The Vegas Golden Knights delivered another incomplete performance in a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night at Lenovo Center.
Vegas is now 0-2-0 on this three-game road trip.
The Golden Knights got off to a much better start compared to Saturday’s horrific first period in Smashville, but they failed to sustain that effort for the rest of the game, generating just 0.59 expected goals at 5-on-5 in the final 40 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick.
Vegas opened the scoring in the second period but proceeded to give up three unanswered goals. The power play cashed in midway through the third to make it a one-goal game, but the Golden Knights were unable to get the best of netminder Pyotr Kochetkov, who was stellar all night.
Vegas was by far the better team in the opening frame. But despite having two power plays and generating 22 scoring chances and 12 high-danger chances, the Golden Knights were held off the board by a laser-focused Kochetkov, who made 14 saves as the Golden Knights outshot the Canes 13-7.
The Golden Knights dictated pace and owned 85.77 percent of the expected goal share, but Kochetkov rose to the occasion to keep it scoreless through 20 minutes.
The Golden Knights continued to drive play at the start of the second, and they were rewarded 4:22 into the frame on a skillful play by Tomas Hertl for his 13th goal of the season.
Victor Olofsson intercepted a pass in the neutral zone to set up the play, and Vegas benefited from a fortuitous bounce after Alex Pietrangelo’s shot hit a Carolina stick. The puck fell right to Hertl, who deked in the slot and then labeled a backhand shot for the top shelf to give Vegas the 1-0 lead.
Vegas was awarded a rare penalty shot at 10:32 when Keegan Kolesar was taken down on a breakaway. On his first career penalty shot, Kolesar elected to go with a quick snapshot from the hash marks, but Kochetkov kept it a one-goal game.
This proved to be a turning point in the game, as it gave Carolina life. Eventually, the home team broke through.
Nearly 12 minutes into the period, Carolina won several battles in front, and Seth Jarvis shifted the puck from his skate to his stick before putting one behind Adin Hill from in tight.
The goal energized the Hurricanes, who took over for the rest of the period, threatening to take the lead with numerous prime scoring chances.
Hill came up with his best save of the night when he thwarted a Sebastian Aho breakaway, but Vegas proceeded to take back-to-back penalties. Brayden McNabb was called for delay of game after knocking the net off its moorings shortly after Aho’s breakaway, and then Noah Hanifin was whistled for tripping seven seconds after McNabb’s minor had expired. In the end, Hill and the Golden Knights killed off both infractions to keep the game knotted up at 1-1 through 40 minutes.
In the second period, Carolina led in Corsi (39-15), shots (13-8), scoring chances (15-7) and high-danger chances (8-4) with 85.67 percent of the expected goal share. The numbers weren’t due to the power plays alone, though, as the Hurricanes recorded seven of their eight high-danger chances at 5-on-5 while outshooting Vegas 9-5.
But it took the Hurricanes less than a minute to light the lamp in the third period.
The Golden Knights surrendered the go-ahead goal on a bad bounce, as Jackson Blake’s centering pass hit Hanifin in front before beating Hill five-hole. Vegas lost a battle in the defensive zone, which led to Carolina’s 3-on-2, and the own-goal set Vegas back just 46 seconds into the third.
Less than six minutes later, another odd-man rush led to another Carolina goal, as Jarvis’ second of the game made it 3-1 at 6:09. Hill tried a two-pad stack, but Jarvis beat him short-side.
The Hurricanes almost put the game out of reach on the very next shift, but Hill came up with a clutch save on Dmitry Orlov to prevent things from unraveling.
When Vegas got its third power play of the night, it took just 29 seconds for the Golden Knights to pull within one courtesy of Shea Theodore’s fifth of the year. Mark Stone’s moving screen in front prevented Kochetkov from seeing the shot, which hit the back of the net at 9:52.
With just over eight minutes to go, Stone had a breakaway after the Golden Knights forced a turnover, but his slap shot was turned aside by the aggressive Kochetkov, who came out to challenge. It was the second time Vegas took a shot on the Russian netminder rather than trying to make a move.
Kochetkov continued to make big stops, and Vegas eventually pulled Hill with under three minutes to go. However, an unforced error by the road team led to a costly too-many-men penalty with 1:19 to go. Hill returned to the crease for a faceoff in Vegas’ end but then froze on his way to the bench after Vegas’ failed entry; the hesitation took away Vegas’ advantage, and though the Golden Knights tested Kochetkov a few more times, they were unable to reset the score.
The Golden Knights got the start they were looking for, but they didn’t provide the finish. The Hurricanes took over the game in the second period, and the Golden Knights couldn’t steal back the momentum.
Special teams played a key role in the contest; without special teams, Vegas would not have remained in the game until the end. The penalty kill came through late in the second, and the power play got the job done on Theodore’s tally in the third. Vegas finished the game 1-for-3 on the man-advantage and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Kochetkov also was a factor, as he prevented Vegas from cashing in on countless opportunities, especially early. Also, the Jordan Staal, Jarvis and Jordan Martinook line got the better of Vegas’ top unit.
Though the late gaffe took the wind out of Vegas’ sails, two saves were arguably the true turning points in this game.
The first was Kochetkov’s stop on Kolesar, which prevented Vegas from taking a 2-0 lead, shifted the momentum and jumpstarted the Hurricanes’ offense.
The second was Hill’s save on Orlov at 3-1. That would have put the game away; instead, it allowed the Golden Knights to cut the deficit to one with 10 minutes to go.
In the end, the Golden Knights were unable to claw their way back and force overtime; the late penalty essentially put an end to their comeback bid, but a last-minute equalizer against a hot goalie was never a guarantee. Chasing games in the third period is not a winning formula.
At the end of the day, the Golden Knights did not play their game for 60 minutes. Far from it. As a result, another two points were left on the table.
After starting the month 3-0-0, Vegas has now suffered four regulation losses in its last five games.
The Golden Knights will wrap up the road trip tomorrow against Alec Martinez, Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks (5 p.m. PT start).
