Golden Knights fall short in Montreal, end lengthy road trip with a loss

By Jesse Granger

Published Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017 | 3:30 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017 | 7:15 p.m.

The Golden Knights made it exciting, scoring a goal in the game’s final minutes with the goalie pulled, but fell just short Tuesday night in Montreal.

Vegas trailed the Canadiens 3-1 when they pulled goaltender Maxime Lagace. With the extra attacker on the ice, Jonathan Marchessault set Erik Haula up for a one-timer that cut the deficit to one. The Golden Knights got multiple chances in the last minute but were unable to tie the game and fell 3-2 to drop to 9-5-1 on the season.

The loss ends the Golden Knights six-game Eastern Conference road trip with a record of 1-4-1, and the team will return to Las Vegas where they host Winnipeg Friday at T-Mobile Arena. Tuesday’s game was Vegas’ sixth game in nine days and the team showed fatigue.

Lagace was impressive in net for Vegas, stopping 25-of-28 shots including a great glove save in the third period to keep the Golden Knights in the game. Oscar Dansk, who was injured in the loss to the New York Islanders on Oct. 30 could make his return to the ice on Friday.

Canadiens lead 3-1 after second period

Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty tipped a shot past Golden Knights goalie Maxime Lagace to extend Montreal’s lead to 3-1 heading into the third period.

The Canadiens defense has kept the Golden Knights out of the offensive zone for most of the game, holding them to only five shots on goal through the first 30 minutes of play.

Vegas was able to get a few chances late, bringing the shot total to 18-14 in favor of Montreal, but Canadiens’ rookie goalie Charlie Lindgren held the Golden Knights scoreless in the second period.

The best offensive chance came on a breakaway for William Carrier but his forehand shot was stopped by Lindgren.

Canadiens lead Golden Knights 2-1 after the first period

Tonight’s game in Montreal is the last game of a six-game road trip, the second of a back-to-back and the third game in four days for the Golden Knights, and they may finally be showing some fatigue.

Despite being outplayed for the first 20 minutes, Vegas escaped the period trailing only 2-1.

The Canadiens skated circles around Vegas for the majority of the first period, out shooting the Golden Knights 13-2.

Brendan Gallagher scored his seventh goal of the season for Montreal only 8:24 into the game. Tomas Plekanec raced down the ice to beat the Golden Knights defenders for an icing call, then fed Gallagher in front of the net for an easy tap in goal.

The Canadiens extended their lead to 2-0 when Jordie Benn fired a slap shot past Maxime Lagace from the left point.

Lagace allowed the two goals, but made several spectacular saves in the first period to keep the Golden Knights within striking range.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare then made a spectacular individual play for a goal with only 2:19 left in the period. Bellemare danced around the Canadiens defense, slipped the puck through the legs of Jeff Petry and flipped it under the arm of goalie Charlie Lindgren for the goal.

Pre game

The Golden Knights are in Montreal tonight to wrap up their six-game Eastern Conference road trip against the Canadiens.

Vegas is hoping to finish the trip strong. The Golden Knights have earned three points in the last two games (a win over Ottawa and a shootout loss to Toronto) after losing the first three games of the road trip against the Islanders, Rangers and Bruins.

It won’t be easy though, as the Golden Knights are the biggest underdogs they’ve been in any game this season at plus-205. Prior to tonight the highest money line for the Golden Knights was plus-200 on their opening night game against the Dallas Stars.

It’s the sixth straight game in which Vegas has been an underdog. The Golden Knights have a record of 6-3-1 as underdogs.

It may seem like Vegas catches a break tonight in Montreal, avoiding superstar goalie Carey Price, but rookie Charlie Lindgren was impressive in his season debut on Sunday. Lindgren stopped all 38 shots on his way to a 2-0 shutout win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

He will be in net tonight opposite of Maxime Lagace, who is 1-3-1 this season with a 4.03 goals against average.

The Canadiens have struggled on offense this season, ranking 23rd in the NHL with only 2.7 goals per game. Jonathan Drouin, who the Canadiens traded for in the offseason, leads the team with eight assists but has only three goals through 15 games.

If the Golden Knights can play solid defensively, much like their games in Ottawa and Boston, they should get enough chances against a porous Montreal defense to come away with a win.

Prediction : Golden Knights 2, Canadiens 1

Season record for predictions: 8-5

Puck drops: 4:30 p.m.

Where: Bell Centre, Montreal

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink Prism 1760, Dish Network 5414)

Betting line: Golden Knights plus-205, Total 6 minus-115 to the over

Golden Knights (9-4-1) (3-3-1 away)

Coach: Gerard Gallant

Goal leader: James Neal (8)

Assist leader: David Perron, Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt and Brad Hunt (7)

Expected goalie: Maxime Lagace (1-3-1, 4.03 goals against average)

Montreal Canadiens (6-8-1) (2-2-1 home)

Coach: Claude Julien

Goal leader: Brendan Gallagher (6)

Assist leader: Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber (8)

Expected goalie: Charlie Lindgren (1-0-0, 0.00 goals against average)

Golden Knights game day roster

Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, William Carrier, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Oscar Lindberg, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, David Perron, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch.

Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Brad Hunt, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller, Luca Sbisa and Nate Schmidt.

Goalies (2): Maxime Lagace and Dylan Ferguson