The Vegas Golden Knights were unable to hold a 2-1 lead in the third period, ultimately surrendering three unanswered goals in a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
Former Golden Knights netminder Jonathan Quick was between the pipes for New York, earning first-star honors with 34 saves in his 400th career win. He is the first American-born goaltender to reach that milestone and just the 15th goaltender in NHL history to accomplish the feat.
Brandon Saad made his Golden Knights debut, recording three shots and one hit in 16:22. He, Mark Stone and Brett Howden played well together, leading 19-10 in Corsi, 11-3 in shots, 9-4 in scoring chances and 5-1 in high-danger chances while finishing with an 80.20 percent expected goal share in 12:21.
Jack Eichel scored both goals for the Golden Knights, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a third-period collapse, which featured two power-play goals for the Rangers.
After K’Andre Miller scored at 11:33 of the third to give the Rangers their first lead of the game, the Golden Knights managed just three shots for the rest of the period.
Vegas’ effort wasn’t good enough offensively, defensively or in net, and the penalty kill went 0-for-2 in the third period when the game was on the line.
After winning the first three games in January, Vegas has gone 3-7-3 over the last 13 games, which is one of the worst stretches in franchise history. But Sunday’s loss was particularly deflating because the Golden Knights were in complete control going into the final frame.
Late in the first period, Eichel kicked things off with a power-play goal at 19:41 to give Vegas a 1-0 lead. Tomas Hertl set the screen in front, allowing Eichel to rip one past Quick. It was the seventh road game in a row in which Vegas converted on the power play, which tied a franchise record.
But the Rangers reset the score early in the second period, as Adin Hill overcommitted to Adam Fox, leaving an empty net for Alexis Lafreniere to get the Rangers on the board. The goal came just 78 seconds into the middle frame.
Eichel then put Vegas back on top with an absolute laser for his second of the game. His 18th of the season made it a 2-1 game 9:16 into the second period, a lead Vegas held for the next 15:48.
But Mika Zibanejad evened things up at 2-2 on the power play 5:04 into the third period. It was the first of two third-period goals on the man-advantage for the Blueshirts as the Rangers’ top players came alive.
On the equalizer, New York capitalized on Vegas’ inability to clear the zone, as Eichel tried to make a play instead of shooting it down the ice. After Hill stopped J.T. Miller’s initial shot, Zibanejad found the loose puck in the crease and slid it into the cage.
Another strong shift by the Rangers was extended by multiple keeps as well as a key board battle behind the goal line, leading to a K’Andre Miller one-timer from the left circle with 8:27 remaining. This proved to be the game-winner.
A few minutes later, Nicolas Hague dropped the mitts with Will Cuyelle after Cuyelle leveled Alex Pietrangelo, but it wasn’t enough to inspire a Vegas rally.
The Rangers then got a late power play and tore the Vegas penalty kill apart, with Artemi Panarin finishing the play to make it 4-2. Hill was out of position and unable to get over in time, though it was a slick passing play by the home team.
In the end, the Golden Knights yielded three goals on 12 shots and were outplayed, outworked and overmatched in the third period. The Rangers were noticeably physical and engaged, and they completely took over the game to come away with the two points.
The same two points the Golden Knights allowed to slip through the cracks.
Prior to the game, Vegas was 19-2-1 when leading in the third, while the Rangers were 1-20-1 when trailing in the third. Plus, the Rangers were in the second half of a back-to-back, which should have favored Vegas down the stretch.
This wasn’t purely a Vegas collapse, however.
For one thing, Quick played a significant role in the outcome of the game. Even though the Golden Knights generated plenty of chances, Quick made save after save to keep the Rangers in it and prevent Vegas from extending its lead.
For another, the Rangers seemed rejuvenated, which was likely attributable to the addition of J.T. Miller. J.T. Miller was skating in his second game in his second stint with the Rangers after being acquired from Vancouver on Friday. The Rangers were a different team in the third period, and they were also the better team.
However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an inexcusable turn of events for a rested Golden Knights team desperate to right the ship.
Unlike Quick, Hill did not come up with the saves he needed to make. He was out of position, slow to recover and not sharp enough. He gave up four goals on 28 shots for an .857 save percentage, which is the exact same stat line he put up in his previous start against Dallas as well as in the 5-4 shootout loss to St. Louis on Jan. 20.
The Vegas netminders have recorded save percentages below .900 in nine of the last 13 games. Though it’s not the sole reason Vegas has struggled, it’s more than fair to say that the Golden Knights are not getting the goaltending they need to get out of this slump.
That, in combination with the team’s inability to finish, is what cost Vegas on Sunday.
“Some guys have been, offensively, in a slumber for us for a while,” Bruce Cassidy said after the game. “We need them to get going. That’s a little bit of what’s going on. Every night, it’s gotta be different people.”
Cassidy went on to say that getting “a goal here or there from — I wouldn’t say an unlikely source, but maybe the guy you’re not thinking of — is what gets you on winning streaks. And then the huge saves when you need it so that the momentum doesn’t start building. That’s the other thing. We gotta get both of those squared away, to be perfectly honest. You don’t always need them in the same night, but you need one or the other usually, and we didn’t get either tonight.”
After going 3-7-3 since Jan. 9, the Golden Knights are 31-16-6.
They have three more games, all on the road, before the 4 Nations Face-Off break: Tuesday night against the Islanders, Thursday night against the Devils and Saturday afternoon against the Bruins.
That’s three games for them to figure out how to break out of this slump, regain their footing and set themselves up for success in the final 26 games of the 2024-25 campaign. As it stands now, the Golden Knights are not playing winning hockey, which is not going to cut it if they want to be a true contender.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.