LAS VEGAS – Games like Saturday's game at T-Mobile Arena can leave you with mixed feelings if you're a member of the Vegas Golden Knights or one of their fans.
Yes, the Knights blew two two-goal leads to the Colorado Avalanche. They were also unable to maintain a one-goal lead after Colton Sissons' beautiful goal from the left gave them a 5-4 lead with four minutes remaining.
So losing in a shootout 6-5 to the best team in the NHL is in no way a disgrace. Getting a point is always nice. And while a second point would be nice, there's a reason the Avs are atop the overall standings. This is a talented and tireless group. And when they need a big play or a big goal, their best players often succeed.
On Saturday, it was Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the fourth goal to tie the game with 8:21 left in the third period and then scored the game-winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout against Carter Hart. Martin Necas scored a pair of goals for the Avs and has 18 for the season.
Together, they led a third-period surge that the Knights nearly overcame but ultimately succumbed to. Colorado kept Hart under duress for most of the period and outscored the Knights 20-6 over the final 20 minutes, ultimately leading to overtime when Artturi Lehkonen scored from the spot and Scott Wedgwood retired as the sixth hitter to tie the game at 5-5 with 1:57 remaining in regulation.
“They've got some firepower there,” said Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton, who showed some firepower himself with a second-period goal, his career-high fifth of the season. “Obviously you want to try to limit their chances of getting into A and keep them on the sidelines. But two good teams went for it.”
Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy couldn't be too disappointed with the result.
“We should have been able to close this case,” he said. “We gave up the center shot (on Lehkonen) and that should never happen.
“Maybe benchmark is the wrong word. But I said it, so let's use it. In my opinion, they're clearly a better team than we are right now. You look at their record (28-2-7) and their intensity (in the third period). But that doesn't mean we go home and think, 'We can't compete with the Colorado Avalanche.'” I felt like the goals we scored, we deserved. They were good goals.
“The third period was our best period all year, but they tried really hard and their team is firing on all cylinders right now given their health. We're a little behind in that regard. But I liked that we were there until the end.”
Cassidy was referring to the fact that the Knights were without center Jack Eichel and guard Shea Theodore, who each missed their fifth straight game. Their return to the lineup remains unknown.
But one of the bright spots for the Saturday Knights was the play of forward Alexander Holtz, who entered the game with no points this season but scored 2:43 into the contest and then assisted on Hutton's goal for two points on the night.
“Holzi hasn't played much, but he came in and did a good job the last two games,” Cassidy said. “The message for him is to impact the game with his skills. He wasn't winning battles as consistently last year. His goal today wasn't a skill game, but a decisive game. He won some board battles the other day against San Jose and was just hard on the pucks.”
“He works hard on his game and earns minutes.”
Hart was strong in net for the most part. He managed to score a couple of fluke goals, but made several series of stops in the first and second periods as the Avs dominated the game. And while he couldn't stop the game in the third, he was able to send the game into a penalty shootout with a beautiful stop on Brock Nelson late in overtime after Nelson had hit the post minutes earlier.
Despite the loss, the Knights remain in first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of Anaheim, who are coached by the Kings, 6-1, on Saturday, and Edmonton, who lost to Calgary 3-2. The Knights have two more games at this holiday stadium: Monday against Minnesota, then Wednesday against Nashville at a New Year's Eve bash.
And while two points would have been nice, getting one feels like an achievement considering who the opponents were on Saturday.
