Golden Knights fall behind early, lose to Oilers in first game without Stone

By Danny Webster

Published Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023 | 9:38 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023 | 10:45 p.m.

It was evident last season, and it was evident for the first time this season: The Golden Knights missed Mark Stone.

Not just for his offensive prowess and ability to change the game with the puck on his stick, but the captain's absence left a hole on the defensive side. The Golden Knights could have used that in a 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Stone is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and Saturday's tilt against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl was his first missed game of this season. Ongoing back issues, which led to surgery in May, forced Stone to miss 45 games last season.

"You’re not going to replace a guy like that," defenseman Alec Martinez said of Stone at morning skate. "It’s an awareness thing. When you lose your captain, it’s going to be tough, but no one has to do anything extraordinary. They just have to pick up their game a little bit and do their job."

The Golden Knights didn't start work on time.

Former Golden Knights forward Mattias Janmark scored 45 seconds into the game, and Draisaitl scored off a turnover from Alex Pietrangelo 57 seconds later to put the Oilers up 2-0 early. Connor McDavid had an assist after scoring twice on Friday, his 26th birthday, to give him a league-leading 83 points.

"We were off a little bit. Off in the system," forward Paul Cotter said. "It showed early."

Both goals were allowed by the new top line of Chandler Stephenson, Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault. The latter was playing in Stone's place at first-line right wing, but that experiment lasted a period.

That wasn't due to anything Marchessault wasn't doing.

Eichel and Stephenson have been an effective duo together this season, but Saturday was the worst performance the two have had together. Part of it might have been not having Stone on their right — the two might not have been playing together if Stone was healthy based on previous lineups — but the two forwards were on the ice for three of the four goals allowed and were out-attempted 11-9 at 5-on-5.

Keegan Kolesar scored for his sixth point in six games, and Cotter scored his second goal in four games since returning to the lineup, and the Golden Knights (28-14-2) lost their sixth straight game against a division opponent (0-5-1) and fell to 2-2-0 on this homestand. Logan Thompson made 33 saves.

William Karlsson also scored for Vegas and did his most effective work when reunited with Marchessault and Reilly Smith in the second period.

But the ire of frustration was pointed at the top of the lineup.

"The bottom of our lineup came to play and played effectively the right way against a team that's susceptible to that type of play," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "The top of the lineup, it took them a while, and some never came through that way."

Kolesar's goal built the necessary momentum for Vegas. It transitioned into the second by dominating possession in the offensive zone. Despite not scoring early, the Golden Knights seemed on the verge of getting there.

But two breakdowns in the neutral zone allowed Edmonton to regain control.

Draisaitl scored his second of the game at 7:22 on a 2-on-1 off a turnover, restoring the lead back to two, at 3-1. Eighteen seconds after Cotter cut the lead to 3-2, Klim Kostin played a game of deja vu with the Vegas defense.

Kostin took a bank pass off the boards from Janmark and got a 2-on-1 of his own. Aided by Cotter and Brayden McNabb colliding in the neutral zone, Kostin beat Thompson to restore the two-goal lead.

"Once we started to get going, I think we had a good jump," Cotter said. "It was just one of those games where they capitalized on opportunities and we didn't."

If not for Karlsson's goal with 42 seconds remaining in the second, coming back would've seemed insurmountable even for a team that just completed its eighth third-period comeback on Thursday.

But in the grand scheme of it all, the Golden Knights shouldn't have needed a third-period comeback against an Oilers team that was playing the second night of a back-to-back after winning 7-1 in San Jose on Friday.

The Oilers played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen and looked like the more rested team. Not that there lies an answer every time teams attempt to slow down McDavid and Draisaitl, but this lands in the category of another head-scratching loss for the Golden Knights.

The sky isn't falling, but the consistency is lacking. The strengths of Vegas' historic success — winning at home and winning against the division — aren't there. And with the Los Angeles Kings and Seattle Kraken inching closer to the top of the Pacific Division, it's about to get crowded for Vegas at the top.

The newness of the division is still with Cassidy, but losing six straight in this division is uncharacteristic, no matter who the coach is of this team.

"If I have to emphasize we're playing a division team, then shame on the guys and the leadership group for not recognizing it," Cassidy said. "We know who we're playing. We might not know every place in the standings of every team, but understanding the value of divisional points and coming out ready to play, it's disappointing."

Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.