The Vegas Golden Knights were defeated by a score of 4-1 on Friday night by the New York Rangers, and lost for the 3rd time in a row, and the 6th time over the last 7 played. The 1st period remained tied until late when Chris Kreider picked up his 20th goal of the season at 16:08, and just over 3 minutes later at 19:17, Vincent Trocheck picked up his 14th to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
Vegas got on the board at 4:57 of the 2nd when Phil Kessel scored his 9th of the season, and it was a timely goal that came after a trip of Alexis Lafrenière went undetected. It was the Golden Knights’ only goal of the game, and they truly needed all the bounces they could get.
Phil Kessel puts the @GoldenKnights on the board! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/20DlCLeXy8
— AT&T SportsNet™ | RM West (@ATTSportsNetRMW) January 28, 2023
Filip Chytil added the Blueshirts’ 3rd goal at 14:20 of the 3rd period, and Jimmy Vesey fired home an empty-netter to make it 4-1 with just under 2 minutes left to play. Both sides failed to score on the power play, with each getting two opportunities with a man-advantage. It was a game that saw a lot of shots, but the Golden Knights went out with a bit of a whimper.
After 20 minutes of play the Golden Knights held a 16-14 edge. After 40 minutes the Rangers held a 27-25 edge, and when all was said and done the Rangers out shot Vegas 40 to 34, including 26 to 18 over the final 40 minutes. Adin Hill was solid stopping 36 of the 39 shots that came his way, and Jaroslav Halak was just a bit better allowing 1 goal while stopping 33.
Something has to give for a Golden Knights team that has played pretty well overall this season, and the squad will have to have a very short memory as they look to snap their current skid on Saturday vs. the New York Islanders.