The Vegas Golden Knights (29-20-14) suffered their fourth defeat in the last five games after losing 4-2 to the Minnesota Wild (37-16-10) Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights gave up three goals in just over three minutes in the second period and were unable to rally
Pavel Dorofeyev’s goal 2:17 into the third period was his 30th of the year, making him the first player in franchise history to record back-to-back 30-goal seasons.
The Golden Knights honored the gold medalists from the Olympics in a pre-game ceremony.
But it was another disappointing result for the Golden Knights, who are no longer in first place in the Pacific Division after Anaheim beat the Canadiens in a shootout earlier on Friday to take over the top seed.
The Golden Knights played well in the first period. Though the Wild had more zone time, Vegas had some promising chances but weren’t able to solve Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who was a big factor throughout the game. In particular, he shut down two breakaways by Colton Sissons as the fourth line went to work early.
Sissons was part of Vegas’ new-look fourth line, with Cole Smith on the other wing and the newly-acquired Nic Dowd at center. Dowd recorded one shot and three hits in 13:17 in his Golden Knights debut after being acquired from Washington on Thursday.
But after a scoreless opening frame, the Golden Knights ultimately lost control of the game in a short stretch early in the second period when Minnesota scored three quick goals.
It had been an excellent start to the period for the Golden Knights, who were strong on the forecheck and whose physicality made things contentious. Ivan Barbashev’s big hit on Brock Faber and Jeremy Lauzon’s vicious boarding of Bobby Brink later in the period both led to scraps. However, there were no resulting power plays when all was said and done.
But despite Vegas’ dominant start, the Wild still managed to take a lead 5:18 into the period.
Mats Zuccarello kicked things off after recovering an errant drop pass by Noah Hanifin and then beating Akira Schmid on the breakaway.
Less than three minutes later, the Golden Knights’ inability to clear the zone led to a Zach Bogosian goal from downtown. That put Vegas in a 2-0 hole, which has been a common thread in the club’s recent struggles.
Only 18 seconds later, the Wild struck again, making it a 3-0 game at 8:25 on a deflection goal by one of Minnesota’s new additions in Michael McCarron. It’s unclear, but it seemed as though Schmid either missed the puck or was screened.
This set up yet another multi-goal deficit going into the third period.
Unlike Wednesday’s game in Detroit, however, the Golden Knights were unable to complete a comeback, though it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Dorofeyev lit the lamp for the 30th time this season 2:17 into the third period, scoring on the power play off an excellent feed from Jack Eichel to make it a 3-1 contest.
Schmid proceeded to make a few key saves to keep it a two-goal game.
The Golden Knights continued to push, but Gustavsson was up to the task. Vegas started taking chances offensively to try to cut deficit to one, but that eventually led to a 3-on-1. Vladimir Tarasenko capitalized on the opportunity to make it a 4-1 contest with just over four minutes remaining.
Mitch Marner made things interesting when he scored on a deflection with 3:05 remaining in the third.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome the three-goal second period, which enabled Minnesota to complete the sweep of the season series.
The loss was more of the same from the Golden Knights, who continue to repeat the same patterns that continue to cost them.
Vegas looked better and had more chances against Minnesota than in recent games, but it still wasn’t enough to take down the Wild, who were the better team on the whole.
For the fifth game in a row, Vegas failed to stop the bleeding, allowing three unanswered goals. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that Vegas has fallen behind by three goals.
Being forced to chase games is not a winning strategy, particularly when it becomes a nightly occurrence.
Another common trend has been sub-par goaltending. Goaltending is not always the culprit or the primary reason Vegas walks away without points, but it has not been a strength for the Golden Knights. Tonight was a clear example of that, particularly since Gustavsson was a factor in the outcome.
Schmid finished the game with 20 saves on 24 shots for an .833 save percentage. That doesn’t mean all of the goals were completely on him, because they weren’t. On the surface, one goal was scored on a breakaway, one on a screened shot, one on a tip and the other on an odd-man rush. Having said that, the Golden Knights haven’t been able to benefit from a goalie stealing a game in a long time.
“You’d like to see a save on the second goal,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said about Bogosian’s deep shot that made it 2-0 in the second period. “That can stop the bleeding.”
That save would have kept it a one-goal game. Instead, things went from bad to worse when the Wild scored again just 18 seconds later.
“You can’t let the game slip away in those four minutes,” Eichel said. “It’s unfortunate that [the Wild] had those minutes and were able to capitalize, and all of a sudden we’re chasing the game.”
