The Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz.–Brandon Pirri has had a late December to remember for the Vegas Golden Knights.
The journeyman forward had a goal and assist in the Golden Knights’ 5-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes last night, and has five goals as part of his seven points in the six games he’s played for Vegas this season.
Pirri failed to register a point in only one of those games. He’s been a regular since Dec. 20.
“It’s a lot of fun playing here because everyone’s contributing,” Pirri noted. “Things are going good.
“I’ve always believed in myself and I’m getting the opportunity,” he added. “When you get the opportunity, you have to reward the people that put you in this spot and at the same time I have to reward myself.
“I put in a lot of work.”
Paul Stastny also had a goal and an assist while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots for Vegas.
Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin, and Ryan Carpenter also scored to help Vegas win its third-straight and extend its points streak to six games.
The Golden Knights have won five of six games against Arizona since Vegas entered the NHL last season.
“We played hard, we played quick,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said.
“We were good with the forecheck, we were good with the puck, and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
A large following of Golden Knights’ fans made plenty of noise for the visiting team in the most recent instalment of the fledgling rivalry, and saw their team take control with three goals in the third period.
The third was a short-handed goal from Carpenter.
A frustrated Coyotes’ coach Rick Tocchet called his team’s effort an implosion less than 24 hours after Arizona got an overtime win at Anaheim.
“Just very casual from a lot of key guys,” Tocchet said. “I just saw a team go totally south on us.
“You want to be a good NHL hockey team or a player, you’ve got to be consistent,” he stressed.
“So maybe we have some players here that just can’t do it regularly and we’re going to have to find some players that will,” Tocchet warned.
No other games were scheduled in the NHL last night.
