The Vegas Golden Knights were shut out for the first time this season in a 3-0 loss against the Washington Capitals Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.
Vegas (12-3-1) controlled possession for most of the night and came up huge on the penalty kill, but the Golden Knights failed to execute on a plethora of chances.
That was largely due to the stellar play of Capitals netminder Charlie Lindgren, who turned aside all 35 shots he faced, including at least four clean breakaways.
Washington took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Dylan Strome took advantage of an odd-man rush, drove to the middle of the ice and beat Logan Thompson with a perfect top-shelf shot.
The goal came at 16:39 of the opening period and proved to be the game-winner.
It was a one-goal game for most of the night, but the Capitals had a chance to break open the contest just over five minutes into the second period with an extended power play.
Paul Cotter delivered a high shoulder to the head of Evgeny Kuznetsov by the goal line, which ultimately resulted in a match penalty and a five-minute major.
A match penalty signals the officials’ belief that there was an intent to injure, so the league may review the play further to consider additional discipline; Cotter was ejected from the game and missed the final 34:42. Kuznetsov was down on the ice and eventually went down the tunnel, though he did return to the game.
The major could have been a huge turning point in the game, but the Golden Knights’ eighth-ranked penalty kill dispatched the Capitals’ 30th-ranked power play. Vegas prevented Washington from getting set up and generating any promising scoring chances. The Vegas penalty kill finished the game 3-for-3.
The Vegas power play, on the other hand, went 0-for-2.
The Golden Knights were unable to score on back-to-back power plays 10:46 into the second and 3:43 into the third, and they didn’t come particularly close.
Vegas continued to pepper shots at Lindgren throughout the third and eventually pulled Thompson for the 6-on-5 advantage. However, the Capitals were able to contain Vegas, and Connor McMichael scored an empty-net goal to seal the win with 49 seconds remaining.
Sixteen seconds later, Beck Malenstyn forced a turnover by Zach Whitecloud and beat Thompson on a breakaway for the 3-0 final.
Even though they got shut out, the Golden Knights played well, and Thompson had another impressive showing despite suffering his second straight loss. He stopped 28 of 29 before the Malenstyn goal and finished the game with 28 saves on 30 shots for a .933 save percentage.
He kept Vegas in the game all night, but the Golden Knights couldn’t capitalize on countless chances.
“That’s one we should have been able to generate enough to get points tonight,” Vegas bench boss Bruce Cassidy said about the loss. “[Lindgren] was very good, and I thought Logan played well. We made a mistake on their goal where we gave them an odd-man rush and they buried it, and we weren’t able to do a lot of the same when we had our opportunities.”
Vegas held a 15-4 edge in high-danger chances at 5-on-5 and a 61-39 lead in shot attempts but was unable to solve Lindgren, who was the best player on the ice.
“He was the win,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said about his netminder. “Go down the list of the breakaways, all the different saves in tight, some screened tips, some rebound stuff…all sorts of different stops. He was the difference in the game.”
But one area where Vegas didn’t test Lindgren was on the power play, and Cassidy said it was a key factor in the outcome.
“If you’re not scoring, [the power play’s] got to at least try to generate some momentum,” Cassidy said. “The top unit, I don’t think they generated anything towards the net on two chances. And after you kill nine minutes, that’s where your timely scoring comes in, and your special teams, and we didn’t get it.”
Vegas captain Mark Stone, who recorded a season-high seven shots on goal, also addressed the team’s struggles on the man-advantage.
“We’re not getting the puck to the net,” Stone said. “I like the movement, but the puck has to arrive at the net, and I don’t think it did.”
But Stone said Vegas’ overall lack of execution was the difference in the game.
“I think what it came down to today is they [bore] down on their one chance, and we didn’t.”
Despite Stone’s remarks, the Capitals had more than one chance; they generated 31 shots, and Thompson had to deliver a strong performance to keep his team in the game. The Capitals also made a number of strong defensive plays, including a stick play by Lucas Johansen that broke up a 3-on-1 opportunity for the Golden Knights.
That being said, the Golden Knights did a great job holding the blue line, and they were able to generate their fair share of good looks, any of which could have changed the game if Vegas had converted.
But the Golden Knights won’t dwell on the loss.
“We’re playing well,” Stone said. “We played a good hockey game tonight, just didn’t get the result.”
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said the Golden Knights have “played some games where we probably shouldn’t have won. We understand that. We want wins, but we’ll go back and have a good day tomorrow and get ready for Montreal.”
The Golden Knights will take on the Canadiens Thursday night before an afternoon tilt against the Flyers on Saturday. They’ll wrap up the road trip with games against Pittsburgh and Dallas on Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.