In Tempe, the Coyotes’ Clayton Keller hit for the final three Arizona goals on Sunday night, in a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Dylan Guenther scored for the Coyotes with two minutes gone in the first period for a 1-0 lead.
The goal was the first for the Coyotes in nearly 140 minutes of playing time, they had been shut out in their previous two games.
“What happened in Dallas, there was a little bit of nonchalance on our side, and I think that was a lesson learned,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “The way we started the game today was what we expected, to be honest. That’s the way you should start.”
Karel Vejmelka made 35 saves in the Arizona win.
“I was really happy for the two points tonight,” Vejmelka said. “We played really, really well defensively. I saw a lot of pucks, but we blocked a lot of shots (18), too. We just need to keep this going.”
The Coyotes moved to 15-27-5,
Keller scored with 99 seconds gone in the middle frame for a 2-0 advantage to Arizona.
“They just scored on their chances and we didn’t,” Vegas forward Byron Froese said. “I thought we generated (offense), but their goalie made some good saves. We were a little late to get those rebounds, but we had a lot of shots and a lot of creative chances.”
Vegas dropped to 29-17-2.
“We haven’t been at our best, and we need to find some consistency in our game and capitalize on our opportunities and play well defensively,” Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We’ve got some learning to do. We’re in a bit of a funk right now.”
Phil Kessel scored in the second period to cut the Coyotes lead to 2-1.
Keller’s second goal came ahead of the midway point of the third period for a 3-1 lad to the Coyotes.
“All three goals we gave up were with veteran center icemen and [poor] slot coverage,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We just need to be there to put those fires out. This is game [48] and we should know better. Maybe a little bit of fatigue, but if you’re not going to finish (on offense), you’ve got to keep it out of your net. … Logan kind of hung them out to dry with that slot coverage.”
Keller completed his hat trick into an empty net at 15:52.
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Logan Thompson made 19 saves in the loss.
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