ANAHEIM, Calif. — Max Pacioretty scored in his return to the Vegas lineup and the Golden Knights extended their winning streak to five games, beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 Friday night.
Tomas Nosek had a goal and an assist, and Nate Schmidt also scored to help the Golden Knights improve to 6-0-2 in their last eight games. Marc Andre-Fleury made 25 saves.
Daniel Sprong and Carter Rowney scored for the Ducks, who dropped to 0-5-2 in their last seven games. John Gibson made 39 saves.
Vegas has won the first three games of the teams’ four-game season series.
The Golden Knights fell behind in the second period when the Ducks scored two goals 18 seconds apart. But Vegas retook the lead with two goals in a 31-second span.
Nosek tied it at 2-all at 10:15 of the second period. He reached around Gibson and backhanded in a rebound of a shot by Brayden McNabb, and Pacioretty put Vegas back in front 3-2 at 10:46.
Playing for the first time since Dec. 17 and missing seven games because of an undisclosed injury, Pacioretty got behind two Ducks in transition and scored off a pass from Paul Stastny.
Sprong scored on the power play at 1:57 to tie the game at 1. Rowney then put the Ducks ahead 2-1 at 2:15 by catching the Golden Knights on an odd-man rush.
The Golden Knights took a 1-0 lead at 6:52 on the first period when Schmidt scored on a slap shot from the blue line through traffic during a delayed penalty.
NOTES: The Golden Knights improved to 16-0-2 when leading after two periods. . Vegas F Alex Tuch had an assist to extend his point streak to five games, with two goals and four assists in that span. . Vegas D Shea Theodore did not play because of illness.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Host New Jersey on Sunday.
Ducks: Host Edmonton on Sunday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/tag/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Dan Greenspan, The Associated Press
