The Edmonton Oilers celebrate an empty net goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, in Las Vegas.
Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 | 11:40 p.m.
It’s too early in the Golden Knights’ season to panic. Two weeks ago we were still watching preseason games, after all.
Vegas is missing three of its scoring forwards and its top defensive pair at this early juncture of the season, and the absences are showing in the results.
But panicking now could be considered an overreaction.
The Golden Knights dropped their third game in a row Friday night, falling to the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 at T-Mobile Arena. Everything that could go wrong has in the last three games, and the Golden Knights trail division-leading Edmonton by eight points already as the last-place team in the Pacific.
“We come in and we try to keep it consistent as a group that in an NHL season the highs can’t be too high and the lows can’t be too low, and it’s way too early for the lows to have a dramatic effect on our group,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “So we’ve got to come in tomorrow and look at the things we did better.”
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The loss to Edmonton was, somewhat ironically, perhaps their best outing of the season. Vegas controlled play at 5-on-5, outshooting (34-22), out-attempting (61-41) and out-chancing (24-16) the Oilers, according to Natural Stat Trick. Goals were 3-3 at even strength.
Where the game shifted was on special teams, and one costly turnover. Edmonton’s power play was electric, scoring once and bombarding the Vegas net in the second period. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, including going scoreless with one shot in 1:38 of 5-on-3 time in the first period.
Vegas did later tie the game, so it wouldn’t be accurate to call that 5-on-3 the turning point in the game.
“It’s obviously an opportunity that we didn’t capitalize on,” forward Reilly Smith said. “I think over the last couple of years that’s one spot that we can be better at.”
Even regular power plays aren’t working right now. The scoreless power-play outing Friday dropped the Golden Knights to 0-for-9 on the season, and they’re the only team in the NHL without a power-play goal this season. In a vacuum that’s not good, but considering they finished their playoff run on an 0-for-17 skid and thus haven't scored in their last 26 meaningful chances, it’s a problem that was greeted by boos from the home fans.
“Yeah, it can be frustrating but if you go down that road and jump on that train it’s a long season,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got time to figure it out.”
As DeBoer mentioned, you can’t fairly evaluate the Golden Knights’ start to the season without acknowledging who’s not on the ice. Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Alec Martinez have all been injured in the last three games, while Zach Whitecloud left Friday’s game in the second period with a grim prognosis. Alex Tuch hasn’t played this year after an offseason shoulder surgery.
The Oilers, meanwhile, were at full health and looked every part the dangerous unit they can be when their twin superstars are on their game. Connor McDavid set up Zach Hyman for their first two goals, both of which tied the game soon after Vegas took a lead. Hyman’s second came at the 3:55 mark of the second, and Leon Draisaitl followed it up with his first of the night 72 seconds later to give Edmonton its first lead.
Zack Kassian capitalized on a turnover in the third period to breakaway and score the winner, and Draisaitl scored his second into an empty net to give the Oilers five wins to start the year.
There’s too much talent on the team and too much time left in a long season to count them out, but eight points, even at this stage of the year, is a big hill to climb. With games against the Islanders, Avalanche and Stars coming up, things aren’t getting any easier.
Friday was encouraging, even if the result was not. There’s unease about the way the season has started, but the Golden Knights are a long way from panicked.
“I think tonight was our most complete game,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We had a couple of lapses in the second to start, but with the guys we’re working with, we need a couple more guys to step up. I think we’re on the right track, we just have to keep pushing ourselves.”
