starting again in Detroit, and that wasn't fair to him. I felt that I wanted to get him back in there after the Detroit game to get him a chance to get his legs under him."
NOTES: Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez left at 8:28 of the first period after taking a skate to the face. DeBoer did not have an update but said Martinez received at least 50 stitches. ... This was the first matchup between the teams since their first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, where the Golden Knights won in seven games. … Marchessault's goal was his 99th with the Golden Knights. … Kaprizov has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games. … The Wild lead the NHL with 10 goals and 41 points from defensemen.