Golden Knights score four unanswered, rally past Kings

LOS ANGELES-- Max Pacioretty scored his 300th NHL goal to help the Vegas Golden Knights rally for a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Monday.

Pacioretty reached the milestone in his 802nd NHL game, scoring the fourth straight goal for Vegas on a power play to make it 4-2 at 8:22 of the third period.
"I thought after hitting three posts in the last game that maybe it would take awhile to get it," Pacioretty said. "Luckily, had a great screen from [Mark Stone], so made it a lot earlier. I told him I was looking for a tap-in tonight, and that was pretty much as good as it gets."
Stone had a goal and an assist, and Shea Theodore had two assists for the Golden Knights (28-11-2), who have won three in a row, including a 1-0 victory against the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday. Robin Lehner made 26 saves.
Anze Kopitar and Austin Wagner scored for the Kings (16-19-6), who have lost eight of 11. Cal Petersen made 37 saves.
"There's no excuse for tonight," Wagner said. "We know that we need to be better, and we will get better and that's our group. Our group's great like that where we fix our mistakes and work hard."

The teams will play again here Wednesday.
Alex Tuch put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2 at 4:35 of the third period with a wrist shot on an odd-man rush after Stone scored on a shorthanded breakaway to tie it at 2-2 at 19:33 of the second period.
"The power play one was the toughest for me because they had chances before that," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "We got sloppy, we got careless, and if the power play isn't scoring, it should at least gain you a little momentum, and it did none of those things tonight. All it did was give back momentum. I thought that was the turning point."
Tuch (14 games) and Stone (10) each ended a goal drought, and Pacioretty's was his second goal in nine games.
"Again, they were carrying that weight of not scoring in a while or regularly lately around pretty heavy, so I would say all three of those goals were key goals for us," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said.

Nicolas Roy kept the puck during a 2-on-1 rush and scored to get the Golden Knights within 2-1 at 14:20 of the second. It was Roy's fifth point (two goals, three assists) in his past six games.
"They transitioned the puck extremely well," Wagner said. "Every time they get the chance, they're going quick up, and as a team we know we have to get better at that against them on Wednesday. We had a tie game going into the third, and it just happened that way."
Wagner scored on a breakaway at 9:41 of the first period to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.
Kopitar made it 2-0 at 8:57 of the second on a one-timer set up by Dustin Brown's pass from behind the net.
Alex Iafallo had the secondary assist on Kopitar's goal. The 27-year-old forward signed a four-year, $16 million contract (average annual value of $4 million) on Monday.
Pacioretty scored 226 goals in 10 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and has 74 in three seasons with the Golden Knights. He is the 25th active NHL player with 300 goals.
"I've said this numerous times, it's the best shot I've ever played with," Stone said. "Probably the best goal-scorer I'm ever gonna play with. I don't know if there's five guys in the League that shoot it harder than him, and he has precision. You see it on that goal."
NOTES: Defenseman Dylan Coghlan played as a wing on the fourth line for the Golden Knights, who did not have forwards Ryan Reaves and Keegan Kolesar available after each sustained an undisclosed injury against the Coyotes on Sunday. … Brendan Lemieux had an assist on Wagner's goal. It was Lemieux's first point in three games for the Kings since he was acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on March 27. … Brown (one goal, three assists), Iaffalo (two goals, one assist) and Kopitar (one goal, two assists) each has a three-game point streak.