The Arizona Coyotes don’t have much to play for Oliver Ekman-Larsson Jersey , given they have the worst record in the Western Conference and have long been eliminated from the playoff race.

Except maybe a bit of pride.

It showed Wednesday night as Kevin Connauton scored twice to lead the Coyotes over the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights 3-2.

It marked Arizona’s first victory over the expansion Golden Knights in the teams’ fifth and final game this season.

”It was a good complete game for us,” Connauton said. ”It’s big, I mean right now we’re focused on building for next year. We still have a group here that has a lot of pride and that is gonna play hard right to the end.”

Richard Panik also scored for the Coyotes, and Antti Raanta improved to 18-16-6 by making 27 saves.

”We knew that we had lost all the games against this team and we wanted to show that we’re not that bad a team,” Raanta said. ”Everybody knows that we’re not gonna go to the playoffs, but we want to show that we can beat anybody in this league. A little bit of a better start (this season) we could actually be in the hunt for a playoff spot.”

The Coyotes began the season 0-10-1 and were 9-27-5 heading into 2018, but now they’re on a 15-7-2 roll, including an impressive 4-1 victory at Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay on Monday night.

”It was a huge thing to come from Tampa and start working again, it was a big thing for the team for sure,” Raanta said. ”It’s showing to the fans and showing to the league that we can beat anybody in this league when we are playing like we played today and in Tampa. It’s a confidence boost for sure.”

Erik Haula and Alex Tuch each scored power-play goals for the playoff-bound Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots.

Vegas is in a 7-6-3 rut and holds a five-point lead over surging San Jose for first place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks were idle Wednesday and visit Vegas on Saturday night. The Golden Knights are 27-10-2 at home this season.

The Golden Knights continued to struggle at the start of games, getting outshot by Arizona in the first period 15-5.

Vegas has been outshot 41-22 in the first period over its past three games.

”It’s bothering me a lot,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said of his team’s sluggish starts. ”First game of our road trip in San Jose we had an unbelievable first period and the last three since then it’s been chasing the game every game. That’s three in a row and we gotta fix it. We gotta be better, we gotta be more prepared for those starts and get our game ready.”

The Coyotes opened the scoring when Connauton found the loose puck after a deflection in front of the crease and backhanded it in a wide-open net.

Vegas tied it after James Neal took advantage of a turnover and fed Haula for a one-timer.

With a little more than three minutes left in the first period, Arizona rookie Clayton Keller stole the puck, maneuvered around the defense and served an attacking Panik Evgenii Dadonov Jersey Kids , whose backhand beat Fleury.

Keller, who leads the team in scoring, continued a red-hot March and has now recorded a point in 10 straight games. Keller’s 18 points this month is the most by a rookie, while his 39 assists and 62 points this season are also team records by a rookie.

Tuch deflected Jonathan Marchessault’s slap shot late in the second period to knot the game at 2, but moments later Connauton scored his second goal when his shot from the point made its way through the five-hole.

”It was big because obviously this is a great hockey team we’re playing. This is a tough building to play in, a loud building,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. ”We held our own, you gotta give our team credit. It’s a tough road trip. I like the way some of these guys are buying in. You do the right things, good things happen.”

Arizona, which is 6-3-1 in its last 10 road games, played its fifth game of a six-game road trip that started in Buffalo, and continued through Carolina, Florida, Tampa and Vegas. The Coyotes finish their road trip tomorrow in Los Angeles.

NOTES: Arizona is on a winning run of 16-1-1 when holding opponents to two goals or fewer. … Fleury remains one win away from moving into sole possession of 11th on the NHL’s career wins list. … Neal is two games shy from his 700th career game. … Marchessault is two games away from his 200th career contest.

UP NEXT

Arizona: Visits Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Vegas: Hosts St. Louis on Friday night.

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Nikola Mirotic watched his third 3-pointer of the first half swish through the hoop, turned to acknowledge the raucous Anthony Mantha Jersey , roaring crowd and raised his first triumphantly as he trotted back up court.

Portland had a hard enough time dealing with Pelicans All-Star Anthony Davis and the New Orleans backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo in Games 1 and 2. Pile on the finest playoff performance of Mirotic’s four NBA seasons, and the rout was on in Game 3.

