LAS VEGAS (AP) The Arizona Coyotes don’t have much to play for Kevin Hayes 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 Kevin Shattenkirk Jersey , maneuvered around the defense and served an attacking Panik, 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 http://www.officialhockeyrangersshop.com/authentic-adidas-marc-staal-jersey , 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 NEXTArizona: Visits Los Angeles on Thursday night.Vegas: Hosts St. Louis on Friday night.— DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche had New York boxed in from the start.All game, really, with Colorado going on 10 power plays to keep the Rangers on the defensive throughout.Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen set the early tone with power-play goals in the first period, helping the Avalanche end a six-game slide with a 6-1 win over the Rangers on Friday night.Colorado finished with its most power-play opportunities since Oct. 16, 2008, when the team had 11 against Philadelphia.“The way we’ve been struggling lately it feels so good to get a win,” defenseman Tyson Barrie said.Gabriel Landeskog added a goal off his right skate, Alexander Kerfoot tipped in a shot, Rantanen deflected in yet another and Ryan Graves closed out the scoring with his first career NHL goal as a struggling Avalanche squad won for the first time since Dec. 19.Colorado finished 3 of 10 on the power play, with two of the goals scored following a 5-minute boarding call on former Avalanche player Cody McLeod just 2 1/2 minutes in.“It’s been losing hockey. It’s been negative — negative video, a negative vibe around the rink,” MacKinnon said. “It’s nice to finally end it.”To Rangers coach David Quinn, this loss boiled down to one thing — all those penalties. The Avalanche had 15:23 of power-play time.“You have zero chance to win a hockey game in that way,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t our night from the get-go. We created a lot of our own problems with the penalties.”Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves Authentic Mats Zuccarello Jersey , including one on a penalty shot by Jimmy Vesey late in the third.Ryan Strome scored the Rangers’ lone goal midway through third period on a night they were outshot by a 47-25 margin. Alexandar Georgiev attempted to keep things close while giving Henrik Lundqvist a night off. Lundqvist was pulled Wednesday after allowing six goals in a loss to Pittsburgh.Barrie had three assists to give him 278 career points, the most by a defenseman in franchise history. Barrie broke the mark held by John-Michael Liles.“Finally nice to get it out of the way and put it behind me,” Barrie said. ” It’s something I can look back on and take pride in it. Johnny’s a great guy and a great player, so it’s nice to pass him and take him out to dinner.”After the morning skate, the Avalanche reiterated over and over the importance of a fast start to break out of their 0-4-2 skid.This helped their cause: Going on the power play early when McLeod slammed the face of defenseman Samuel Girard into the glass on a big hit. MacKinnon scored on a high wrist shot over Georgiev’s glove at 4:40, with Rantanen adding another 2:13 later when his pass went in off the stick of New York defenseman Neal Pionk.“It’s hard to play games when you sit that long in the box,” Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello said. “At the end of the day, they were the better team than us.”Colorado was getting all the bounces, with Landeskog knocking in a goal with his right skate midway through the second period. The Avalanche led 5-0 in the third before Strome ended Grubauer’s shutout bid on a breakaway.Graves scored his first career goal following a rebound in the third. He was selected by New York in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, before being dealt to Colorado last February.“Regardless of who we were playing, it’s pretty sweet,” Graves said of his goal.NOTES: Rangers C Kevin Hayes missed the game with an upper body injury. … Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov remains day-to-day with a lower body injury. … The Avs are stumping for Landeskog to make the All-Star team through the “Last Men In” vote from the fans. There were buttons and signs that read, “Vote Gabe in.” … MacKinnon and Landeskog each have 25 goals this season.UP NEXT:Rangers: Stop No. 2 on a three-game trip will be Sunday in Arizona.Avalanche: Open a five-game trip Tuesday in Winnipeg.