‘Everybody had a bad game’ in Golden Knights’ first preseason loss

By Justin Emerson

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 | 10:40 p.m.

If this were the regular season, players would be cursing themselves in the dressing room after the game and the coaches would be fuming. Luckily for everyone on the Golden Knights, there’s a still a week until the games count.

Just about nothing went right for Vegas against the Colorado Avalanche, losing 4-1 and getting out-shot 32-17 at home Wednesday night and losing one of their top defensemen indefinitely. Vegas dropped to 4-1 on the preseason.

“Everybody had a bad game tonight — it was a tough game to watch,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “It wasn’t one of them, it wasn’t two of them, it was a total team effort. We’ve had a great preseason so far, so I’m not going to put too much into it.”

Shea Theodore left the game late in the second period, and neither he nor Zach Whitecloud took the ice for the third. Theodore’s status is the biggest question mark after a preseason game that few will remember. Theodore, making his first appearance of the preseason and first game since his offseason cancer diagnosis, had 12:27 of ice time with one shot attempt and two blocks.

Gallant did not offer an update on either defenseman, only to say that they are day-to-day, and the team will know more on Thursday. The loss of both left Vegas with four defensemen for the final period.

“When our backs are against the wall, that’s when we played our best, played our hardest,” defenseman Jimmy Schuldt said. “It’s hard, but hockey’s all about adversity. And when you have to dig in and just try your best to keep the puck out of your own net and get it to the forwards and let them play, that’s what you have to do.”

Delving into the game stats brings little comfort to the Golden Knights after the woeful performance.

Vegas generated only five scoring chances at 5-on-5 and two high-danger chances. Colorado controlled 59.7% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts and held the edge in expected goals by a 74% margin. Colorado kept Vegas away from the center of the ice and prevented a goal until Patrick Brown scored with 17 seconds left in the game.

“I think it was hard to create chances 5-on-5,” forward Cody Glass said. “It was a scrambly game overall.”

Adding to the Golden Knights’ frustration is that Colorado didn’t run out anything resembling what its roster will look like on opening night. Only three who played Wednesday appeared in half of Colorado’s regular-season games last year.

That puts Vegas in a tough spot. It wants to let its rookies get game action, but it’s doing so against a majority of players who won't be on the team in a week. And with Gallant saying he wants to run out a lineup of mostly regulars in the final two preseason games, the younger players may be running out of time to make an impression.

“Our guys didn’t really get up for the game and it showed,” Gallant said. “It’s getting down to the last few days and we have to make a tough decision.”