Vegas Golden Knights falter again after being handled by Coyotes

Failing to perform in the first period set the tone for what was to come with the Vegas Golden Knights frustrated in a 4-1 defeat by the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

Looking to bounce back after dropping their first loss of the year to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights could never get going and lost their second consecutive game as a result and are now 2-2-0 to begin the year.

Malcolm Subban got his first start of the year between the pipes and was sensational, although his night came to a premature end after he left the game following the conclusion of the first period with an injury.

Shea Theodore scored his first goal of the year and the only goal of the night for the Golden Knights, with Brayden McNabb and Cody Glass grabbing the assists.

But more sloppy play by the defense and another abysmal effort from the bottom six forward unit proved to be Vegas’ downfall, and they couldn’t cope with Arizona’s speed with the Coyotes picking up their first win of the season.

The Lineup

There was just one lineup change for the Vegas Golden Knights with Malcolm Subban getting his first start of the year between the year in the pipes, while there was no Cody Eakin despite the center making the trip to Arizona.

Other than that, it was exactly the same lineup for the Golden Knights who were looking for their third win of the year and their second victory on the road.

The Game

First Period – It was really a poor effort from the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening period and they had to thank Malcolm Subban for not facing a mountain to climb early on.

Making his first start of the year, Subban pulled off a superb stop to deny Michael Grabner on the breakaway with the Knights on the power play. Grabner led the NHL in shorthanded goals last year with six.

But it was Arizona who did draw first blood after Mark Stone coughed up possession in the offensive zone, the Coyotes charged down the ice and Conor Garland threw the puck towards the front of the net where it bounced off Nic Hague’s skate and into the net.

Subban then produced a stunning pad save to deny Carl Soderberg as the Coyotes threatened to run wild on the power play, with Subban making a flurry of stops on the next rush from Arizona.

However, Subban wasn’t getting the help he deserved from his defense and, after making another pair of stops in quick succession, Arizona recycled the puck and launched another attack with Nick Schmaltz adding the finishing touches to a sublime Christian Dvorak feed.

Vegas did get on the board at 19:55 in the first after Shea Theodore fired in a wrister off the post for his first goal of the year and it eventually stood after Arizona challenged the goal for goalie interference.

Second Period – Theodore’s tuck was as good as it got for the Knights and they were forced to make a goalie change with Marc-Andre Fleury replacing the injured Malcolm Subban.

And Fleury coming in cold didn’t help as the Coyotes made it 3-1 at 2:03 with Conor Garland recording his second goal of the night after scoring on the breakaway.

Vegas were giving up a tonne of breakaways and they looked all over the place, but Fleury was doing his best to keep his team in the game with a handful of outstanding saves, including a fantastic glove save to deny Clayton Keller.

But the Coyotes bolstered their lead at 18:28 in the second as Niklas Hjalmarsson drilled home a wrister from the point, with Keller and Carl Soderberg claiming the helpers.

Third Period – There wasn’t much action to digest in the final period as the Arizona Coyotes did a good job of shutting down the Knights, who had a 13-5 advantage on the shot board in the third period.

Marc-Andre Fleury pulled off another outstanding stop to prevent Derek Stepan from scoring a fifth for Arizona, and that proved to be that with the Coyotes picking up their first win of the year.

The Golden Knights outshot their hosts 38-29 but they only got on the board once and, as a result, dropped to 2-2-0 to start the year.

Let’s go over some notes and stats from the game…