The Vegas Golden Knights (17-11-11) suffered their fourth consecutive loss in a 4-3 decision against the St. Louis Blues (16-18-8) Friday afternoon at Enterprise Center.
Vegas overcame a two-goal deficit but surrendered the go-ahead goal with just 1:33 remaining in the third period.
This was the first time all season that the Golden Knights lost three straight games in regulation, and it was the first time in franchise history that Vegas lost in regulation on the annual Dads’ trip.
Jack Eichel returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games, but the Golden Knights were without Brayden McNabb, who is considered “week-to-week” after sustaining an injury Wednesday against Nashville. McNabb’s streak of 298 consecutive games played came to an end. Defenseman Jaycob Megna was recalled from Henderson for the three-game road trip; he made his Vegas debut in St. Louis, recording one hit and a minus-two rating in 10:43.
Many of the same problems that have plagued the Golden Knights in recent weeks were, once again, factors in St. Louis.
The Golden Knights gave up 19 shots for the second game in a row, but they gave up three unanswered goals, two of which were scored in the span of just 58 seconds in the second period.
Vegas managed to reset the score in the third, but poor puck management and game management led to a costly turnover in the neutral zone, which resulted in the Blues’ game-winner. As such, Vegas walked away without a point.
For the fourth game in a row, however, the Golden Knights were first to light the lamp. The fourth line came through, with Keegan Kolesar scoring his first of the year 10:12 into the game.
But the Golden Knights didn’t maintain that momentum. In fact, they held the lead for just 27 seconds, as Alexey Toropchenko drove to the net and beat Carter Hart on his own rebound to make it a 1-1 game.
The Golden Knights looked better to start the second, but the Blues fed a seam pass to Justin Faulk, who scored from the right circle 5:39 into the frame.
As has been the case in recent games, the Golden Knights failed to stop the bleeding, as St. Louis was able to extend its lead with another goal less than a minute later. A failed clear by Megna allowed Oskar Sundqvist to score on a rebound from the doorstep.
Despite the quick-strike goals, Vegas bounced back a few minutes later.
Brett Howden made a great play to knock an attempted clear out of the air, and his pass made its way to Mark Stone in front. Stone scored for the third straight game to pull Vegas within one.
Pavel Dorofeyev erased that deficit with the equalizer 8:21 into the final frame. Braeden Bowman jumped on a Blues turnover just inside the blue line, and Dorofeyev deked around Joel Hofer for the gorgeous finish. It was Dorofeyev’s first 5-on-5 goal since Oct. 28.
But with less than two minutes remaining in the third, Noah Hanifin failed to get the puck deep, instead turning it over in the neutral zone. He was interfered with slightly after losing the puck along the boards, but the Blues headed the other way on a 2-on-1. Hart stopped the initial shot, but the rebound went off Brayden Schenn’s skate and up and over Hart.
It was a brutal finish for the Golden Knights, who snapped a seven-game point streak against the Blues to start the road trip 0-1-0.
But it was more of the same from the Golden Knights, who seemed headed for a win (or at least a point) but couldn’t close the deal.
“I think we’re just finding ways to lose games right now,” Kaedan Korczak said. “Simple mistakes that we kind of always make, they’re just ending up in the back of our net right now, and it’s kind of hurting us. So we just gotta clean that up.”
The Golden Knights scored first but took their foot off the gas and then couldn’t stop the bleeding. They have given up at least four goals in four straight games, yielding 18 on 104 shots in that span. Hart has given up nine goals on the last 31 shots he’s faced for a .710 save percentage. However, plenty of Vegas mistakes as well as poor puck management contributed to the club’s latest loss.
“At the end of the day, we got three goals, got ourselves back in the game,” Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t think we gave up a lot, other than kind of what we gave them. They made some plays certainly, but three of their goals started when we had the puck on our stick, and before you know it it’s in our net. So you gotta take care of the puck a little better.”
The Golden Knights were able to tie the game, and while Schenn’s goal was scored on an unfortunate bounce, it was the direct result of an unforced error at the worst time by Hanifin, who played a game-high 26:17 with McNabb on the shelf. That being said, this game shouldn’t have come down to the wire. Vegas never took command of a winnable game that was there for the taking.
“We’re going through a tough stretch here, so we’re going to have to suck it up a little bit and understand what’s in front of us,” Cassidy said. “We do have to take care of pucks a little better, and we need a little more urgency before we get down a few goals as well.”
Having Eichel back should be a help moving forward, though Cassidy said the star pivot wasn’t at his best. Eichel led Vegas forwards in ice time (19:34) and finished the game with three shots, two hits and two blocks.
“I don’t think Jack was very good today,” Cassidy said. “He looked frustrated out there at times. I think some of it was the checking. … His timing was off, for sure.”
But now that the Golden Knights have lost seven of their last eight games, they need to find some answers quickly in the final month before the Olympic break. Their first opportunity to do so will be Sunday against Chicago before they wrap up the road trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
Photo via Golden Knights