Road-test Golden Knights welcome struggling Coyotes

The Vegas Golden Knights will make a short pit stop during a stretch that sees them play eight of nine games on the road when they host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

It will be the first home game for the defending Stanley Cup champions since a 5-0 blanking of San Jose on Nov. 10. Vegas, which begins a three-game road trip to western Canada on Monday at Calgary, went 2-2-1 on a five-game road trip that concluded with a 2-1 overtime victory at Dallas on Wednesday.

Jack Eichel scored at 1:57 of overtime to win it for the Golden Knights, who also got 31 saves from Adin Hill. It marked the first time Vegas had played at the American Airlines Center since its 6-0 series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Stars in the Western Conference finals last May.

Hill was also awarded an assist on Eichel's game-winning goal. Eichel whiffed on his first try near the left faceoff dot, but the puck rolled past defenseman Thomas Harley. Eichel then regained control and cut across the low slot before firing a shot over a sprawling Jake Oettinger for his 10th career overtime winner.

"It's not how you draw it up," Eichel admitted. "Fanned a couple of times, but I'll take it. Don't ask how. It was good to get the two points. It was a long road trip for us."

During the five-game trip, Vegas was blanked by both Washington (3-0) and Pittsburgh (3-0) and also lost 4-3 in overtime at Philadelphia. Still, the Golden Knights — who are 3-4-1 since a 12-point streak (11-0-1) to begin the season — managed to garner five of a possible 10 points on the trip thanks to the win at Dallas.

"We expect to be more than .500 on the road," said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. "We're a good hockey club. But for this trip, that's how it ends. A good mental thing on the checklist to make sure you get half the points available, and we at least did that."

Arizona, tied for fifth in the Central Division, brings a three-game losing streak to Las Vegas and comes in off a 6-5 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday in Tempe, Ariz.

The Coyotes led the contest, 3-2, in the second period but surrendered two short-handed goals in just 33 seconds to Nick Leddy and Alexey Toropchenko.

Kevin Hayes scored the game-winner early in the third period for St. Louis.

"It stings," said Coyotes defenseman Matt Dumba. "But we have to channel it the right way and realize we all have to be better. Too many mental lapses in our game. We need to be able to generate for a full 60 minutes and come out on the better side of these."

Arizona has been outscored 15-8 during its three-game losing streak. Starting goalie Karel Vejmelka was pulled after allowing four goals on just 11 shots.

"It was a poor defensive effort," said Arizona coach Andre Tourigny. "A bunch of bad decisions. Score five goals (and it) should be an easy win. That's not the first time (for a defensive breakdown this season), but that's really disappointing."

—Field Level Media