‘Thank God this losing streak is over:’ Golden Knights grab statement win over Flames

There are 60 games left in the season. There’s no guarantee that Sunday’s win will mean anything in the long term. It’s only two points, after all, and the Golden Knights will need close to 100 to make the postseason.

But man, did they need that.

The Golden Knights didn’t just snap their losing streak; they dominated the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena, turning a third period that has been a bugaboo for the last two weeks into the best period of the year, finishing up a 6-0 win.

“That was a pretty good statement by us,” forward Cody Eakin said. “We’re in a bit of an uphill climb. One win’s not going to cure the last couple weeks of hard times we’ve gone through, so we’re going to have to transfer that energy from tonight’s game to the next one and onto the next one."

That’s the macro view of a long season, keeping a good win in perspective. Coach Gerard Gallant mostly did the same, though he also let loose a thought that most of the fanbase probably shares.

“Thank God this losing streak is over,” he said.

The Golden Knights had lost their previous five games, falling eight points out of the division lead that matched the largest hole they had ever had. They took two-goal leads in each of their last three home games, only to see them evaporate and turn into losses.

So there was a nervous energy inside T-Mobile Arena when the Golden Knights led 2-0 heading to the final period. William Karlsson and Paul Stastny had each scored to that point, but it didn’t feel like enough.

Max Pacioretty’s goal felt like it might be. And when Eakin scored his first of the season, well, the look of relief on his face mimicked that of the entire team. The losing streak was about to end. Then, as an exclamation point, Mark Stone scored to make it 5-0, and Karlsson added his second of the game. It was officially the second-biggest lopsided shutout in team history.

“That’s what we were talking about before the third, to have the mindset to score more goals,” Karlsson said. “I think we executed very well. Just overall a very good game.”

Karlsson has been on fire, and with three points on Sunday has seven in his last three games, putting him at 23 for the season in 22 games. He’s developed a new chemistry with Pacioretty, who scored for the sixth time in eight games.

“We’ve got a good team and we’re playing well,” Gallant said. “A lot of good things tonight and we’ve got to carry it over.”

The most frustrating thing about the Golden Knights’ slump is that they haven’t been playing bad hockey. The underlying numbers suggest a turnaround was coming. All year the Golden Knights have had Corsi, expected goals, scoring chances and PDO on their side saying this team wasn’t as bad as the win-loss record said.

But there comes a point that expected goals need to turn into actual goals. That point, as it turned out, was Sunday evening. It was a good win for the Golden Knights. According to MoneyPuck.com, it boosted their playoff odds from 48.9% back into the black at 52.2%.

There are 60 games left in the season. The homestand includes games with the always-dangerous Maple Leafs, surging Sharks and division-leading Oilers. But this win felt like it could be the jump-start to the season that the Golden Knights needed.

And finally, after weeks of hearing that they were heading for a turnaround, the Golden Knights got themselves an honest-to-goodness victory, analytics be damned.

For what it’s worth, the Golden Knights were worth 4.17 expected goals Sunday. They had six actual goals.

“It was a group effort and I think that’s kind of what you need to get out of a slump like we were in,” Pacioretty said. “Hopefully now everyone can feel a little better about their game and we can move forward and play some better hockey.”

 

 

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