Golden Knights Notebook: Missed Call, Injuries, Looming Suspension?

It’s a beautiful Friday in Sin City– the sun is shining, and, as per usual, there’s not a cloud in the sky. Despite the picturesque weather, a dark cloud of unease hangs over the heads of the Vegas Golden Knights. Amidst all the uncertainty, there are three things we know:

First, the Golden Knights are down 2-0 in their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers following a heartbreaking overtime loss. They’ll have to dig themselves out of that hole in a hostile road environment as the series shifts to Alberta.

Second, barring a miraculous recovery, the Golden Knights look to be without Brayden McNabb for the foreseeable future. McNabb exited Game 2 in overtime following a can-opener trip from Viktor Arvidsson that sent him crashing into the boards. There was no call on the play, and the Oilers ended the game 17 seconds later.

Finally, Nic Roy will have a hearing for his overtime cross-check to the face of Trent Frederic. Roy was assessed a five-minute major, and after a very brief review, the officials upheld the on-ice call. I don’t have a crystal ball, but all signs point to him sitting in the press box for at least one game. 

Let’s discuss. We’ll start with Nic Roy’s impending suspension.

Roy’s Mistake Will Cost Golden Knights

On Friday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Nic Roy would have a hearing for cross-checking Trent Frederic. 

It was a dangerous play, and Frederic was fortunate to escape with just a bloodied nose. 

“Nic [Roy] will have a hearing later, and, yeah, that’s it,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy on the matter. “It’s very atypical of Nic, but they called it, and it was the right call, and we’ll see what comes of it. I’ve got nothing else to say on that one.”

Cassidy is half right. 

Yes, Roy is typically a ‘clean’ player. He’s been in two fights at the NHL level, both following a bad hit to a teammate. The ten-minute misconduct penalty that accompanied his five-minute major was just the third of his eight-year career, and he’s never been suspended.

However, this year, Roy has made a habit of taking a few too many penalties. The severity of his retaliation was atypical; the penalty itself was not. During the regular season, the Golden Knights were the second-least penalized team with 463 PIMs. Roy was responsible for 43, third on the team behind Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden.

That trend has taken a concerning spike during the playoffs.

This postseason, the Golden Knights are the fourth-least penalized team with 53 PIMs– 21 of which belong to Nic Roy. Roy took two penalties in Game 2, both in the offensive zone. He’s taken a penalty in three of his last four games; two came in overtime. 

The Golden Knights killed off both of Roy’s overtime infractions, including the five-minute major. But they eventually lost Game 2, and his hands aren’t clean of that. 

Now, Roy sits in the principal’s office, awaiting his fate. The question isn’t if he’ll be suspended– it’s for how many games.

To Call, or Not to Call? 

On Thursday, the Golden Knights were on the wrong side of a brutal no-call. Viktor Arvidsson wedged his stick inbetween Brayden McNabb’s legs and sent him flying into the boards with a can-opener trip. McNabb writhed on the ice. When he got up, he clutched his right shoulder and immediately went down the tunnel.

Arvidsson was not given a penalty, and Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner 17 seconds later.

“Listen, Gord [Dwyer] is looking at it,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy postgame. “He blew it; he missed the call. I don’t know what else to say. It’s a can-opener trip, it’s a dangerous play, it’s all of those things. But it didn’t get called… It stings to lose that way.”

Cassidy did not have an update on McNabb Friday morning.

“I have nothing new on [McNabb],” said Cassidy on Friday. “We’ll see where he’s at [Saturday] in terms of game status.”

Of course, there’s a possibility that McNabb dodged a serious injury. NHL teams are always secretive about their players’ statuses, which only increases during the postseason. 

But that looked pretty bad. 

McNabb’s injury looked eerily similar to the one Tomáš Hertl suffered at the hands of Emil Lileberg. So, too, was the on-ice result: the Golden Knights lost one of their best players but didn’t get a call.

Hertl missed nine games. All the Golden Knights can do is pray that McNabb won’t follow the same timeline.

Now, for the good news– on Friday, head coach Bruce Cassidy provided a positive injury update on Pavel Dorofeyev, who missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury.

“[Dorofeyev] is going to travel; he skated this morning, and he’s doing much better,” said Cassidy on Friday. “He’s a chance for [Saturday] with the news we got today. So, that’s encouraging.”

A Steep Hill to Climb

The Golden Knights deserved to lose Game 1. In Game 2, they probably deserved a better fate. Nevertheless, the Golden Knights are headed to Edmonton down 2-0 in the series.

There are two ways to view the Golden Knights’ newest challenge. On one hand, winning a series after falling behind 2-0 isn’t impossible. Difficult, yes, but not impossible.

In 2021, the Golden Knights lost the first two games of a second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. The makeup of that series wasn’t dissimilar to where they are now– they played poorly in Game 1, then lost a heartbreaker in overtime. They responded by rattling off four straight wins to stun the Avalanche and take the series in dramatic fashion.

Last year, the Golden Knights collapsed following a 2-0 series lead against the Dallas Stars. They went on to lose the series in seven games.

Of course, those stats are meaningless. They’re interesting, but that’s all they are. I only mention them to prove that a 2-0 deficit isn’t a death blow.

One major detail separates the 2021 comeback from this series: in 2021, the Golden Knights didn’t have home-ice advantage. After falling behind 2-0, they returned home to a friendly crowd in T-Mobile Arena.

This time, they’ll have to steal two games up north in Oil Country. And they’ll likely have to do that without the services of Nic Roy and Brayden McNabb. 

The lone silver lining from Game 2 is that the Golden Knights did play well. They dictated play for most of the night and killed off a five-minute major in overtime to remain perfect on the penalty kill this series. 

The Golden Knights must elevate their play even higher to keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive. Otherwise, they’ll be booking tee times next week.

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