Garland scores two goals, Coyotes defeat Golden Knights for first win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Conor Garland scored two goals for the Arizona Coyotes in their first win of the season, 4-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

Barrett Hayton, the No. 5 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, had an assist in his NHL debut, Carl Soderberg had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 36 saves for the Coyotes (1-2-0), who scored one goal in their first two games.
"We knew we weren't scoring," said Garland, who had his third multigoal game in the NHL. "You get one (goal) early on, then you get three, you start feeling good. We just wanted to play the same way we always do. And if they're going in, that makes us a dangerous hockey team."
WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Coyotes highlights]
Shea Theodore scored for the Golden Knights (2-2-0), who lost their second game in a row after winning their first two. Vegas lost at Arizona for the first time in five games since joining the NHL in 2017-18.
"We weren't good enough," coach Gerard Gallant said. "We weren't even close to good enough. We didn't have any intensity. The first period, it wasn't good enough, and we lost the game in the first period."

Garland gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 8:00 of the first period on a shot from along the goal line that deflected off defenseman Nicolas Hague's skate and past Malcolm Subban, who made 12 saves in his first start of the season before leaving after the period with an undisclosed injury.
"We defend well," coach Rick Tocchet said of the Coyotes, who have allowed four goals in three games. "When we start throwing pucks at the net and they go in, we're a good club. Nobody was panicking after two games, we liked the way we played. And to beat Vegas, that's a tough team to play."
Hayton made a one-handed pass to Christian Dvorak to set up Nick Schmaltz's goal for a 2-0 lead with 39 seconds left in the first.
"It was amazing, just getting a feel for the game was great, getting a feel for the speed," Hayton said of his first NHL game. "Overall, I thought it was a good game. It was great to get a little chemistry going."
Theodore cut it to 2-1 with a shot from the top of the right face-off circle with five seconds remaining in the first. Tocchet challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld after video review, resulting in a delay of game penalty against Arizona.
Garland came out of the penalty box after serving the two minutes for the unsuccessful challenge and scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 at 2:03 of the second.
Niklas Hjalmarsson scored with a slap shot from the right point for a 4-1 lead at 18:28 of the second. It was the defenseman's first goal in 94 games dating to March 5, 2018.
"It's fun to see that go in and feel that you can do something offensively for the team," Hjalmarsson said. "It's not fun after the season to go 82 games and there's a big zero there with the goals. So it feels pretty good to get that out of the way, and hopefully I can maybe squeeze in a couple more."
Marc-Andre Fleury made 13 saves on 15 shots in relief for Vegas.
"It's just a bad game. No reasons and no excuses. We're a good team, and we'll never find excuses, only a solution from here," Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said.

They said it

"We play again (against the Calgary Flames on Saturday) like we did our past two games, we'll lose again. There's no miracle to hockey. Hard work gets you wins, and that's how we've been successful the past two years. And if we don't do that, we won't win." -- Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault
"He's 19 years old. He's an NHL kid with his hockey IQ. He's a character kid. He works hard in practice. He made a nice play to keep the puck in (on Schmaltz's goal). And he added some enthusiasm to our team." -- Coyotes coach Rich Tocchet on rookie forward Barrett Hayton

Need to know

Subban is day to day, Gallant said. ... Coyotes forward Phil Kessel played in his 777th consecutive game, moving past Craig Ramsay for the seventh-longest streak in NHL history. ... Hayton (19 years, 123 days) is the seventh-youngest player to make his NHL debut with the Coyotes. ... Vegas was 0-for-4 on the power play. ... Arizona is 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in three games. ... Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin (undisclosed injury) took part in the optional morning skate but did not play. ... Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta (lower-body injury) will make his first start since Nov. 27, 2018, against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

What's next

Golden Knights: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)