Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Analysis: Could this have been worst Golden Knights performance of season?

Karlsson

Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press via AP

Golden Knights’ William Karlsson, right, of Sweden, is knocked to the ice as teammate Jonathan Marchessault, left, and Calgary Flames’ Sam Bennett, center, and T.J. Brodie scramble for the puck during first-period NHL hockey game action in Calgary, Alberta, Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was direct when assessing the Golden Knights performance Monday in a 7-2 loss to at the Calgary Flames.

“Pretty much everything,” he responded to AT&T SportsNet when asked what went wrong.

The Golden Knights surrendered five goals in the first period in arguably their worst performance of the season. All of the Flames’ goals came in the initial 24:22, including a stretch of three goals on three consecutive shots on goal.

Long after the outcome was decided, Nick Holden and Max Pacioretty scored for the Golden Knights.

Here are three observations from the loss:

The Flames were as fast as the Golden Knights want to be

Vegas coach Gerard Gallant has repeatedly mentioned how he wants his team to play at a fast pace. Calgary certainly accomplished that on Monday night, especially in the first-period onslaught.

On Calgary’s first goal, Johnny Gaudreau lured every Golden Knight into the corner, opening the ice for Matthew Tkachuk in front of the net for a goal. On the second, Elias Lindholm was alone against two Vegas defensemen, but Sean Monahan and Gaudreau outraced every Golden Knights forward to create an odd-man opportunity.

On the third goal, Gaudreau picked off Shea Theodore in the Vegas zone and passed it to Monahan, who found the back of the net.

This was all in the first 11 minutes.

Malcolm Subban wasn’t as bad as the numbers might suggest

Some observers defend the backup goalie a little more than the starter and lay the blame on the defense — a theory that may be true in assessing Subban’s night.

Calgary’s first-period goals went as follows: defensive breakdown on the power play; 3-on-2 in the offensive zone when the forwards couldn’t get back; defensive zone turnover; deflection in front of the crease; power play.

“You never want to play that easy in front of your goalie,” Bellemare told AT&T SportsNet. “He has nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s not his fault.”

Maybe you could argue a different goalie saves some of those or that it’s hard to see positives when a goalie allows seven, but Vegas didn’t do Subban any favors. And he made a spectacular sprawling save on a 2-on-0 to deny Derek Ryan and Garnet Hathaway.

“After the game a few of our older guys went up to him and just said, ‘You know what, that’s on us, not you,’” Holden told AT&T SportsNet. “He made five or six unbelievable saves that could have been goals. We left him out to dry.”

Worst result of the season?

The five goals in the first period matched the most Vegas had allowed in a game this season and tied for the most in one period in franchise history. The five-goal margin of defeat was the worst of the year.

The two goals came after Vegas was already down 7-0. Holden fired in a blast from the point, and Pacioretty scored on the power play, both in the third period.

The Golden Knights allowed seven goals in a game twice last season and gave up eight twice.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy