The Vegas Golden Knights (24-12-12) suffered their second straight regulation defeat in a 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins (28-20-2) Thursday night at TD Garden.
Boston scored three goals in the span of just 54 seconds in the first period and took a 4-0 lead in the second. The Golden Knights rallied, scoring three times in the third period, but it was too little, too late.
With an assist on Vegas’ second goal of the third period, Mark Stone set a new record for the longest point streak in franchise history at 13 games.
The first period was an ugly one for the Golden Knights, and special teams played a key role.
Vegas got an early power play but was unable to cash in. Ivan Barbashev had a great look but didn’t elevate the puck over Joonas Korpisalo’s pad. Boston, by contrast, made the most of Tomas Hertl’s four-minute penalty for high-sticking, which changed the face of the game.
The Bruins scored 11 seconds into the first power play, as a deep blast by Charlie McAvoy found twine. Jack Eichel won the faceoff, but Shea Theodore turned the puck over on an errant pass around the boards.
Elias Lindholm doubled the home team’s lead just 30 seconds into the second minor penalty, as the Swedish center was left all alone in the slot.
Another Vegas turnover then set up a 5-on-5 goal for Tanner Jeannot just 24 seconds later, giving the Bruins three goals in under a minute. The three tallies came on consecutive shots.
Things took an even darker turn when Theodore appeared shaken up after taking a huge hit by Mark Kastelic. Though Theodore headed down the tunnel, he was able to return later in the period. Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves with Kastelic, but the fight wasn’t enough to spark a response from Vegas.
A disastrous opening 20 minutes put the Golden Knights in a three-goal hole after Boston outshot them 15-4 with a 75.39 percent expected goal share (84.29 percent at 5-on-5).
Vegas got off to a better start in the second period but failed to cut the deficit. Instead, the Bruins added to their lead with David Pastrnak’s 21st of the year at 7:25. Nikita Zadorov had no trouble getting around Hertl before sending a seam pass to set up Pastrnak.
Though the Golden Knights found their game in the second period, it wasn’t until the third period that they had anything to show for it.
Jack Eichel kicked things off with his 18th goal of the year just 31 seceonds into the final frame, extending his point streak to 10 games.
Just over a minute later, the Golden Knights found themselves on the man-advantage for the third time in the game.
Hertl earned a little redemption with his 21st of the year to make it 4-2 just over three minutes into the period.
Stone recorded the primary assist on the play to extend his point streak to a franchise-high 13 games, during which time he has collected 10 goals and 20 points.
Vegas got another power play shortly thereafter but didn’t convert. The penalty kill did come through, however, keeping the deficit at two after Dylan Coghlan got called for hooking.
The Golden Knights pulled Akira Schmid with just over three minutes remaining in the third, setting up a 6-on-5. Pavel Dorofeyev threw the puck at the net and got a fortunate bounce off Korpisalo’s pad, bringing Vegas within one with 2:35 remaining.
Once again, Vegas pulled Schmid to get the extra attacker on the ice, but the Golden Knights were unable to net the equalizer, falling 4-3.
In the end, Vegas outshot the Bruins 20-5 in its third-period rally, scoring two goals in the first 3:01 and adding a third in the final three minutes. However, it wasn’t enough.
The Golden Knights didn’t deliver a 60-minute effort. Like Monday’ 2-1 loss to Philadelphia, Vegas did not play with enough urgency, especially early on.
“Our effort and our detail with the puck wasn’t as good as it needed it to be in the first two periods,” Reilly Smith said.
The Golden Knights were better in the second period, but the urgency didn’t truly surface until the third, at which point the Golden Knights were already in a massive four-goal hole.
The majority of that damage came in the span of 54 seconds, thanks in part to multiple self-inflicted errors by Vegas.
Bruce Cassidy attributed the quick-strike goals to Vegas’ “tentative” and “timid” play. “Losing races and battles, and then it was puck management,” he said.
Theodore’s pass around the boards and the turnover by Ben Hutton on the third goal were particularly costly, though the Bruins moved the puck through the seam with ease. Too much ease.
The fact that Boston scored the first two goals on the power play gave the Bruins a lot of momentum.
“At the end of the day, our penalty kill’s been good all year,” Cassidy said. “You can give up one; that happens. But to give up two on simultaneous power plays, the fans are now in it, the team’s feeling it. … So that hurt as well.”
Even at 4-0, though, the Golden Knights mounted an impressive rally and had the Bruins on the ropes in the final minutes of the third.
“It was good to see us get to our game eventually,” Cassidy said. “Otherwise it was gonna be a really long night. … We found our game, just a little too late.”
Even though the Golden Knights came close to stealing a point, it’s not sustainble to continue to fall into multi-goal deficits.
“When you’re chasing games in this league, it’s hard to come back, especially on the road,” Kaedan Korczak said.
The Golden Knights have a quick turnaround with a matchup against the Maple Leafs tomorrow night. It will be Mitch Marner’s highly-anticipated emotional return to Toronto.
Cassidy said Rasmus Andersson — who has been held out of the lineup in both of Vegas’ games since being acquired from Calgary on Sunday — is with the team, but there’s no decision yet regarding his availability for tomorrow night due to immigration issues. “He’s here, so that means there’s a chance,” Cassidy said.
“Tomorrow’s game is worth the same amount of points as tonight,” Smith said, “so just make sure we get off to a good start in the first period tomorrow.”
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Photo via Golden Knights