Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Live coverage: Third-period Oilers goals send Golden Knights to third-straight loss

VGK Golden Knights Oilers

Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal by left wing Zach Hyman (18) as Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) sits in the net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

Updated Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 | 9:43 p.m.

There was hope for a moment when Nicolas Hague blasted home a monster of a slapshot in the third period to tie the game, that the Golden Knights would avoid a third-straight loss. Instead, the Edmonton Oilers answered right away and dashed Vegas' hopes of avoiding a 1-3-0 start.

Zack Kassian intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and went the other way uncontested, sliding the puck five-hole to put the Oilers on top and send the Golden Knights to a 5-3 defeat on Friday at T-Mobile Arena. After winning the season opener, Vegas fell to 1-3-0 on the season.

The Golden Knights scored first as they have in every game this season, and had a 2-1 lead at one point as well. Nicolas Roy and Nolan Patrick both redirected pucks into the net early in the first and second periods, respectively, each time giving the Golden Knights a lead.

Between those goals and after, though, it was the Oilers who took control. Zach Hyman leveled it both times for Edmonton on assists from Connor McDavid. His second one made the game 2-2, at which point Edmonton took the lead for the first time on a blast from Leon Draisiatl. That gave the Oilers a 3-2 advantage heading to the third period.

Hague's first of the season at 2:07 evened the score one more time, but Kassian responded with the game-winning goal 2:26 later. It was the second game in a row, following the Blues game Wednesday, where a neutral-zone turnover allowed the opponent to win on a breakaway. And just like Wednesday, an empty-net goal iced it as Draisaitl picked up his second of the night.

Vegas finished with a 39-33 lead in shots on goal.

The Golden Knights finish their home stand Sunday night when the New York Islanders visit T-Mobile Arena.

Second-period flurry of goals has Golden Knights trailing Oilers

The second period started with a bang, as the teams combined for three goals in just over five minutes of action, but after the full 20 minutes of the period the Edmonton Oilers led the Golden Knights 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

Just like in the first, the Golden Knights grabbed a lead with an early-period deflection. This time it was Nolan Patrick redirecting a Dylan Coghlan offering from the high slot, and securing his first goal as a Golden Knight 1:25 into the period.

And just like in the first, the Oilers came surging back. Connor McDavid assisted Zach Hyman on Edmonton's first goal and did it again on the second. This one was a little cleaner, as McDavid collected the puck behind the net and found an open Hyman in the slot, who ripped it home to even the score.

The difference between the second and first periods was in the second Edmonton grabbed a lead. The first shot was innocent enough, as Vegas goalie Robin Lehner easily saved Kris Russell's shot, but the rebound popped out to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who kicked it out to Leon Draisaitl. He doesn't miss often and didn't this time, whipping it by Lehner and into the net for a a 3-2 Oilers lead at 5:07.

Things settled down for a bit after that, but at 9:50 Vegas took a penalty and Edmonton's power play went back to work. Then Vegas took another, and gave the Oilers a brief 5-on-3 of their own after the Golden Knights had one in the first. In the three minutes of power-play time, the Oilers fired seven shots on goal but crucially for the Golden Knights, did not score.

Despite the barrage of shots on the power play, the Oilers didn't create much separation in the shots department. Through two periods, Edmonton led in shots 23-22.

Golden Knights score first, but Oilers special teams help end first period in tie

The good news in the first period was that the Golden Knights came out of the gate strong and scored early Friday. The bad news is what happened after that.

Vegas grabbed a 1-0 lead but allowed an equalizer on the power play, and allowed Edmonton to finish the period on a penalty-kill-induced high note in a 1-1 tie at T-Mobile Arena.

For the fourth time in as many games, the Golden Knights drew first blood in the contest. They held the Oilers without a shot attempt for the first seven minutes of action, in which time they had already changed the scoreboard. Zach Whitecloud kept in a clearing attempt at the offensive blue line, then fired the puck at the Edmonton net. Nicolas Roy was there to redirect it past goalie Mikko Koskinen at 3:34 to give Vegas the lead.

It did not last long though. The Oilers received a power play about five minutes later, and they did what they do with the man advantage. Connor McDavid created a scoring chance seemingly out of nothing, then after some chaos in front of the net the puck bounced off Zach Hyman and into the net.

Despite having the lead in all four games this year, Vegas has also allowed the opponent to tie it in all four.

But the key moment of the period, and perhaps eventually the game, was what Vegas failed to on its first power-play chances. Edmonton took another penalty soon after its first, giving the Golden Knights 1:38 of 5-on-3 time. Vegas mustered just one shot with its two-man advantage, and fell to 0-for-8 on the power play this season, the only team in the league without a goal.

