7 Observations: Habs Outplay Golden Knights in Matinee Matchup

On Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights (10-6-8) played the second of a four-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens (13-7-3). They started strong, but the Canadiens scored first and never let up. Mark Stone broke Sam Montembault’s shutout, but the Golden Knights lost 4-1.

Despite the early start time, the Golden Knights had some jump right from puck drop. They held the Canadiens to just two shots on goal for the first 14 minutes of the game. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, the Canadiens’ third shot went in.

The Canadiens broke the ice at 14:30 in the first period. Pavel Dorofeyev took a careless offensive zone penalty; on the delayed penalty, Juraj Slafkovský threaded a cross-ice pass to Zach Bolduc for a back-door tap-in.

The Canadiens doubled their lead just 2:06 into the second period. Cole Caufield got the puck all alone below the goal line and wired a shot in above Akira Schmid’s shoulder.

The Golden Knights outshot the Canadiens 11-6 in the first period and controlled 67.98% of the expected goal share. In the second, they outshot the Canadiens 11-5. However, Sam Montembault kept his team in the game, and the Golden Knights couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities. 

The Canadiens had no such problem capitalizing on their opportunities, scoring again 3:36 into the third. Mitch Marner lost the puck in the offensive zone, and Alexandre Texier sprung Jake Evans on a breakaway. Evans didn’t miss.

As the game wore on, frustration began to set in, and the Golden Knights steadily lost steam. In the third period, they outshot the Canadiens 9-8, but controlled just 26.15% of the expected goal share. 

At 15:16 in the third, Mark Stone got his team on the board. Mitch Marner found Stone all alone in front of the net, and the captain went forehand-backhand to stuff the puck past Sam Montembeault.

Despite breaking Sam Montembault’s shutout and cutting Montreal’s lead to two, the Golden Knights couldn’t get themselves back in the game. They pulled Akira Schmid for the extra attacker with 3:09 remaining in the third, but didn’t generate any looks.

With just under two minutes remaining in regulation, Juraj Slafkovský hit the empty net, and that was that.

7 Golden Knights Observations

1. The Golden Knights allowed the first goal for the 15th time this season. After today’s regulation loss, they have a record of 4-5-6 when allowing the first goal.

2. This phenomenon isn’t lost on the Golden Knights, nor is it lost on Bruce Cassidy. 

“We need more urgency when it’s 1-0,” said Cassidy postgame. “Or 0-0, maybe, to get the first goal. That’s where our urgency level needs to be better.”

3. This team just can’t score. Sam Montembault was excellent tonight, saving 2.93 goals above expected. But this is becoming a common theme, and something’s gotta give.

4. It’s easy to blame the goaltender, but tonight’s loss wasn’t on Akira Schmid. Look at the goals he allowed. Montreal’s first was a back-door tap-in that Schmid had no chance of stopping, and their third was off a clean breakaway. Maybe you want him to save that sharp-angle second goal, but Cole Caufield is special. He makes goalies look silly. It’s just what he does.

5. It feels cheap to pile on Mitch Marner, because no one is playing particularly well right now. But in sleepy games where nothing’s going right, teams need their stars to lead them to victory. He didn’t answer the bell tonight, instead committing a costly turnover.

6. The Golden Knights need to find ways to win if they want to stay in a playoff spot. They’re on another four-game losing streak, their second of the season. And despite collecting loser points, they’ve won just five of their past 17 games.

7. Because yesterday was Thanksgiving, I’m going to end on a positive note. Mark Stone has a three-game goal streak and an eight-game point streak. And both of those streaks survived a 16-game injury absence!