Forget That Stinker, Golden Knights Collapse in 3rd, Lose Badly in Buffalo

The road trip is not treating the Vegas Golden Knights any better than home. After rallying from an early 2-0 deficit, the Golden Knights collapsed later in the second and for the entire third period. The Buffalo Sabres scored five unanswered goals for a comfy 7-2 win at Key Bank Center.

At some point, the Golden Knights will need to find some answers for their depleted lineup. The defending Stanley Cup champions have been bitten hard by the injury bug and hit harder by opponents. If you’re keeping track, the Golden Knights have now lost seven of their last nine games.

Buffalo hit the score sheet early. The flat-footed Golden Knights played a defensive zone game of I’ll take it-you got it. Four Golden Knights converged around the puck in the d-zone, but Brendan Brisson didn’t make a firm play on it. Buffalo winger Jeff Skinner (20) easily backchecked Brisson, stole the puck, and buried his turning wrister.

Buffalo scored again early in the second period. Dylan Cozens beat Golden Knights starting goalie Logan Thompson with a wrister in the first minute of the second period. To add insult to injury, that was only Cozens’s first of two shorthanded goals in the game.

The Golden Knights flashed some of their resilient form. Brendan Brisson (2) scored 52 seconds later on the same power play, and the Golden Knights had some life.

William Karlsson scored less than three minutes later. Paul Cotter kept the bouncing puck alive in the offensive zone, and Jonathan Marchessault hard-slapped a pass across the slot for Karlsson’s (21) one-timer.

That was the end of the highlights for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Cozens had a pair of shorties. Owen Power and Skinner each had a goal and two assists. Zemgus Girgensons and Casey Mittelstadt were the other Sabres’ goal scorers.

The Golden Knights finish their five-game East Coast roadie Tuesday in Columbus. They are 1-2-1 in their first four on the trip and have scored 11 goals in the four losses.