Golden Knights Take Care Of Business With 6-1 Win Over Arizona Saturday; Announced Crowd: 18,123
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The Vegas Golden Knights have jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Arizona Coyotes as the VGK try and make the playoffs.
Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud placed a shot beautifully in the upper corner of the net past Coyotes netminder Karel Vejmelka to open the VGK scoring and then Knights forward Max Pacioretty, back in action after a lengthy stay off the ice because of injury, gave the Knights a two-goal advantage.
The Coyotes have the fewest points in the NHL, piling up 49 points in 71 games and trailing the 31st Montreal Canadiens by two points. Montreal went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
At 4:20 PM, the VGK Ticket Exchange site, the team’s official ticket resale website, listed the cheapest ticket at $35.
About 10 minutes after puck drop at 7:20 PM, the get-in ticket price had dropped to $20, plus fees.
The Coyotes countered with a goal by Barrett Hayton and it was Vegas 2 Arizona 1 with about five minutes to go in the first period.
That was the score after 20 minutes: Vegas 2 Arizona 1
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Evgenii Dadonov opened the scoring in the second period a mere 38 seconds into the period when he broke in on Vejmelka and dropped a goal in as the netminder went into some bizarre yoga-looking pose as he tried to save it.
VGK 3 Coyotes 1
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The Golden Knights took care of business to square away these two points as they chase down Dallas, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Nashville.
Brayden McNabb, Jake Leschyshyn and Jack Eichel piled on goals in the VGK 6-1 win over Arizona.
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I asked Pacioretty about the specific skills that are hardest to realize in games after he returns after long injury layoffs.
“You can’t replicate the battles in the corner,” Pacioretty said.
McNabb said Pacioretty’s return was “big energy.” He was “fresh energy.”
That’s exactly what the Golden Knights needed Saturday after Wednesday’s feeble performance against Vancouver.
Next game: The VGK play the Canucks in Vancouver on Tuesday
The Knights and Dallas both have 84 points for the final wild card, but the Stars have played two fewer games. And VGK trail the LA Kings for third place in the division and an automatic playoff slot by two points with the same amount of games left.
PSA
