The Golden Knights opened their four-game trip through the Metropolitan Division with a hard-to-swallow 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers inside Madison Square Garden.
It was Vegas’ third straight loss, and it missed an opportunity to secure sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights and Edmonton are tied for first place in the Pacific with 68 points.
Jack Eichel set the tone early when he gave Vegas a 1-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the first period. With the game tied 1-1 in the second period, Eichel notched his second goal of the game to give Vegas a 2-1 lead. Eichel has recorded 22 multi-point games this season, tied for the most in club history.
Though the Rangers came into the game having lost 21 of 22 when trailing after two periods, they took advantage of two power-play opportunities in the third to pull away for the win.
Vegas dropped to 7-10-2 against Eastern Conference foes.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s game:
OFFENSIVE WOES: After scoring at least three goals in six straight games, the Golden Knights were held to two or fewer for the second straight game. Vegas ranked fourth in the league with 3.51 goals-for-per-game through Dec. 31, but rank 17th in the NHL with 2.88 gpg. since the calendar turn. During the 13-game stretch since Jan. 9, the Knights rank 23rd with a mere 2.62 gpg.
“We didn’t finish well enough to extend the lead the second, even the chances in the third,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re off net too often with our chances. That’s happening a lot lately for us, and high tonight for some reason. … We’re missing high a lot of opportunities. We had a 2-on-0, we don’t get a shot on net. We got to finish better if we’re going to give up four.”
THIRD PERIOD WOES: After holding a 63-32 edge in third-period scoring through Jan 13, the Golden Knights have been outscored 10-8 in the final stanza ever since. The Rangers outscored Vegas 3-0 in the third on Sunday. The Knights have been outscored in the final period 4-0 during their three-game slide, since Jan. 7, and rank dead last with their -4 scoring margin.
“They had some chances, obviously the penalty, they tied up on the power play, and then not there far after they get the lead – and it’s frustrating,” Eichel said. “Obviously we wanted to push and try and get that next goal, and we had some chances, weren’t able to get it. It’s frustrating. I think we did a lot of good things through 40 minutes. And to let it slip away, it’s not a great feeling. It’s a 60-minute game and obviously have to find a way to finish it off. We’ll learn from it and get better.
PENALTY KILL WOES: The Golden Knights came into the game a perfect 7 for 7 on the penalty kill in their previous three games while New York entered the contest ranked 19th in the NHL with its power play (27 of 134, 20.1%). But the Rangers finished 2 for 2 with their only chances, helping seal New York’s first win in four games. Mika Zibanejad scored the Rangers’ first power play opportunity 5:02 into the third period to tie the score at 2. Right wing Artemi Panarin added a power-play goal with 1:41 left to seal the win for New York.
“Our penalty kill tonight didn’t get the job done,” Cassidy said. “We didn’t get a couple clears when we had a chance on the second goal, it gave life. We didn’t get to save, it got through our goaltender, two of their power-play goal. So there’s some of that that’s involved too, right? There’s a lot of responsibility to go around and get back to work tomorrow and see if we can fix it.”
