The Vegas Golden Knights surrendered 4 goals in the 3rd period on Wednesday, and ultimately were defeated 5-1 by the New York Rangers. During the first 40 minutes of play both sides kept things competitive with each scoring a goal, and the Blueshirts held a slight edge in shots on goal by tallying 26 to the Golden Knights’ 22. But things feel apart in the final 20 minutes of play, and the Rangers found the back of the net 4 times on 11 shots, while Vegas took just 4 shots period.
The Golden Knights made life easy for Igor Shesterkin, a top end goalie who has been struggling as of late, and the lone goal was scored by Jonathan Marchessault during a 5 on 3 power play.
Jonathan Marchessault buries Stephenson’s lovely backdoor feed on the power play, tying it at 1!#VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/lYmlcFwTKm
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 8, 2022
Ryan Lindgren made the decision to crosscheck Mark Stone in front of the net while Vegas was already on the power play, and the Golden Knights responded quickly to answer the goal scored by Kaapo Kakko 6:49 into the game.
In the final 20 minutes the wheels completely feel off, first with Mika Zibanejad scoring on the power play 5:59 into the period. Filip Chytil added another goal at 6:23, and Alexis Lafrenière picked up one for himself at 7:52. Zibanejad added a final one for good measure, again on the power play, at 11:34 of the period.
In total, the Golden Knights went 1 for 3 on the power play, and the penalty kill went 3 for 5. The loss of composure in the 3rd hurt them, and giving up a flurry of goals within minutes of each other put the game out of reach in a hurry. There also were some untimely penalties which threw off the flow of the game.
Logan Thompson ended the night with 32 saves on 37 shots, and he deserved a much better fate. Mark Stone was limited to 15:48, as he was feeling the effects of the crosscheck from Lindgren, and he also felt the wrath of a puck that Zach Whitecloud attempted to clear out of the zone. Fingers crossed that it is just some simple bumps or bruises, and nothing that will keep him out of the lineup.
Vegas is off on Thursday, and they will look to rebound against a struggling Philadelphia Flyers team on Friday evening.