Vegas finished with a 10-7 edge in shots on goal in the first.

Golden Knights focused on recouping defensive prowess vs. Oilers

Entering the season, the Golden Knights were the betting favorite to win the NHL’s Pacific Division.

Not far behind was tonight’s opponent, the Oilers. So with Vegas struggling and Edmonton surging, is the fourth game of the season too early to call this clash a big game? Yes and no.

In the standings, this is one of 79 games remaining on the schedule. The same two points are up for grabs as any other game, though divisional games carry a little extra weight.

The Golden Knights view it as a big game in regards to fixing their early-season flaws against — at least on paper — the best team it’s seen so far.

“It’s a big game in that we want to take another step here with our own game,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “For me, the results aren’t as important as the process and getting our game back.”

Any discussion about the Oilers begins and ends with the last two league MVPs, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They’re both up to their usual tricks, scoring eight points each through their first three games, which represents more goals created than the seven Vegas has scored in its three games.

It’s a test coming at a pivotal moment for a Golden Knights defense, which in its last two games has turned in two of the poorest performances since DeBoer took over as coach in January 2020. It’s a chance for Vegas to rise to the occasion, where a lockdown defensive effort could serve as a springboard for the rest of the season.

“We gave up too many scoring chances (Wednesday) and if we give up that many scoring chances (tonight), it’ll be a high-scoring game,” forward William Carrier said. “We want to shut that. We’re fine playing a 1-1 game or a 2-1 game.”

The status of the defense that will face its biggest challenge of the season is still unknown. Top-pair blue-liner Alec Martinez left in the third period of Wednesday’s game with an apparent injury and did not return. DeBoer said Thursday that Martinez is undergoing tests and another update will come today.

If Thursday’s practice offered any clues, the Golden Knights are not optimistic about Martinez’s availability. In his place, Nicolas Hague partnered with Alex Pietrangelo, which led to a trickle-down effect throughout the lineup. Hague’s usual partner, Zach Whitecloud, was with Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb partnered with Dylan Coghlan, who would make his season debut if he plays.

If Vegas believed Martinez would play, it would likely have not reconfigured all three pairs. Hague bumping up to the top pair with Pietrangelo is interesting, in that it’s Pietrangelo who is likely to defend McDavid tonight. It provides Hague with one of the biggest challenges his three-year career.

“I think the greatest compliment a young player can have is when a veteran guy wants to play with you,” DeBoer said. “When you talk to (Pietrangelo), and if (Martinez) is not playing, Hague’s a guy that he would like an opportunity to play with, so that speaks volumes about the potential of Nic Hague when a guy like that wants to play with you.”

As for the standings, there are still 78 more games left after tonight to make up ground, meaning the likelihood of the Oilers’ result impacting the division race is low.

Besides, winning the division only means so much. DeBoer pointed out that twice he’s led a team to the Stanley Cup Final as a No. 6 seed — with New Jersey in 2012 and San Jose in 2016.

And look no further than last season when the Golden Knights placed second, then beat the Colorado team it finished behind in the second round of the playoffs. Then lost to the lowest-seed in the playoffs in Montreal.

“Is it a big game? I don’t know,” DeBoer said. “I think it’s too early to be talking about those types of goals. I think we want to get our game in the right place right now.”

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-125, Oilers plus-105; over/under: 6.5 (EVEN, minus-120)

Golden Knights (1-2-0, 2 points; t-7th place, Pacific Division)

Coach: Pete DeBoer (third season)

Points leaders: Max Pacioretty, Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone (3)

Goals leaders: Max Pacioretty, Chandler Stephenson (2)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (3)

Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (3.41 GAA, .909 save percentage)

Oilers (4-0-0, 8 points; t-1st place, Pacific Division)

Coach: Dave Tippett (third season)

Points leader: Connor McDavid (11)

Goals leader: Connor McDavid (6)

Assists leader: Leon Draisaitl (6)

Expected goalie: Mikko Koskinen (1.37 GAA, .959 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Peyton Krebs—Chandler Stephenson—Nicolas Roy

Evgenii Dadonov—Nolan Patrick—Keegan Kolesar

William Carrier—Brett Howden—Mattias Janmark

Defensemen

Nicolas Hague—Alex Pietrangelo

Zach Whitecloud—Shea Theodore

Brayden McNabb—Dylan Coghlan

Goalies

Robin Lehner, Laurent Brossoit

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