Golden Knights win in debut

James Neal wanted to give the people of Las Vegas a reason to smile. Chances are he did.

Neal scored twice in the third period, rallying the Golden Knights to a 2-1 victory over the host Dallas Stars on Friday night in the debut of the first major pro sports franchise in Las Vegas.

The expansion team was playing five days after the shooting that killed 58 people in Las Vegas, and the Dallas players honored the desert city by forming a line alongside their Vegas counterparts before the national anthem.

“Being a new team, we have a lot of new fans and a lot of people affected by what happened,” Neal said. “Hopefully they tuned in tonight and we could put a smile on their face, because like you said we’re playing for our city and it’s going to be a lot of fun this year.”

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 45 of 46 shots to help the Golden Knights become the first expansion team to open with a victory since the Ottawa Senators topped Montreal 5-3 on Oct. 8, 1992. Vegas is the first NHL expansion team since the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets in 2000.

Both of Neal’s goals came against Kari Lehtonen after Ben Bishop left after taking a puck to the mask. Bishop, who skated off holding a towel to his face, had stopped all 19 shots in his Dallas debut after coming over in a trade with Los Angeles and signing a long-term contract.

A former Dallas player and expected to be a top offensive threat for the Golden Knights, Neal beat a screened Lehtonen between the legs midway through the third period on a delayed penalty for the franchise’s first goal and a 1-1 tie.

The go-ahead goal came in transition when Neal lifted the puck over Lehtonen from his knees with 2:44 remaining.