MONTREAL, Quebec (AP) — Alex Pietrangelo and Chandler Stephenson each had a goal and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 Saturday night.
Jonathan Marchessault, Dylan Coghlan and Brayden McNabb also scored for Vegas, which was outshot 20-1 and trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes. Robin Lehner finished with 36 saves.
“Obviously we weren’t happy with how we came out,” Lehner said. “We stepped up in the locker room (in the first intermission). Leaders, the coach, everyone said it’s enough and I think after the 2-on-1 that they had, I think we played excellent for the rest of the game.”
Pietrangelo credited Lehner's play for being key to the Golden Knights' comeback.
“He’s been outstanding all year, tonight’s another example of it,” Pietrangelo said. “So when there’s a storm for us, he lets us get to our game. But I think we’ve got to get to our game early, we can’t rely on him every single first period.”
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Toffoli also scored for Montreal, which fell to 3-10-0 after reaching the Stanley Cup final last season. Jake Allen finished with 13 saves on 16 shots.
“We started the (second period) and we still had some chances,” Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. “They took advantage of the play that deflected on (Jeff) Petry but this happens. All in all, they took advantage of their chances and I think that we deserved better.
“With the scoring chances at 23-7, I would take that every night. I think that nine times out of 10, we would get the win.”
Vegas scored three times in the second to take the lead. Pietrangelo got the Golden Knights started with a power-play goal that deflected off Jeff Petry and past Allen at 5:16.
It was Vegas' first with the man-advantage this season after coming in 0 for 19.
“We’ve been hearing about it,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “Every time you go another game without scoring on (the power play), you hear about it, so that pressure starts to build. It’s taken a little bit of time but obviously timely tonight and nice that we won’t have to deal with that goose egg anymore.”
Marchessault tied it with 9:36 to go in the period, backhanding a loose puck from the left side of the crease.
Coghlan gave Vegas the lead with another power-play goal off a cross-ice pass from Pietrangelo with 8 minutes to go.
“Tonight was not just a poor start, that was a horrendous start,” DeBoer said. “Thankfully our goalie was our best player early and we got a lot of character in that room and the guys fixed it.”
Stephenson made it 4-2 with an empty-netter with 2:51 remaining in the third, and McNabb added one in the final minute.
Suzuki opened the scoring for Montreal late in the first period on the power play with 2:42 remaining.
Toffoli doubled Montreal’s lead on a breakaway with 1:11 to go.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: At Detroit on Sunday night.
Canadiens: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
