Golden Knights rally, defeat Canucks in Tortorella's debut as coach

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights rallied for a 4-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks in John Tortorella's debut as coach at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy, who was fired on Sunday.

“There was some rust,” Tortorella said. “I got a good feel for the lines. Still trying to learn nicknames, like when you’re calling all people to go up, but it was good. I’ve leaned on the coaching staff quite a bit.”

Rasmus Andersson, Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith scored, and Adin Hill made 22 saves for the Golden Knights (33-26-16), who had lost three in a row (0-1-2) and six of seven (1-4-2).

Vegas is in third place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the Edmonton Oilers, who have one game in hand, and six points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, who have two in hand.

“The messaging was different. Structurally, we were pretty similar,” Smith said. “There’s an added emphasis on playing faster, and as the game went on, that kind of tracked a little bit better with us. We played faster and created some opportunities off it.”

Evander Kane scored in his 1,000th NHL game for the Canucks (21-44-8), who have lost six in a row. Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves.

“We knew they were going to come out hard, and they were finishing their checks,” Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. “It was nice for [Kane] to get that goal early. We had some jump there. ... Special moment for (Kane) and his family. That’s a milestone that’s tough to get, and it’s nice to see him get that and get a goal tonight as well.”

Kane gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 12:19 of the first period. He took a pass from Jake DeBrusk on a 2-on-1 rush, moved the puck to his backhand and tucked a shot past Hill, who was moving the other way.

“It was nice to have the support of all the guys,” Kane said. “They were excited for me, which made it special, and obviously, getting the first goal of the game was a little cherry on top. It’s nice to be able to have a nice moment in that milestone game. Just a special moment.”

Andersson tied the game 1-1 at 7:48 of the second period. Noah Hanifin's shot from the right point hit Tomas Hertl in front, and he quickly found a cutting Andersson for a shot into the open net.

Brock Boeser put the Canucks back in front 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:17. He redirected Filip Hronek’s shot from the point past Hill, who was once again caught moving in the opposite direction.

“We’re moving the puck quick,” Boeser said. “Once you get the PK moving side to side, they leave the middle open, and (Hronek) made a nice pass there.”

Theodore tied it back up 2-2 at 17:17. Ivan Barbashev won a race to the puck with defenseman Elias Pettersson and passed over to Theodore, who skated all alone into the slot before roofing a shot blocker side on Lankinen.

“You can get offense from everybody, especially in this league,” Golden Knights forward Cole Smith said. “Some nights you need some from the back end, and they stepped up big tonight with some key goals. We as a whole haven’t been scoring a whole lot of goals. It was nice to see them put some on the board tonight."

Reilly Smith gave the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead at 18:34, one-timing Brayden McNabb's diagonal cross-ice pass in the bottom of the right circle after he initially dumped the puck into the offensive zone.

“It’s nice to score, puts a smile on your face,” he said. “Opportunity is everything, so when I get the chance, I’ve got to make sure I make the most of it."

Cole Smith added an empty-net goal at 18:50 of the third period for the 4-2 final. It was his first goal since being acquired by the Golden Knights in a trade with the Nashville Predators on March 3.

“The second period was our best period. First period, we looked nervous,” Tortorella said. “Third period, some good stuff. We got a little stubborn at the blue lines late in the game. Instead of just playing north, we went sideways with it. It almost cost us. We’ll look at some tape and continue to teach and try to get them, as I said this morning, trying to get the right mindset, an aggressive mindset of playing north and playing center.”