Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and Adin Hill made 22 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2, in John Tortorella’s coaching debut on Monday night in Las Vegas.
Rasmus Andersson, Shea Theodore, and Cole Smith also scored goals for Vegas (33-26-16, 82 points), which snapped a three-game losing streak while winning for just the second time in eight games. The Golden Knights closed to within one point of second-place Edmonton in the Pacific Division with the victory.
Tortorella, starting his 24th season as an NHL head coach, took over for Bruce Cassidy, who was fired on Sunday afternoon. It was his 771st career coaching victory, which ranks ninth on the all-time coaching wins list.
Evander Kane, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, and Brock Boeser scored goals for Vancouver (21-45-8, 50 points), which lost its sixth straight game. Kevin Lankinen finished with 30 saves for the Canucks.
Vancouver took a 1-0 lead at the 12:19 mark of the first period when Kane buried a backhand shot at the end of a 2-on-1 with Jake DeBrusk.
Vegas tied it midway through the second period when Andersson tapped in a Tomas Hertl pass into an open right side of the net for his third goal in four games.
The Canucks regained the lead on a power-play goal by Boeser. Filip Hronek fired a shot from the point that Boeser, stationed in the high slot, redirected over Hill’s right shoulder.
The Golden Knights regained the lead, 3-2, near the end of the period with two goals in the span of 77 seconds. Theodore scored the first on a breakaway, firing a wrist shot from the slot past Lankinen’s blocker side. Smith followed, one-timing a Brayden McNabb crossing pass that hit Lankinen’s glove and went into the net.
The Canucks pulled Lankinen for an extra attacker with 2:15 to go and Cole Smith sealed the win when he backhanded in an empty-netter from the right boards with 1:10 to go, his first goal with the Golden Knights.
