In recent weeks, the Vegas Golden Knights have habitually found ways to lose games. They’ll keep up with their opponent– or let their opponent hang around– for most of the game. And then, inevitably, the Golden Knights will make a mistake, and it ends up in the back of their net. Then they’ll make another mistake. And another.
Last night was no different. When the Golden Knights made their mistakes, the Rangers capitalized. Despite playing well for most of the game, the Golden Knights ultimately didn’t get the goaltending or the finishing they would have needed to come out on the right side of this one.
“They capitalized on their chances,” said Nic Hague. “Especially on the power play… We did a lot of things well up until the second period… We just have to find ways to come out on the right side of those games.”
But that’s the problem, isn’t it? They did a lot of things well, but they still lost. With this team’s talent and coaching, this should be a rare occurrence– not a constant that’s lasted nearly a month.
Night in and night out, the song remains the same. Since this stretch of losses started, the Golden Knights are tied for third in the league in goals against with 41. The only two teams that have allowed more goals since January 9th are the Seattle Kraken and the lowly San Jose Sharks.
This statistic doesn’t fall entirely on the shoulders of goaltenders Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov, but they are by no means exempt. Since January 9th, Hill’s average save percentage is 54th in the league among goaltenders with a .885; Samsonov’s average save percentage of .866 is 63rd.
But, again, there’s enough blame to go around. Samsonov and Hill haven’t been perfect, but goaltending is far from the only issue plaguing the Golden Knights.
I know that a percentage of the population participates in ‘Dry January,’ but that term typically refers to abstaining from alcohol during January— not goalscoring.
The Golden Knights have played 13 games since January 9th and have scored 34 goals. They’re 22nd in the league in goals per game. Almost all of the offensive production has come from just five players: Tomáš Hertl (9-6-15), Pavel Dorofeyev (8-6-14), Jack Eiche (7-6-13)l, Mark Stone (2-10-12), and Shea Theodore (2-10-12). Outside of the usual suspects, just four players have scored a goal. Just one of those four has scored two.
“Some guys have been offensively in a slumber for us for a while,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “We need them to get going. Every night, it has to be different people… A goal here or there from, I wouldn’t say, an unlikely source, but a guy you’re not thinking of is what gets you on winning streaks. And the huge saves when you need it so that the momentum doesn’t start building, that’s the other thing. We have to get both of those squared away. You don’t always need them on the same night, but you usually need one or the other, and we didn’t get either tonight.”
It could be a coincidence that Cassidy calls out offensive production and mixes up the lines on the same night, but I doubt it. These were the forward lines last night:
Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Keegan Kolesar
Victor Olofsson-Tomáš Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Brandon Saad-Brett Howden-Mark Stone
Tanner Pearson-Nicolas Roy-Raphaël Lavoie
“We weren’t able to generate much,” said Cassidy. “Couple of looks here or there, but not enough to tie the game.”
Golden Knights Report Card
Power play: A+
The Golden Knights had just one power play opportunity last night, but they capitalized on it. The puck movement was good; so, too, was the passing. Everyone was smart with the puck and kept things simple.
This is what we’ve come to expect from this Golden Knights power play; this is what a top-five unit is supposed to look like. A top-two unit, in fact, as the Golden Knights now have the second-best power play in the league this season with a 28.7% success rate. Even isolating the 13 games since this stretch of bad play started on January 9th, the power play has been the second-best unit in the league with a 40.0% success rate.
Penalty kill: F
Can I give an F-? That’s how bad things were. The Rangers went 2/2 on the power play, which, of course, means that the Golden Knights went 0/2 on the penalty kill.
“We didn’t get the job done,” said Bruce Cassidy. “We didn’t get a couple of clears when we had a chance on the second goal that gave them life, and we didn’t get the save… It’s disappointing we weren’t able to take care of the puck in that situation. It looked like we were going to get it out and get fresh legs. And they got some life from that.”
Cassidy is referring to a moment right before the Rangers scored their tying power play goal. Jack Eichel could have cleared the puck but instead attempted to get it to Mark Stone. This proved to be the wrong decision. Less than twenty seconds later, it was in the back of their net.
