Golden Knights Skid: Blow 2-Goal Lead, Lose to Senators in Shootout

It’s been a rough stretch for the Vegas Golden Knights (32-19-7). They have lost five of six and three straight, though they earned a point on Saturday. Jonathan Marchessault popped his 30th goal of the season and also added an assist, but the Golden Knights couldn’t hold a second-period two-goal lead. The Ottawa Senators (25-27-3) scored three unanswered goals from the middle of the second period through the early third, forcing the Golden Knights to rally for a late third period goal to force overtime.

Chandler Stephenson (11, 12) scored his second goal of the game at 18:45 after the Golden Knights pulled goalie Logan Thompson for an extra attacker, but neither team could score in OT. Ottawa had five shots in OT, but Thompson stopped them all and 30 of 33.

Tim Stutzle got the shootout winner, and Ottawa got two points in the 4-3 SO win.

For the record, it’s the third time in Marchessault’s career that he’s scored 30.

The points put the Golden Knights a healthy nine points ahead of the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators, who represent the playoff’s line of demarcation.

Marchessault pointed the Golden Knights in the right direction at 5:41 of the first period. William Karlsson poked the puck away from Senators winger Tim Stutzle. Marchessault (30) was the happy recipient and swooped through the slot, his backhander beating Senators’ goalie Anton Forsberg.

For most of the first 30 minutes, the Golden Knights dominated the puck. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Golden Knights nearly doubled Ottawa in scoring chances (17-10) and did double Ottawa in high-danger chances (6-3).

Early in the second period, the Golden Knights power play quickly converted Parker Kelley’s holding minor into red lights. Chandler Stephenson (11) beat Forsberg with a sneaky wrist shot from the right-wing circle at 3:03. Karlsson well-screened Forsberg, who didn’t see Stephenson’s surgical shot to the far post.

Easy come, easy go.

The Ottawa Senators pushed back.

With plenty of traffic in the slot, Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot (5) slipped a wrister through everyone, including Thompson, at 9:00.

Not even Sheldon Rempal’s breakaway late in the second period could blunt Ottawa’s momentum. Forsberg stopped Rempal, who figuratively had miles between him and the defenders.

Rempal led all players with five shots on goal. In fact, he had five shots in his first seven minutes of ice time. He finished with 9:44 of ice time.

Late in the second period, Ottawa’s pressure got them back to even, starting with a bad turnover by Alec Martinez. On the power play, Brady Tkachuk easily intercepted Martinez’s clearing attempt up the middle. Tkachuk tapped a pass to Drake Batherson, who whistled a shot past Thompson from the low slot.

Josh Norris (16) added the go-ahead goal at 5:48 of the third period when he neatly deflected Chabot’s point shot beneath Thompson’s ready mitt.

Stephenson’s goal at 18:45 forced OT.

The Golden Knights essentially collapsed in the third period. Ottawa had seven high-danger scoring chances compared to just one for the Golden Knights.

Forsberg overcame the shaky goals to stop 26 of 29 shots.

The Golden Knights’s East Coast road trip continues next week. The VGK will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, Boston on Thursday, Buffalo next Saturday, and Columbus on Monday, March 4.