What a difference a day makes.
One night after defeating the league-best Winnipeg Jets in come-from-behind fashion, the Vegas Golden Knights delivered their worst effort of the season. In fact, it was the largest margin of defeat at home in franchise history, as Vegas fell 6-0 to the Utah Hockey Club Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
It marked the second time Vegas was shut out this season, and it was a disastrous overall performance for the Golden Knights, who move to 15-7-3 on the year.
Ilya Samsonov was particularly awful, though the team in front of him wasn’t that much better. That being said, his gaffe in the first period to give Utah a 2-0 lead was the turning point in the game — in addition to being a microcosm of the Golden Knights’ evening as a whole.
Vegas was no stranger to trailing 2-0 against Utah, as the Golden Knights overcame 2-0 deficits in both of the previous meetings earlier this month.
However, the 4-0 hole Vegas found itself in after the first period proved to be insurmountable. When Utah stretched its lead to 5-0 just 62 seconds into the second, it was clear the Golden Knights were not coming back this time around.
In the end, Utah took a 6-0 lead early in the second period and never looked back.
The Golden Knights entered the game looking to follow up on their impressive 4-3 win against Winnipeg the night before. Plus, Victor Olofsson was set to make his long-awaited return to the lineup after missing 20 games.
But it became apparent early that it was not Vegas’ night.
The Golden Knights actually generated some decent looks in the opening frame, but they were unable to convert. The same was not true for Utah.
Utah opened the scoring 5:33 into the game.
Clayton Keller capitalized on consecutive Vegas turnovers in the neutral zone before netting his seventh of the year on the ensuing 2-on-1.
But it was the second goal that turned the tide.
During a Vegas power play, Samsonov skated into the corner and was looking to send a stretch pass up the ice to set up another push on the man-advantage. However, his ill-advised pass up the middle of the ice was easily picked off by Alexander Kerfoot. Samsonov dove back in front of the net and got a piece of Kerfoot’s shot, but the puck bounced over the sliding Samsonov and into the net.
Samsonov turned to see if the puck had gone in and then stayed face-down in the corner for a few seconds before shaking off the snow and returning to the crease.
To say the shorthanded goal was deflating would be an understatement. Even though it was only 2-0, the momentum-shifter took the wind out of Vegas’ sails, and Utah added two more before the horn sounded on the first period.
In fact, it didn’t take long for things to go from bad to worse. Just 1:09 later, a failed clear led to several scoring chances in tight. Keller got to the loose puck off a rebound and passed it to Nick Scmaltz in front of a yawning cage.
It was Utah’s third goal in just 5:02.
Utah added one more late in the period as Logan Cooley deflected a point shot past Samsonov.
In the first period, the teams were relatively even in shots and chances, with Vegas leading 7-4 in high-danger chances with a 54.65 percent expected goal share, per Natural Stat Trick. But the Golden Knights were outworked and outskated, and Utah led 4-0 where it mattered.
Nic Hague dropped the gloves with Lawson Crouse early in the second period in an attempt to jumpstart a Vegas comeback.
But it was not Vegas’ night.
Utah truly put the game out of reach just 62 seconds into the middle frame with Michael Carcone’s first of the season.
Utah took a 6-0 lead when Schmaltz scored his second of the game (and second of the season) on the power play at 5:28.
It’s unclear what Samsonov was doing on the play. After overcommitting and getting wildly out of position, he seemed to freeze despite being far from the blue paint. He tried to scramble back but fell and spun back towards the net while the puck crossed the goal line.
The goal forced Bruce Cassidy to call a timeout to settle things down in a silent T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights didn’t give up another goal in the period, and they even had a few prime scoring chances, but Vegas was unable to beat netminder Jaxson Stauber in his first game of the season (and seventh of his career).
Vegas had two power plays in the third period, but Stauber turned aside all 29 shots he faced for his first career shutout.
In the end, the Golden Knights truly came up empty in their third home loss of the season.
When it rains, it pours.
It was an all-out downpour in Vegas’ 25th game of the season.
Nothing went right for the Golden Knights, but even the 6-0 final score doesn’t fully capture how flat this performance was.
Once again, turnovers proved to be a primary culprit in a Golden Knights loss.
The game fell apart after the shorthanded goal, which was the second goal to come right off a turnover. Vegas committed two turnovers in the neutral zone to set up Keller’s 2-on-1 goal, and Samsonov’s blunder was a gift on Kerfoot’s demoralizing tally.
It was far from a banner night for Samsonov, whose inconsistency reared its head as he regressed to the mean following back-to-back stellar games.
The good news is that this is nothing new for Samsonov, who has always struggled with consistency. He had some highlight-reel moments in the worst way, but he does not deserve to shoulder the blame alone. He didn’t get much help, and the Golden Knights —as a group — lost control and let this game slip away.
Even at 4-0, the Golden Knights could have turned this around in the second period, or at least made it competitive.
But it wasn’t Vegas’ night, and the rough start took the home team out of it as the Golden Knights wrapped up November on a sour note.
The power play, which finished the night 0-for-4, continues to struggle with Mark Stone out of the lineup. Perhaps having Olofsson back in the mix will help; he took a tripping penalty on his first shift and finished the night with one hit and a minus-two in 16:54.
The pairing of Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin had a rough game, and it was another especially ugly night for Hanifin, who was a minus-four. Though all but two players (Keegan Kolesar and Kaedan Korczak) were on the ice for a goal against, Hanifin’s minus-four was the worst on the team; no one else was even a minus-three. It will be interesting to see if Cassidy makes adjustments to the pairings moving forward.
But at the end of the day, this was a team loss, and it will take a team effort to turn the page.
Sometimes a blowout is better than an unlucky or last-second loss, as it can force a team to reset and regroup.
One way or another, the Golden Knights must do just that in the next few days, as Vegas will need to be much sharper, much cleaner and much more competitive when they host the Oilers on Tuesday.