Calgary Flames players celebrate a goal by defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (52) as Golden Knights left wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) skates by during the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Published Thursday, March 16, 2023 | 9:27 p.m.
Updated Thursday, March 16, 2023 | 11:27 p.m.
The Vegas Golden Knights scored twice on the power play Tuesday in a win at Philadelphia.
It was a welcome change for a unit that had only scored four times in 48 power-play chances since captain Mark Stone was lost for the season Jan. 12 with a back injury.
The success with the man advantage didn’t continue Thursday.
Vegas went 0-for-4 on power play chances in a 7-2 defeat to the visiting Calgary Flames to snap a four-game winning streak.
Vegas had a power play opportunity early in the third period, but despite a few good looks on goal, couldn’t convert. A few minutes later, Brett Howden was whistled for high-sticking, and the Flames’ Mikael Backlund scored with the man advantage to extend the Calgary lead to two goals.
Coach Bruce Cassidy labeled the power-play effort as "awful" in his postgame availability. He said the power play had a chance to be a difference maker, especially after the effort inPhiladelphia.
"(But) we weren't crisp this morning in practice (working on the power play)," he said. "... We have to do better in that area and take more pride in it."
Jonathan Quick, the deadline acquisition from Columbus, lost for the first time in five Vegas starts. He had surrendered nine goals in four games entering tonight; the Flames erupted for seven goals on 30 shots.
Vegas never had a lead in its first game back at T-Mobile Arena after a five-game road trip that saw the Golden Knights post a 4-1 record.
However, they made things interesting in the second period with goals from Zach Whitecloud and Reilly Smith to even the game at 2-2 with about four minutes remaining in the period.
But Blake Coleman scored 90 seconds later to give the Flames the lead for good, and Calgary closed the game with five unanswered goals, including four in the final period.
Surrendering the late goal in the second period swung the momentum back to the Flames, Cassidy said. The difference between going into intermission tied after a two-goal Vegas outburst, to trailing by one goal despite scoring twice in the period was significant, he said.
And then struggling on the power play early in the third period certainly didn't help. The Golden Knights have the league's second-worst power play at 12.5% since Dec. 28.
“The players on the power play should have pushed each other harder and asked more out of each other to make a difference because they were given the opportunity to make the difference,” Cassidy said. “If you have one power play a night, I get it. But we had four, and they were timely.”
Vegas returns to action Sunday against Columbus, one of the NHL's worst teams.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
