Golden Knights enter ‘desperation mode’ after winless two-game road trip

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018 | 8:57 p.m.

Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant rarely looks at the NHL standings.

The restraint may have sounded baffling last year when the Golden Knights implanted themselves near the top of the NHL, but it’s probably for the best this season.

After losing to the St. Louis Blues 5-3 on the road Thursday night, Vegas fell to 5-7-1 on the season, or second-to-last in both the Pacific Division and Western Conference.

“We’re at the bottom of the barrel right now,” second-line winger Erik Haula said afterward on AT&T Sports Net. “Everyone says it’s early but you don’t want to fall behind. It’s desperation mode now.”

Golden Knights players spoke in unison about needing to put together more complete performances, after similar lapses that led to a loss in Nashville on Tuesday reappeared in St. Louis. No one particular was called out, but players like Haula and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare put forth an expectation that everyone must improve.

That will be the focus when Vegas returns home at 7 p.m. Saturday for a matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“It’s a group thing — win as a team, lose as a team,” Gallant said. “We all have to get better.”

Unlike Tuesday’s loss to the Predators when the Golden Knights unraveled after a strong start, they appeared to come out flat. Gallant was highly critical of the opening five minutes when the Blues got seven shots on goal.

Vegas might have been fortunate that only one of them got in, a hustle effort from Oskar Sundqvist to lunge for a loose puck with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury downed on the other side of the net. The Golden Knights never led, but battled throughout.

They answered Sundqvist’s first goal in four minutes when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare bruised his way inside and lifted a puck over St. Louis goalie Jake Allen from close range.

The Blues struck first again in the second period, though, when Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a power-play. Vegas answered in 23 seconds this time, with Haula deflecting a patented Shea Theodore shot from the point into the net.

But the quick responses stopped when Sundqvist wristed the puck past Fleury from the face-off circle and then Colton Parayko ripped a one-timer from Zach Sanford into the net in the middle of the second period.

“Usually when you see they had five goals, it’s your goaltender wasn’t good,” Gallant said. “Well, that wasn’t the case. They could have had 10 goals with all their chances.”

Absolving Fleury of any blame is the company line for the Golden Knights after losses, but part of the fault surely rests with the team leader and future Hall of Famer. Fleury wasn’t terrible by any means, but he fell short of his standards.

A couple of the shots that beat him — including Tyler Bozak’s insurance score in the third period ­— were ones he routinely stopped last year. The Golden Knights’ defense wasn’t horrendous, as Fleury faced only 26 shots but he was outdueled by the Blues’ Jake Allen, who turned away 31 of 34 shots.

Gallant believed the Blues got the better looks, however, and the numbers back him up as they had a 9-6 edge in high-danger scoring chances according to naturalstatrick.com.

“We’re better than that and we expect more out of each other,” Haula said. “I don’t think there’s any exceptions right now. Everyone can be better in a lot of areas.”

Alex Tuch knocked through a power-play goal from in front of the net in the third period, but the Golden Knights also came up short on a number of chances to get back in the game. Haula failed to finish when Tuch set him up in front of the net, William Karlsson narrowly missed a shorthanded goal that Allen blocked with his stick’s handle and Colin Miller saw a slapshot go off the post.

Vegas refused to use bad luck as an excuse after the defeat — though the underlying numbers do indicate it’s been the least fortunate team in the NHL this season — and instead harped on needing to be a few inches better on its shots or slightly more committed to its assignments. Maybe desperation will help.

“We have to find it — there’s no doubt,” Gallant said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.