Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Controversial goal only part of Golden Knights’ problems against Jets

VGK-Jets

David Becker / Associated Press

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) shoots against Winnipeg Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, in Las Vegas.

If the Golden Knights would have won one of these last two games, we could be talking about the team a little differently because it would still be two points in the standings.

Losses happen throughout the course of a season, and a stinker against Montreal or Winnipeg would have been easily forgotten.

What won’t be forgotten is the manner which the Golden Knights lost both games. In both they had a two-goal lead in the third period. In both they lost the lead in quick succession. In both they disappeared in overtime.

Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets is one the Golden Knights would like to forget — especially because of a certain play in the third period.

“We played 30 minutes well and 30 minutes not good and that’s just not going to be good enough,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “It’s frustrating as a group to have that happen.”

Let’s start with the controversy that had Vegas in an uproar. On Winnipeg’s game-tying goal at the 13:17 mark of the third, the Jets dumped the puck in from behind the center-ice line, and Schmidt and the Jets’ Kyle Connor raced for the puck.

The linesman signaled for icing, but only waved it off once Schmidt slipped and fell. Connor picked it the puck and passed to a streaking Mark Scheifele, who scored.

“I thought they should have called that,” Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban said. “They called every one before that, so I don’t understand why that wasn’t an icing.”

He’s not the only one. And by rule, he’s right.

Icing is a race to the puck that is decided at the face-off dots. So even though Connor did reach the puck first after Schmidt fell, the determination should have been made when the first player, Schmidt, reached the faceoff dots.

If the linesman believed the puck was going to whip around behind the net and Connor was going to cut in front of the net and beat Schmidt, he should have waved off the icing once Schmidt reached the dot. He still had his arm up to signal icing until the point that Schmidt falls. And when Schmidt falls, the icing should have been called already.

And by rule 81.2, “if the race for the puck is too close to determine by the time the first player reaches the end zone face-off dots, icing shall be called.”

“They didn’t really have one,” coach Gerard Gallant said when asked what the officials’ explanation for the call was. “They knew they made a mistake, bottom line. We just moved on.”

Scheifele’s goal was the culmination of a poor second half of the game for the Golden Knights. The Jets played Friday night in San Jose, and picked up a win despite allowing 53 shots on goal. Instead it looked like Vegas was the tired team on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Golden Knights outshot Winnipeg 10-9 in the first period, then from the start of the second period until the Jets’ third goal, Winnipeg outshot Vegas 23-10. For the game, Winnipeg led in shots on goal 39-26 and were outshot in overtime 4-2 before Connor ended it.

“I’m not going to blame the referees for this game, I’m going to blame the way we played in the last 25 minutes of the hockey game,” Gallant said. “If they wouldn’t have scored there, they probably would have scored somewhere else.”

Vegas fell to 4-3-2 at home this season, a troubling number for a team that for two years has relied on one of the league’s best home-ice advantages. Losing more than winning is never ideal, but for a team locked in a battle for a surprisingly tough Pacific Division, the Golden Knights left two additional points on the table in the last three nights.

It’s not just that the they are in a rough patch right now (two non-shootout wins since Oct. 13), it’s that the last two games were winnable, and Saturday’s even more so: Vegas was 7-0-0 entering the night in games which it led after two periods.

“Twelve o’clock is a new day so we need to reset,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “Obviously it’s hard sometimes, but it’s adversity we’re going to face as a team and we need to battle through that.”

Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.