On the first two goals, Cassidy said the Golden Knights failed to manage the puck below the goal line.
“We had pucks below the goal line to break out, and we didn’t execute,” he said. “That was a big problem all night. Big problem. So there’s two goals right there where we just gotta do a better job of holding onto a puck, finding an outlet, waiting until you get support. Because when you’re breaking a puck out from d-zone coverage, there’s no one on the walls. You’ve gotta let the wingers get there. We didn’t manage it then.”
But even on McCarron’s deflection, Cassidy said the Golden Knights “had first touch on a breakout below the goal line, and [the Wild ended] up recovering. I think that was a huge problem for us tonight.”
The Golden Knights won the special teams battle, converting on its only power play and shutting down the Wild’s lone man-advantage, limiting Minnesota to just one shot.
The penalty kill continues to be a strength for Vegas, and it will only improve with the additions of Dowd and Smith.
Both players contributed to Vegas’ revamped fourth line having a solid game.
“I was fortunate to be playing with two really good players,” Dowd said about his new linemates. “I think there was some good stuff to work on there. I thought we had some good chemistry. I thought maybe we can make some more plays offensively, but I think it was a good unit to build on.”
Dowd and Co. saw a lot of time against Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild’s top line. Vegas’ fourth line was the only one that didn’t give up a goal, and it finished with solid metrics, particularly given the matchup.
Specifically, the trio was even at 9-9 in shot attempts but led 6-4 in shots and finished the game with a 59.59 percent expected goal share in 11:54, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Dowd, who didn’t think he felt too out of place in his first game with his new club after eight years in Washington, said he welcomes the opportunity to match up against the top players on the opposing team.
“Everybody in any job loves responsibility,” Dowd said. “I think earlier in my career, just like most NHL guys, you’re trying to get your foot in the door. My game’s changed a lot over the years. I started out as a guy who thought he was a point guy, as we all do. We’re all the best players coming from wherever we come from. And then you have to figure out that there’s better point guys, and you have to figure out a way to stay in the league.
“Over the course of my career, [my game has] kind of transitioned into [a matchup role], and I embrace that. Quite honestly, it’s made me a great living, and I get to play with great players, just like I did tonight, just like I did in Washington. And it’s fun. You get an opportunity to play the best players in the league every single night, and it’s your responsibility to be ready to do that if that’s your job that night. … So yeah, I think we definitely relished that.”
The Golden Knights held Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek without a point, and Quinn Hughes recorded just one, a secondary assist on McCarron’s game-winner. Vegas’ fourth line certainly had a hand in that, and Sissons looked like a different player.
The trio could be seen communicating on the bench throughout the game.
“Anybody who knows me from Washington knows that I’m not shy about talking,” Dowd said. “I’m a guy that likes to be next to my linemates on the bench. … I like for them to hold me accountable for things. … I think it’s important to talk, important to be on the same page, and important to listen to each other.”
But while the fourth line’s first game was encouraging, it didn’t ultimately move the needle or change the narrative for the Golden Knights.
“We’re gonna play every night for the next month, so we gotta build on the things we’re doing well, and the things that are costing games, just try and clean up a little bit,” Eichel said. “[The Wild] are a good team, and there was a lot to like about our game tonight. But at the same time, we live in a results-based league, and we weren’t able to find a way to win, and that’s the difference.”
Eichel said Vegas was strong on the forecheck and had extended time in the offensive zone, generating chances and creating off the cycle. But the Golden Knights didn’t capitalize, whereas the Wild did.
With Mark Stone still day-to-day and William Karlsson officially out for the regular season, the Golden Knights are not going to be able to score four goals to overcome these deficits every night.
“We get behind, we have a bad stretch, and one becomes two becomes three,” Cassidy said. “We should be better than that. We’re more of a veteran group. I don’t think the goals are gonna come easy [with the injuries]. … You gotta win some 2-1 games. You’re just gonna have to at some point if you’re not scoring; that’s the bottom line.”
The additions of Dowd and Smith will help, as will Brett Howden’s expected return for Sunday’s game against Edmonton.
But the Golden Knights are going to have to dig deep and fix these broken-record issues, and the only way to do so will be by committee.
Cassidy said the plan is for the Golden Knights to work on cleaning up some of these problems in Saturday’s practice before shifting their focus to preparing for the Oilers, who will be in Sin City for Sunday’s matchup (6:30 p.m. PT).