LAS VEGAS _ Pavel Buchnevich and Brendan Smith were scratched, Mats Zuccarello was back in the lineup after feeling sick on Saturday and backup Ondrej Pavelec was in the net. That wasn't the biggest surprise on Sunday night.
The New York Rangers, playing most of the game without injured center Kevin Hayes, went toe-to-toe with the best team in the Western Conference, but lost 2-1 on an untouched William Karlsson's shot from the right circle off a rush at 8:58 of the third period.
On Halloween, the Blueshirts had a third-period rally in New York to down the Knights, 6-4. That wasn't the case on Sunday.
With the score 1-1 early in the third, the Rangers had their second man-advantage of the night, but the shorthanded Knights killed off their 20th consecutive power play, allowing just one shot on Marc-Andre Fleury.
Rookie Vinni Lettieri, who sped in all alone between the defense, had a golden chance but missed the net on his backhander from 12 feet at 7:25.
But when Reilly Smith came down the left side, drawing all the attention of the Rangers, his pass found Karlsson alone in the right circle and he beat Pavelec, who finished with 31 saves, scrambling to get to the right post.
So, in the final game before a well-deserved bye week for both teams, the Knights won their 29th game _ and 18th at home _ while the Rangers fell to 22-15-5, and 7-8-2 on the road.
It was a much crisper start for the Rangers in front of a noisy, into-it, sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Arena. They had 10 shots after just six in the first in Arizona and more importantly, tightened up in their defensive zone, blocking 12 shots, guarding players, and not permitting odd-man rushes.
Mika Zibanejad's laser over Fleury's glove at 13:05 on passes from Michael Grabner and Lettieri for a 1-0 lead had the contingent of Rangers fans roaring.
A minute later, the Knights were down a man due to having too many men on the ice. When the Rangers failed to connect on a power play, Ryan McDonagh, under duress, backhanded a pass to Paul Carey along the wall in the Rangers zone and he lost the puck. James Neal grabbed the puck and sniped a shot over Pavelec's left shoulder from the top of the left circle, his 18th goal of the season, to tie the score at 17:23.
A few minutes later, Kevin Hayes, who had been crunched into the end boards by Nate Schmidt at 5:22 of the first, went off after playing just 2:44. He played just 17 seconds in the second and the team said he was being evaluated with a lower-body injury.
In the second, with the chant of "Go Knights, Go," gladiators banging drums and a bass throbbing in the place dubbed "The Fortress," Pavelec was tested and made three saves, twice kicking away shots on two-on-ones, and controlling the offensive zone. McDonagh went off for tripping at 5:10.
On the first Vegas power play, though, the Rangers were aggressive, breaking up passes and sending the puck down ice. But the Knights kept pressing, and outshot the Rangers 14-6.
In the final seconds of the second, Pavelec kicked out Shea Theodore's shot with his left pad on the fourth Knights' two-on-one. It was his 23rd save.
Pavelec, who was 2-0-1 with a 1.26 GAA and a .966 save percentage in his last three starts, was doing fine again.
Even though Henrik Lundqvist would have four or five days to rest, the move was planned, coach Alain Vigneault said. Pavelec, who stopped all 30 shots in regulation and two shots in a shootout on Dec. 27 against Washington for a shutout in his last start, knew since the beginning of the week that this would be another opportunity.
"He's playing well," said Vigneault before the game. "We've got two good goaltenders, and feel it's the right thing to do."
