The Vegas Golden Knights (28-17-14) mounted a third-period comeback but were unable to climb out of a significant three-goal hole in a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals (31-23-7) Friday night at Capital One Arena.
The Capitals scored three times in the middle frame to take a 3-0 lead into the third period. The Golden Knights lit the lamp less than three minutes into the frame and made it a one-goal contest on the power play at 9:15. However, they were unable to beat Logan Thompson, who stonewalled his former team en route to the 3-2 victory.
A pair of Golden Knights forwards reached significant milestones, with Mitch Marner recording the 800th point of his career and Tomas Hertl reaching the 600-point plateau.
Once again, the Golden Knights looked like a different team when trailing by three goals in the third period. This has been a frequent issue for Vegas this season, with the club running out of time despite a ferocious finish.
Vegas had a number of excellent opportunities in the third period, but Thompson stood tall, particularly on a Brayden McNabb shorthanded breakaway with two follow-up chances.
The Golden Knights had a full lineup, with all five Olympians returning to action. But the addition of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Marner, Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin wasn’t enough to extend the winning streak, which ends at three games.
The first period was a low-event frame with few chances, though Akira Schmid was solid, turning aside all 10 shots he faced in his first game since representing Switzerland in Milan.
The second period was a different story, though. The Golden Knights were noticeably out of sorts, and Washington made them pay.
The Capitals scored three times, with Pierre-Luc DuBois netting the first two in the span of 2:34.
The first of his back-to-back tallies came less than a minute into the period.
He scored again on a one-timer in front at 3:23 after Tom Wilson forced a turnover on the boards.
Jakob Chychrun made it 3-0 on a blast from the right circle, beating Schmid short-side with a one-timer from his knee.
But the Golden Knights regrouped ahead of the third period, and Braeden Bowman’s eighth of the year cut the deficit to two at 2:27.
The Golden Knights came up with a key kill against an ailing Capitals power play, which went 0-for-5 on the night. Building on that momentum, Vegas’ power play went to work.
After two failed attempts in the opening 40 minutes, the Golden Knights capitalized on their third man-advantage of the game. A critical keep at the blue line by Marner extended the play, and Pavel Dorofeyev found Hertl in the slot. Hertl’s tip beat Thompson top-shelf to make it a one-goal game with 10:45 remaining.
Hertl’s 23rd goal of the season was the 600th point of his career. Marner recorded the secondary assist on the play, picking up point No. 800 of his 10-year career.
The Golden Knights continued to push and had a number of grade-A chances, including one from Colton Sissons. But Thompson shut the door to help the home team close out the win.
Though he was unable to beat Thompson on the breakaway, McNabb has three assists in his last two games since returning from injury.
The Golden Knights have lost three straight to Thompson and the Capitals. The loss leaves them with a February record of 3-2-0.
The Golden Knights got to their game, but it took 40-plus minutes to find it. In the end, they were unable to climb out of the three-goal hole despite their best efforts.
It’s unclear whether that lackluster and disjointed start was simply more of the same from a Golden Knights team that has been forced to chase far too often this season, or if was more of a consequence of incorporating five key players into the lineup in the second game after the Olympic break. Either way, Vegas’ best players weren’t nearly good enough.
Bruce Cassidy drew attention to the five Olympians not being ready for the game.
“They had plenty of rest, to be perfectly honest,” he said. “They’re going to need to be better on Sunday. Those are our best players, our leaders. We expect them to play like that.”
The Eichel, Stone and Ivan Barbashev line was outshot 9-0 in 10:43 and was on the ice for one of Washington’s tallies.
The only Vegas line that had positive possession numbers was the Marner line. Marner, Dorofeyev and Reilly Smith led 8-4 in shot attempts and controlled 81.92 percent of the expected goal share in 9:03.
The Golden Knights have 23 games remaining in the regular season. They cannot afford to revert to the self-destructive pattern of starting slow and chasing games, particularly as those games become more competitive.
Vegas has eight games in the next two weeks, including three more stops on this current five-game road swing that picks up again Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of the GoldenKnights