The Vegas Golden Knights entered Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers on the heels of Reilly Smith’s miraculous buzzer beater, eager to use that momentum to fuel another win and reset the series at 2-2. But the Oilers took control of the momentum early and never looked back, securing a 3-0 win Monday night at Rogers Place to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Golden Knights were shut out for the first time this postseason, as Stuart Skinner — who lost the starter’s role in the first round — turned aside all 23 shots he faced.
For the second game in a row, the Oilers lit the lamp first, scoring what proved to be the game-winner just 1:27 into the contest. Edmonton forced a turnover behind the Vegas net, and a wide-open Adam Henrique made no mistake, beating Adin Hill from the slot to give the home team the early lead.
Henrique cashed in once again at 13:03, going between the legs in front of the net to chip the puck over Hill.
A wild scrum ensued after the goal when Brayden McNabb pushed Evander Kane into Hill. This resulted in a power play for Vegas, but the Golden Knights were unable to capitalize. That was a theme for the Golden Knights, who failed to get anything going on three opportunities on the man-advantage in a very chippy first period, which featured a spirited fight between Nicolas Hague and Trent Frederic.
Vegas was somewhat fortunate to be down by only two goals considering how lopsided the opening 20 minutes were. The Oilers outshot the Golden Knights 15-5 and had a 75.24 percent expected goal share at all strengths despite being shorthanded three times.
It was more of the same in the second period, as the Oilers continued to control play.
Edmonton made it 3-0 on Kane’s second of the series and fourth of the playoffs at 7:38. A late slide by McNabb made it difficult for Hill to gauge the release, but it was a tough goal for the Golden Knights to surrender.
Hill did come up with a big save on a Zach Hyman breakaway later in the period, but the Golden Knights were unable to generate anything offensively.
In a period Vegas needed to win, the Oilers led 26-15 in shot attempts, 10-7 in shots, 13-8 in scoring chances, 6-2 in high-danger chances, 1.06-0.54 in expected goals and 1-0 in goals.
Through two periods, the Oilers held a 25-12 edge in shots, a 10-4 advantage in high-danger chances and led 2.66-1.07 in expected goals.
Down 3-0, the Golden Knights needed to dig deep in the third.
The Golden Knights had a few chances roughly six minutes into the period, but Skinner came up with timely saves. Vegas pulled Hill with just under five minutes to go, but the Golden Knights couldn’t break through.
Despite outshooting the Oilers 11-7 in the third, the Golden Knights didn’t look like a team trailing by three goals and on the verge of heading home down 3-1 in the series. There was no forecheck, no desperation and no comeback. Ultimately, Vegas was shut out by a goalie who gave up 11 goals in two games in the first round and who yielded four goals on 24 shots in Game 3.
At the end of the day, the Golden Knights were outplayed all night.
Skinner made saves when he needed to, Edmonton’s penalty kill stifled Vegas’ power play, and the Oilers took advantage of Vegas mistakes. The Oilers made plays and were the hungrier team, and their depth outperformed Vegas’, as it was Edmonton’s third line that accounted for all three goals.
Oilers bench boss Kris Knoblauch changed up the lines for Game 4, splitting up Leon Draisaitl and McDavid and putting Kane with Henrique and Connor Brown. He pulled the right strings and pushed the right buttons, and the changes helped Edmonton deliver its best game of the series. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, looked flat and overwhelmed far too often, and it was an uninspired effort.
Vegas was outworked, outplayed and outcoached.
But what really cost Vegas was the power play. Wasting three power plays in the first period on the road was a true momentum-killer. Not only did the Golden Knights fail to convert, they recorded just two shots on goal. That was when Vegas needed to take care of business to get back into the game.
But Edmonton’s execution was superior all night.
That was true in net, too. Skinner wasn’t overly tested but got the job done, and though the loss shouldn’t rest on Hill’s shoulders, he wasn’t particularly sharp and wasn’t able to steal it. The Golden Knights should have a major advantage in net in this series, but it hasn’t played out that way.
Now the Golden Knights are one loss away from an early summer. They have not looked like themselves in this series. Too many individuals have been invisible, too many players have underperformed and the Golden Knights have lacked the killer instinct needed to combat a resilient Oilers team. Simply put, Vegas hasn’t played Golden Knights hockey.
The Golden Knights have plenty of veteran leadership and experience to fall back on, but their Game 4 performance sets up a very steep hill to climb. They will have to find a way to stave off elimination starting Wednesday night when the series shifts back to Las Vegas for Game 5.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.