Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Golden Knights suffer more misfortune, lose Max Pacioretty in Lightning defeat

Vegas drops second straight in penultimate game of home stand

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Steve Marcus

Tampa Bay Lightning players celebrate scoring on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the first period at T-Mobile Arena Friday, Oct. 26, 2018.

VGK Fall to Tampa Bay 2-3

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Colin Miller (6) slides past Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) and into the net during the second period of their game at T-Mobile Arena Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. Launch slideshow »

Max Pacioretty, Alex Tuch and Erik Haula were skating in unison.

Early in Friday afternoon’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at T-Mobile Arena, the Vegas Golden Knights’ rebuilt second line appeared to pick up where it left off in a promising debut earlier this week. Haula and Tuch both challenged Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with high-danger chances off passes from Pacioretty.

Too bad the rhythm was interrupted before the trio could complete their second shift.

Tampa Bay defenseman Braydon Coburn clocked Pacioretty, who slowly left the ice and never as much as came back to the bench.

“When he left the game, they told me he’s not returning tonight,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said postgame. “We’ll know more later.”

Pacioretty’s absence caused Vegas to make wholesale changes to its approach and contributed to a 3-2 loss, the team’s second straight during a current five-game home streak that wraps up Sunday against Ottawa.

It was another bad break in a young season that’s been full of them, leaving Vegas reeling at 4-5-1. The second line had struggled from the onset of the year, a slow start worsened by Pacioretty’s fellow major free-agent acquisition, Paul Stastny, going down in the third game of the season with an unspecified injury.

Stastny could reportedly be out up to three months, but the second line looked spurred by the return of Alex Tuch, who started the season on injured reserve, on Wednesday against the Canucks. Tuch spoke of a natural chemistry with Pacioretty, but he may now have to explore pairing with someone else.

Although the team provided no information on Pacioretty’s status, replays of the hit show that he possibly suffered a concussion. That would put him in the league’s protocol and likely to miss a few more games, though at least the Golden Knights can have the luxury of preparing for his absence going forward.

“You hate to lose a player like Pacioretty in the hockey game but that’s what coaching is all about: You’ve got to mix your lines up and see how it goes,” Gallant said. “A lot of guys played a few more minutes than they usually do.”

It didn’t seem to affect the Golden Knights much at first. Down 1-0 at the time of Pacioretty’s departure, they tied the game a minute later with their first goal by a defenseman all season.

Shea Theodore scorched one past Vasilevskiy from the blue line off a pass from Ryan Carpenter. Although Theodore said it felt important to score one for the defense afterwards, it failed to outweigh the overall frustration.

“There weren’t a lot of bounces going our way,” Theodore said.

The Lightning’s only clean score came late in the first period when stars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos outclassed Golden Knight defenders Jon Merrill and Nick Holden to set up Brayden Point for a goal.

Fatigue from players like Jonathan Marchessault taking on extra duty in Pacioretty’s stead may have contributed to a second period where the Lightning controlled the action. But even then, J.T. Miller’s power-play goal to put Tampa Bay up 3-1 only found the back of the net after ricocheting off two players.

And there’s still a debate as to whether it should have counted. Gallant challenged that the Lightning were offside, but after an inordinate amount time for review, the goal was upheld.

“It was a tough call,” Gallant said. “They weren’t sure themselves, and they couldn’t overturn it with the evidence.”

Gallant was back chirping at the officials four minutes later when another controversial call went against the Golden Knights. Defenseman Colin Miller got loose on a breakaway, but was taken down from behind by Coburn.

Many of the 18,207 fans at T-Mobile Arena booed when a tripping call was assessed instead of a penalty shot.

“I was sort of asking a little bit,” Gallant said. “They said it was two guys really close to him and they didn’t think it was a penalty shot.”

Gallant challenged the Golden Knights to be more aggressive in the second intermission, and they answered the call. William Karlsson scored a power play goal out of an early faceoff in the third period, and Vegas went on to post a Corsi for — a measure of every shot — of 26 to Tampa Bay’s nine in the frame.

It was the type of volume that would typically lead to more goals for a team. The Golden Knights have posted similar volume all season, though, without the results to show for it.

“We have to play with that intensity for the whole game, not just the third period when we’re down,” Theodore said. “I feel like when we do that and play that style, we’re going to get better results.”

They can continue to play the same style, but they might have to do it with different personnel. In a stretch where bad luck and injuries were already piling up, Pacioretty’s exit only added to the list.

“It’s tough, he’s a great player and I thought he’s played really well for us since he’s been here,” Theodore said. “Not sure what the case is but that’s an opportunity for more guys to step up and get more ice time and try to show and coach that they’re ready to go.”

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

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