He’s right, of course. Eichel could have cleared the puck. But, honestly, even if he did, I’m not sure that the Rangers don’t just come right up the ice again and score– especially not after seeing their second power play goal of the night.
The Golden Knights penalty kill was simply taken to task by a Rangers powerplay that they couldn’t handle.
Player Grades
Jack Eichel: A-
Right from the start of the game, Jack Eichel was dead set against letting his pal Jonathan Quick record his 400th career win against the Golden Knights. He scored twice– two absolute beauties, might I add– and finished the game with four shots. Really, he should have had three goals. He would have if not for this ten-bell save by Quick.
However, he was partially responsible for the Mika Zibanejad power play goal that tied the game. Eichel had an opportunity to clear but instead attempted a pass to Mark Stone, as Stone would have had a breakaway. Adam Fox pestered Eichel, and Mika Zibanejad kept the zone and started the cycle that resulted in the Rangers equalizing on the man advantage.
Zach Whitecloud: B+
Whitecloud played well. He wasn’t on the ice for a goal against. He made a few brilliant defensive plays, the most important one coming just a few minutes into the game. Artemi Panarin threaded a beautiful pass to Mika Zibanejad. Had the pass reached Zibanejad, it would have been a back-door tap-in into an empty net. But Whitecloud got just enough of it to send it wide.
Raphaël Lavoie: B+
I don’t think Lavoie was in the wrong position defensively all night. He was strong on the puck and good behind the goal line. He didn’t score, but Lavoie did record eight shot attempts and five shots on goal. In terms of playmaking, he was creative yet sensible. He made a great feed to Nicolas Roy with just under 10 minutes to play in the third period, but Roy couldn’t finish. This was his best game as a Golden Knight. If Lavoie keeps playing like this, it’s going to be hard to take him out of the lineup when Karlsson and Schwindt are healthy.
Keegan Kolesar: B
Kolesar played on the top line last night with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev. He wasn’t an immediate fit, but he didn’t look out of place. If the one-touch pass Kolesar made to Eichel for Eichel’s second goal of the game is any indication, it looks like they’re starting to develop chemistry. I don’t know how long Bruce Cassidy will wait before jumbling up the forward lines again, but Kolesar certainly held his own in a more offensive role.
Nic Hague: B
Hague is tough to grade because he had the least amount of ice time among Golden Knights defensemen with 15:50. He was on the ice for the Rangers’ first goal, but he was far from the only reason it was scored.
Hague fought Will Cuylle last night, which is something I have to respect. Cuylle laid a big hit on Alex Pietrangelo, reallyleveled him. It was clean, and usually, I’m strongly against players having to answer the bell after a clean hit. But in this case, Hague was trying to swing some momentum in the Golden Knights’ favor. Yes, he fought on Pietrangelo’s behalf– it shouldn’t go unmentioned that Pietrangelo is playing through an injury that required him to withdraw from the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament– but he did so at a time in the game when the Golden Knights needed a spark.
And Hague really, really went after him. It was all Cuylle could do to hold on and take it. He finally managed to guide Hague to the benches, resulting in the officials finally stepping in. There’s a UFC joke to be made here, but I’m not informed enough to make it.
Adin Hill: C
Last night, Hill wasn’t good enough. His rebound control was concerning, and Jonathan Quick outplayed him. There’s no other way to say it.
The first Rangers goal was hardly his fault– it began with poor defensive work in the neutral zone and ended with a beautiful cross-ice pass that gave Alexis Lafrenière an empty net to shoot into– but the second goal was rough. JT Miller’s shot got through him, and the puck sat in the crease before Mika Zibanejad stuffed it into the net.
K’Andre Miller’s go-ahead goal wasn’t entirely on Hill, but a save there wouldn’t have gone unappreciated. And on the fourth goal that officially put the game out of reach, Hill wasn’t fully across the crease before Artemi Panarin scored.
“There’s a lot of responsibility to go around,” said Bruce Cassidy. “We’ll get back to work tomorrow and see if we can fix it.”