Mirotic scored a career playoff-best 30 points to go with eight rebounds, three steals and a block, and the Pelicans pushed Portland to the brink of elimination with a 119-102 victory on Thursday night.

”I never thought I’d score 30 or something like that,” Mirotic said. ”I’m just trying to play simple. If I have a shot, take a shot, so I need to give credit to my teammates. … It’s just about the team. It’s about winning.”

To illustrate how hard New Orleans has been to defend in the series, Portland coach Terry Stotts made a point of noting that Mirotic was the third different Pelicans player to score 30 in a game. Davis had 35 in Game 1 and Holiday 33 in Game 2.

”New Orleans played extremely well,” Stotts said. ”We arguably had one of our worst games of the year, so it was a bad combination.”

Davis had 28 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for New Orleans, which can advance past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008 with one more victory. Game 4 is Saturday.

The 6-foot-10 Mirotic, acquired in a midseason trade after DeMarcus Cousins‘ season-ending Achilles tear, made 12 of 15 shots Authentic Alexander Wennberg Jersey , scoring on everything from quick-release 3-pointers to cutting dunks and fast-break layups.

”I knew I was capable to have games like this, but I never want to force any shots and always want to play simple, play for my teammates the same way they play for me,” Mirotic said. ”I just want to show them they were right to bring me here.”

Damian Lillard scored 20 for Portland, but missed nine of an unusually low 14 shots. He averaged about 19 shots per game this season, but said the Pelicans were defending him relentlessly.

”They’re making me give the ball up,” Lillard said. ”This is a different coverage than I’ve seen at any point in my career. … It’s two or three layers of defense. It’s tough to play against, man.”

CJ McCollum scored 22 and Al-Farouq Aminu added 21, but Portland trailed by double digits for most of the first half and all of the second.

The Blazers had no answer for a Pelicans offense orchestrated once again to prolific effect by Rondo, who had 16 points and 11 assists – giving him 37 assists in the series. Holiday added 16 points for New Orleans, which shot 53 percent (46 of 87).

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: Starting F Evan Turner was scratched because of his toe injury sustained during Game 2 on Tuesday night. Maurice Harkless started in his place, scoring five points in 26 minutes. … The Blazers committed 24 turnovers, leading to 29 Pelicans points. … Finished 9 of 31 from 3-point range.

Pelicans: Cousins was on the bench, attending his first game in New Orleans since his injury on Jan. 26. When he was shown cheering on his teammates on the main scoreboard, fans erupted into chants of ”Boogie! Boogie!” … The Pelicans shot 11 of 27 from 3-point range and 16 of 19 on free throws. … Scored 62 points in the paint and 32 on fast breaks.

SETTING THE TONE

The Pelicans wore alternate red uniforms and every fan was given a matching T-shirt Justin Abdelkader Jersey , turning the entire packed seating area into a sea of red.

The volume was high early with the crowd revved up for the first playoff game in New Orleans since 2015.

The Blazers did nothing to silence the place, shooting about 35 percent and committing six turnovers in the opening quarter.

New Orleans raced to an 18-point lead in the period, aided by Mirotic hitting five of his first seven shots for 14 early points.

Mirotic scored 21 by halftime, which already represented a playoff career high.

Davis joined the fray with his typical array of alley-oop dunks, one of which he caught with his back to the basket and threw down with a two-handed reverse jam.

Rondo ran New Orleans’ offense with a tempo that gave Portland fits, and even when he was forced to settle for a deep 3 late in the shot clock, it went down, pushing the Pelicans’ lead to 20 in the first half.

Portland never got closer than 13 after that and trailed by as many as 33 in the fourth quarter.

FRESH LOOK

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said he’s not sure Mirotic’s decision to shave his beard had anything to do with his recent surge in production, but said the Pelicans are choosing to believe it does. He then added, ”Tell Niko, no 5 o’clock shadows, OK?”

UP NEXT

The series remains in New Orleans for Game 4 on Saturday night, when the Pelicans have an opportunity to complete the first playoff series sweep in franchise history.

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