In Las Vegas, the Golden Knights continued what seems to be an inexorable march through the regular season, when they handed the Arizona Coyotes a 5-2 defeat on Wednesday.
Admittedly, the Knights have been playing second tier teams, but they are solid coming out of the gates this season.
Vegas built a 3-0 lead before the Coyotes broke through.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves to get the win.
Alex Pietrangelo potted his first of the year for the Knights.
“We were talking before the game that the [defense] didn’t get one [goal] through three games, so we were due,” Pietrangelo said “Always nice to get that first one under the belt. Gets the confidence going, especially this early in the season.”
Shea Theodore struck for two goals for the Golden Knights.
“This is a really tough league to win in at any time. We talked the entire time coming into this season about getting off to a good start,” Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer said. “The guys put in an awful amount of work during training camp. This is the direct result of how ready they were for the season.”
Nick Schmaltz‘s goal stopped the Vegas run at three, Phil Kessel scored a lipstick goal in the third period when it mattered least.
“We got outplayed,” Arizona’s Derick Brassard said. “We all know they’re a big team, they have big bodies, but tonight we didn’t skate enough. We didn’t think the game well.”
Mark Stone and Alex Tuch (two assists) also scored for Vegas. 
“It’s a great start,” Stone said. “When we looked at the schedule, we had the opportunity to have a great start with four games at home. We haven’t quite played our best hockey. Tonight was our best, but the first three games we kind of eased into it a little bit; a little bit of exhibition-style hockey, getting the kinks out.
“I think we’re playing really well right now. For sure, good to start off with four big wins. Now it’s about getting better every day.”
Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves in the loss.
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