A Disappointing Performance by the Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights had a strong showing just two days ago, but their performance in the following game left much to be desired. On Sunday, they faced off against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre and suffered a 7-1 loss, marking one of their worst performances in franchise history. The Knights (25-14-12) lost in regulation for the first time ever against Ottawa (6-1-1), and the defeat tied for the largest margin of loss in team history against a team ranked 15th in the Eastern Conference.

“It looked like an NHL team versus a junior team,” said captain Mark Stone, reflecting on the game. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson scored his first goal as a member of the Knights with 4:55 remaining, ending Ottawa goalie Mads Sogaard’s shutout bid. Adin Hill tied a career-high of seven goals allowed, giving up four on 17 shots through two periods. This loss dropped the Knights to 1-2 on their four-game road trip.

This was the second time on the road trip that the Knights trailed 4-0 after two periods. While they managed to rally and lose 4-3 in Boston on Thursday, this time there was no fight left in them. “Just starting on time, really,” said Jack Eichel. “It’s been a recurring thing for us this year. You just don’t want to do it every night. That’s a desperate team over there.”

The Knights played their third game in four days, while the Senators were playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 4-1 loss to Carolina at home. Coach Bruce Cassidy expressed disappointment in the team’s effort. “I didn’t like our battle level at all, our compete, our races early on,” he said. “Typically we’re the team with pushback. We didn’t have that.”

Three Takeaways from the Loss

1. Writing Was on the Wall

The Knights had a chance to put pressure on early in the game. Mitch Marner was awarded a penalty shot 1:36 into the game after a hooking call on Ottawa’s Tyler Kleven. Marner skated from left to right and tried three different moves to get room on Sogaard, but failed to get a shot off. “I’m sure if Mitch had it back, he would’ve had a different alternative,” said Cassidy. “The way the game played out, maybe it only makes it a 7-2 game.”

From then on, the Knights looked disheveled. Puck management was poor, and they kept turning over the puck. Getting through the neutral zone was an issue all game. Ottawa took advantage, with forward Fabian Zetterlund banking a shot off Hill from behind the net at 9:25 for a 1-0 lead.

2. Unraveling from There

The Knights had a five-on-three power play for 37 seconds toward the end of the first and going into the second. Another chance to gain some momentum. They had four shots on the extended man advantage and couldn’t beat Sogaard. Ottawa made the Knights pay with two goals in 16 seconds from Dylan Cozens and Jordan Spence to make it 3-0 at 6:07. Stephen Halliday scored with 2:10 left in the second to push the lead to four.

Cozens and Halliday scored again in the third period 43 seconds apart. “Sometimes you get kicked in the teeth, get up and get yourself back in the game,” said Stone. “For the most part, we usually do that. For some reason, we didn’t do that.”

3. Finishing the Trip Strong

The Knights wrap up their four-game road trip Tuesday in Montreal. They’ll have to do it with Stone having his franchise-record 14-game point streak end Sunday. Eichel also had his 11-game point streak come to an end. All but five skaters were a negative in plus-minus.

“It wasn’t a great night for us at all. Not good enough from everybody,” said Eichel, the team’s leading scorer. “We’ve got to be a lot better, and it starts with me. I got to be better, as well. We’ll take a look at this one and get ready for Tuesday.”

Eichel said there have been elements in the team game that they’ve gotten away from. But with two weeks until the Olympic break, Cassidy said it’s too late for that to be happening. “It certainly isn’t up to (my standard),” Cassidy said. “It’s late January. Is this a practice thing, or is it showing the hell up on time?”