Opening night in Las Vegas was glittery, special and gawdy when it came to the Golden Knights scoring efforts Tuesday night.
In less than 11 minutes of play at the new T-Mobile arena on the Vegas Strip, the Knights scored four goals and then cruised to a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
“The script was perfect,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. “The way everything went down today was brilliant.”
Tomas Nosekscored the first home goal for the Golden Knights for franchise history.
Deryk Engelland added a goal and James Nealstruck twice to make it 4-0 by 10:42 of the first period.
“I’m just trying to find those good areas,” said Neal, who has five goals. “It helps playing with really good players.”
After Tobias Rieder broke through for the Coyotes’ first goal late in the first period, Oscar Lindberg made it 5-1 for Vegas in the second period.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves for the win.
“I think every guy in this room did a great job of channeling that energy and emotion from the (pregame) ceremony and using it to their advantage,” Vegas’ Deryk Engelland said after the win.
Arizona’s Kevin Connauton closed out the scoring to make the final 5-2.
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Golden Knights highlights | RELATED:Â Celebration of heroes, hockey helps Las Vegas heal after tragedy | Engelland assures crowd ‘We are Vegas Strong’ in powerful speech]
Antti Raanta got the start for Arizona but was given the hook after Neal’s first strike and replaced by Louis Domingue.
The Golden Knights honored the survivors and lives lost from last week’s mass shooting and loss of life on the Strip.
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