In Las Vegas, the visiting Arizona Coyotes used a three-goal third period to hand the Golden Knights their fourth straight home loss in a 5-2 decision.
Darcy Kuemper made 41 saves in the win.
Jordan Oesterle had a goal in Coyotes win in Vegas – file photo by Lew3is Bleiman
“It’s just a no-excuse mentality,” Kuemper said. “Everyone’s working hard, even in games like this where they come out and have the first period they do, you can still see our effort and the way we’re defending and competing in the little areas of the ice that make the difference between getting scored on or getting a chance.”
Fuve different skaters had strikes for the Coyotes including Nick Cousins, Richard Panik, Jordan Oesterle, Alex Galchenyuk, and Josh Archibald.
“We’re still building an identity and all that stuff,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. ” I know there’s a lot of excuses going around, but I don’t really feel our team does that. That’s our attitude and that’s how we’re staying in this thing. A long way to go, and a lot of hockey left, but this is a big win for this team.”
After getting out to a 2-0 lead in the middle frame, the Coyotes watched as the Knights rallied to tie it on goals from Brandon Pirri and Nate Schmidt.
“We weathered the storm when we could,” Tocchet said. “I thought we had some big goals from some big guys at crucial times. That bend-don’t-break defense helped us tonight.”
Vegas dropped to 31-23-4.
“We didn’t battle hard enough,” Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault said. “We were in a good spot at 2-2 going into the third, but we just didn’t battle. We weren’t good enough.”
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves in the loss.
“In my opinion, we give them three goals from our mistakes,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. “They played well; I give them credit. But when you give them three goals like that, you’re not going to win many games.”
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