Golden Knights Smothered; Saad Scores; Islanders Sweep Series

The Vegas Golden Knights (31-17-6) are stuck in a scoring drought– the worst of the season. They’ve scored just seven goals across their past four games, and tonight’s loss to the New York Islanders (25-21-7) marks the second four-game losing streak of the season.

This game was what you’d expect from a Golden Knights-Islanders matchup. It took six minutes for the Golden Knights to record their first shot on net; the Islanders didn’t manage their first shot on goal until nearly nine minutes into the game.

Defensively, the Golden Knights did everything right. They held the Islanders to eight shots on net through 40 minutes of play. The Golden Knights blocked 13 shots, led by Alex Pietrangelo, who blocked five. The Islanders finished tonight’s game with five high-danger scoring chances, per NaturalStatTrick, and just 14 shots on goal.

But the goalscoring has dried up, and the offense is ice-cold.

“We have to find more ways to score goals,” said Nic Roy. “We have to put more shots on the net and bring more traffic. We’ve got big bodies; we have to screen their goalie and get rebounds… You’re not going to win games when you score one on the road.”

No kidding.

To the Golden Knights’ credit, the Islanders aren’t an easy team to generate offense against. They’re strong in front of their net, stifling in the neutral zone, and aggressive on the forecheck. Oh, and if you somehow manage to get past their suffocating defenses, they have a world-class goaltender in Ilya Sorokin.

“They’re a tough team,” said Shea Theodore. “They really locked down the inside. Coming into tonight, our focus was getting to the inside, trying to get good, quality chances, get screens in front of [Sorokin’s] eyes. It just didn’t seem to go that way.”

The Golden Knights gave up just four shots on goal in the first period, but one ended up in the back of their net. Adam Pelech sent a stretch pass to Bo Horvat, who got the jump on Brandon Saad and blew past Zach Whitecloud. Horvat used his left leg to shield off Whitecloud’s stick, pulled to his forehand to open Samsonov’s five-hole, and slid the puck through.

“In the first [period], we gave up one chance, and it went in,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “It wasn’t like we were poor; we just couldn’t generate enough to put them on their heels.”

The Golden Knights outshot the Islanders 14-4 in the second period. The Islanders got their first and only power play of the game but failed to record a shot on goal. The Golden Knights had a few good looks at the end of the period, but Ilya Sorokin stood tall.

Brandon Saad finally managed to solve Sorokin at 9:40 in the third period. Nic Hague threw a shot on net that was kicked aside. Saad beat Pierre Engvall to the rebound and chipped it over Sorokin’s glove for his first goal as a Golden Knight.

The Golden Knights had life for a fleeting moment after Saad’s goal. They looked like they were returning to form, likethey had awoken from the “offensive slumber” Bruce Cassidy mentioned after Sunday’s loss to the New York Rangers.But just over three minutes later, the Islanders pulled ahead again. Alexander Romanov’s shot went wide, but Brock Nelson redirected it past Samsonov from the bottom of the faceoff circle. 

“Tonight, we had a ton of chances,” said Shea Theodore. “If one or two of those goes in, it changes the momentum, changes the feeling on the bench. It’s good to see [Brandon Saad] get on the board and tie it up. But after that, we had to tighten up. We can’t give one up shortly after [Saad’s goal] and be chasing the game again.”

The Golden Knights pushed and got several good looks and 6-on-5, but one was all that was getting past Sorokin tonight.

“It’s tough,” said Shea Theodore. “I thought we played well. I think giving up 14 shots, throughout the season, a lot of times, you’re going to be on the better end. We just didn’t get on the inside enough… It’s something that we have to reallyfocus on. We have two games left before the break, and we have to be better.”

Golden Knights Notes

Both New York teams swept The Golden Knights in their respective season series. They were outscored 6-1 by the Islanders and 6-3 by the Rangers.

Tonight was the first regulation loss the Golden Knights have suffered at UBS Arena. 

You wouldn’t know it by looking at the box score, but Ilya Samsonov was excellent tonight. He made several big saves to keep the Golden Knights in the game. With just over six minutes left in the second period, Pierre Engvall cut through the center of the ice and backhanded a shot on net. Samsonov kicked it aside and pounced on the rebound before Anthony Duclair could stuff it home. Early in the third period, Adam Boqvist threaded a pass to Jean-Gabriel Pageau that should’ve been an easy goal. But the puck bounced on Pageau’s stick, and Savsonov was able to get a piece of it.

According to NaturalStatTrick, the Golden Knights had 31 scoring chances; 16 were high-danger chances. Analytics don’t tell the whole story, but the finishing woes are becoming a legitimate concern.

Bruce Cassidy’s new defensive pairings had mixed results tonight. Alex Pietrangelo and Nic Hague were very good; Noah Hanifin and Zach Whitecloud were not.

Speaking of defensive pairings, the Golden Knights skated 11-7 tonight. Tanner Pearson (upper-body injury) and Raphaël Lavoie (illness) came out. Kaeden Korczak drew back into the lineup for the first time since December 6th. He played 3:34. Alexander Holtz suited up as well and played 10:10.

“We’re trying to preach “stay in the game when you’re not scoring”… You’re going to win games when you play defense. You are,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “Right now, it’s getting cumulative because we’re not scoring, but we have to stick with it… I don’t think you can sell out in this league and try to win a 5-4 game to try and get out of a slump. You have to stick to your identity, play good defense, and get some breaks.”