The Vegas Golden Knights returned to the loss column Wednesday during a nationally televised game against the Colorado Avalanche, but things could have gone a lot worse than they did. Adin Hill was scheduled to make his return from injured reserve, but was scratched late. Jiri Patera got the start and was backed up by Isaiah Saville who was recalled from the Henderson Silver Knights.
Patera was a big part of the story, mostly because the Golden Knights couldn’t get a puck past Alexandar Georgiev, and Vegas’ third-string netminder stopped 32 of 35 shots faced, including 28 of 29 at even strength, and 3 of 3 while the Golden Knights were on the man advantage. The two shots he failed to stop came on the power play, and both times he was beat by Valeri Nichushkin who is up to 22 goals and 42 points in 40 games played on the season.
Despite the 3-0 score line, the Golden Knights hung a little closer to Colorado than you might think, and the difference maker was Avalanche’s ability to convert on special teams.
Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, they are in action again today, and they will face a very good Boston Bruins team at T-Mobile Arena.
They will be without William Carrier who underwent surgery due to an upper-body injury, and it remains to be seen if Michael Amadio will be good to go.