Things aren’t exactly golden right now for the Vegas Golden Knights. For the first time this season, they’ve dropped two in a row; to make matters worse, tonight’s loss to the St. Louis Blues was their second consecutive 6-2 loss.
“I don’t think our guys are going to be happy with this,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig following the loss. “We’re not pleased with this. I expect a response. We’re gonna get a lot of teams’ best games on each and every night because of what these guys have accomplished here last season. So we have to be ready for that push, because when we push, we’re a good team.”
Most of these wounds are self-inflicted. As a collective five-man unit, the Golden Knights have turned the puck over far too often, and their opponents have made them pay.
“We didn’t help ourselves as much as we could have,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig following the loss. “That’s two games in a row where we’ve put ourselves in some tough situations.”
“I don’t want to say it’s concerning, because obviously we know we have it in this room, but you don’t want to give up that many goals in back-to-back games,” Jack Eichel added.
1. Holtz Your Horses
Prior to puck drop, the Golden Knights announced that Mitch Marner would be inactive because of a family matter. Alex Holtz drew in, and made his season debut in Marner’s spot on the second line with Brett Howden and William Karlsson.
Holtz was a rare bright spot on a night where very few Golden Knights played well. He was strong on pucks and backchecked well, and the only Blues goal he was on the ice for was the third, which came off the faceoff. Holtz played 14:04, recorded five shots on net and nine total shot attempts, and threw a hit.
Holtz recorded his first point of the season on the Golden Knights’ first goal of the game. He got in on the forecheck and picked off Brandon Carlo’s clearing attempt, then fought to get the puck back after William Karlsson couldn’t handle his centering pass. Holtz fed Noah Hanifin at the point for a blast; Howden batted it down and put it past Joel Hofer.
“I thought Holtzy had some jump,” said head coach Ryan Craig following the loss. “He attacked the interior of the ice. He went right in there with Karly and Howie and did a good job. He was one of our better players tonight.”
2. In a Rut
Through their first 10 games of the season, the Golden Knights were a well-oiled machine. Their offense was humming, and they kept the puck out of their net. That hasn’t been the case in their last two games.
The Golden Knights outscored their opponents 42-24 in their first ten games of the season; in their last two games, they’ve been outscored 12-4.
“We understand what it looks like when it looks good, right? When we’re playing as a five-man unit, we’re breaking pucks out, we’re getting up, we’re forechecking, and we’re checking. In the last two [games], it hasn’t been like us,” said Jack Eichel following the 6-2 loss to the Blues. “It’s a good opportunity for us all to look in the mirror. We have to be better as a group, all five guys on the ice at a time.”
“I feel like it’s just sloppy play right now on our own part. I mean, I think we’re just giving teams a lot of chances,” said Eichel. “[The Blues] are good off the rush. They make a lot of plays. Their D are up in the rush, so if you turn pucks over going north, they’re countering pretty quickly, and they did that to us tonight. So, not our best by any means.”
3. Penalty Kill Woes
Last year, for the first time in a long time, the Golden Knights had a top-ten penalty kill. They finished the regular season killing 81.4% of penalties, tied for sixth-best in the league. Their success continued in the postseason, where their penalty kill fired at an 82.1% success rate.
The Golden Knights’ penalty kill has come back to earth. They’ve allowed nine power play goals and have the 29th-ranked penalty kill in the league.
The Golden Knights have allowed a power play goal in four straight games, and the Blues scored on both of their opportunities tonight.
“Our kill’s got to be way better,” said Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb following the 6-2 loss. “They get one [early]; if we kill that, maybe we get some momentum in the game. And they score another one in the third. That needs to sharpen up, and we’ll look at it a little bit better, but that’s definitely got to improve.”