After a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday, Kaedan Korczak voiced his frustration.
“We’re just finding ways to lose games right now,” the defenseman said postgame.
That trend continued on Sunday. The Vegas Golden Knights (17-11-12) played the second of a three-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks (17-18-7). They squandered two strong periods, blew a third-period lead, and fell 3-2 in overtime.
At first, the Golden Knights seemed desperate to avoid another self-inflicted loss. They started the game well, generating four high-danger chances in the first period while only allowing one. The Golden Knights outshot the Blackhawks 8-4, and Chicago didn’t get their first shot on goal for nearly six minutes.
The Golden Knights broke the ice at 10:40 in the first period. Alexander Holtz forced a turnover at center ice and entered the zone. Brett Howden found Brandon Saad in front of the net, and the former Blackhawk scored on the second effort.
The Blackhawks responded at 12:38 in the first. Ben Hutton gave Tyler Bertuzzi too much time and space, and the winger beat Akira Schmid short-side.
In the second period, the Golden Knights took control of the game. They came swinging out of the gate and pulled ahead just 43 seconds into the third period.
From his own blue line, Mark Stone chipped Noah Hanifin’s stretch-pass ahead. Jack Eichel beat Jason Dickinson to the loose puck and drifted down to the goal line. Louis Crevier broke up Eichel’s pass for Ivan Barbashev, but the puck took a fortuitous bounce. It ended up on the stick of Mark Stone, and the captain beat Arvid Söderblom to extend his goal streak to four games.
Other than allowing a flurry of chances at the end of the period, the Golden Knights dominated the second. They generated seven high-danger chances to Chicago’s three and moved the puck well on their only power play.
In the third period, the Golden Knights took their foot off the gas completely. Chicago generated six high-danger scoring chances and eventually converted.
The Blackhawks found the equalizer at 11:36 in the third. Andre Burakovsky snuck a cross-ice pass through to Ryan Greene in the left circle. Zach Whitecloud broke up Greene’s centering pass, but on the second attempt, Greene found Tyler Bertuzzi back-door.
Bertuzzi’s goal seemed to wake the Golden Knights, but it wasn’t enough. They finally recorded their first shot of the period over 13 minutes into the third; after that, they only managed one more.
In overtime, Jack Eichel lost the opening face-off, and the Golden Knights never possessed the puck. Ilya Mikheyev blew past Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev as he circled the zone, and he found Tyler Bertuzzi back-door to complete the hat trick.
The Golden Knights have lost five in a row and have won just one of their past nine games.
