The Vegas Golden Knights needed two points on Thursday to keep pace with the Edmonton Oilers in the quest to capture the Pacific Division title. They had the win in their sights after taking a multi-goal lead early in the third period, but allowed two goals in 3:05 and fell 4-3 to the Seattle Kraken in the shootout.
The Golden Knights broke the ice at 10:04 in the first period. Rasmus Anderson threaded a centering pass from below the right circle to a completely unmarked Mark Stone. Stone stepped into the slot and beat Joey Daccord glove-side.
The Golden Knights doubled their lead just 55 seconds into the second period. Jack Eichel got a pass through to Mark Stone, who banged it home from the right side of the goal.
Both teams had just one power play opportunity apiece; the Kraken converted on theirs at 17:54 in the second. Jared McCann rocketed home a one-timer from the right circle.
The Golden Knights restored their two-goal lead just 1:11 into the third period. As the trailer in a 4-on-2, Brayden McNabb sent a no-look pass to Mitch Marner in the right circle. Marner corralled McNabb’s pass and found Brett Howden back-door.
Five minutes later, the tides turned, and the abyss awakened.At 6:11 in the third, Adin Hill left the net to play the puck on a seemingly harmless dump-in. Instead, it took a weird bounce off the boards and ended up right on the stick of Berkly Catton, who had an empty net to shoot at.
“They get a bounce, and it gives them some life,” said head coach John Tortorella postgame. “It just set you back a little bit, because we had some momentum [after] scoring early in the period.”
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The Kraken went on to score the equalizer three minutes later.
Bobby McMann sprawled out to play a loose puck into the corners, and Jordan Eberle beat Noah Hanifin in the ensuing foot race. After winning the battle, Eberle found McMann all alone at the right dot; McMann beat Adin Hill far-side with a wicked wrister.
In overtime, the Golden Knights played with urgency but failed to capitalize on the four scoring chances they generated.
“We had good opportunities,” said Mitch Marner postgame. “We just didn’t capitalize.”Marner scored in the shootout for the Golden Knights. Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton scored for Seattle, and the Kraken claimed the 4-3 win.
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1. Mark Stone went through a cold spell after returning from injury in March, but it’s safe to say that he’s put that behind him. He has five goals and seven points in his last seven games.Because of his defensive prowess, Stone is an effective player even when he isn’t scoring. However, with Jack Eichel and Tomáš Hertl in droughts, the Golden Knights need to get their goalscoring from somewhere. And speaking of which…
2. Jack Eichel has one goal in his last 13 games. Pavel Dorofeyev has one in his last 12. And Tomáš Hertl hasn’t scored since March 4th.
The Golden Knights will comfortably make the playoffs. They will not go very far in them unless that changes.
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3. With the team needing goalscoring from somewhere, Brett Howden is answering the call. He’s played with both Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner in the John Tortorella era, and Howden has taken full advantage of this opportunity. He has three goals in his last four games, including the game-winner against the Calgary Flames last week.
