John Tortorella’s tenure as Golden Knights coach began with a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday at T-Mobile Arena, snapping Vegas’ slide with a decisive second-period outburst.

Defensemen Rasmus Andersson and Shea Theodore each scored, and Reilly Smith added a goal during a three-goal middle frame that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. Cole Smith sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:10 left.

Adin Hill made 22 saves for the Knights (33-26-16), who had lost six of seven before the coaching change. Bruce Cassidy was fired Sunday after four seasons.

Vancouver (21-44-8) opened the scoring when Evander Kane, playing his 1,000th NHL game, buried a 2-on-1 at 12:19 of the first period. The Knights dominated possession but trailed after 20 minutes.

Tortorella shuffled his top-six forwards in the second period, but it was the blue line that broke through. Andersson tied it at 7:48, and Theodore gave Vegas the lead on a breakaway feed from Ivan Barbashev at 17:17. Brayden McNabb then set up Smith for the go-ahead goal with 1:26 left in the period.

“It’s a good start,” Tortorella said. “We didn’t change much system-wise; the guys executed well.”

The Knights have now won the debut game of every head coach in franchise history: Gerard Gallant (2017), Pete DeBoer (2020), Cassidy (2022), and Tortorella.

Vegas wraps up its four-game homestand Thursday against the Calgary Flames.