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Year 2, Game 49: Golden Knights’ power play fails in 4-1 loss to Jets

The good news — the Vegas Golden Knights dominated nearly every aspect of this game and had one of their best efforts of the season. The bad news — one of the areas they did not dominate was the scoreboard.

The Golden Knights lost to the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 after putting up 25 shots in the second period. That’s a season high. They played more than eight minutes on the power play in that period alone, including 50 seconds of 5-on-3. Still, no goals to speak of.

The Golden Knights are now 1-for-30 on the man advantage since Dec. 23 against the Los Angeles Kings. Something has gone terribly wrong. Whether it’s the absence of Colin Miller, Reilly Smith or a combination of the two, the Golden Knights are clearly missing something. The power play, although they continue to generate shots, has looked downright lackluster.

In this game, the Golden Knights’ power play had five high-danger chances and 11 shots. That’s about a shot per minute. But Laurent Brossoit, Winnipeg’s goaltender, was up to the task on every shot. Even with the extra attacker on the ice, Vegas just couldn’t beat Brossoit.

In addition, the Golden Knights allowed a shorthanded goal. They were the last team in the NHL that had yet to allow one this season, but that ended thanks to a Kyle Connor tally in the second period.

At the end of the day, the Knights’ ineffective power play cost them. Alex Tuch’s franchise-record point streak ended at nine games, as did Vegas’ road winning streak at four games. Of course, those are not as looming nor as ominous as the disjointed Vegas power play.

Turnovers also hurt the Golden Knights, with the Jets’ second goal, from Mathieu Perreault coming off an own-zone turnover by Alex Tuch. That turned out to be the game-winning goal — one that could have been avoided.

Brandon Pirri managed to be a bright spot in this game, however, getting a team-high four high-danger chances and the Knights’ lone goal. He continues to be all that and a bag of goals for Vegas.

Max Pacioretty took a team-high eight shots throughout the game, including three high-danger chances. Even an elite sniper like Pacioretty couldn’t get anything past Brossoit given a crazy number of chances, which says all you need to know about how Brossoit played.