Hannah Kirkell
After a statement win without five of their best offensive players on Wednesday, the Vegas Golden Knights should have received a boost from their return. Instead, they came out flat on Friday and fell behind by three in the second period. Ultimately, they fell 3-2 to the Washington Capitals despite a comeback bid.
The cracks started to show early in the first period when the Capitals accounted for six of the first seven shots on goal. From there, things didn’t improve for the Golden Knights.
Akira Schmid played well, making big saves when called upon, and finished the night with a .25 GSAx. However, he couldn’t make up for the Golden Knights’ lapses in the defensive and neutral zone.
The Capitals broke the ice and finally solved Schmid 49 seconds into the second period. The Golden Knights allowed them clean access through the neutral zone and gave Rasmus Sandin a clean entry. Sandin found Aliaksei Protas in the slot; Protas set up Pierre-Luc Dubois, who picked his corner.
The Capitals struck again just 2:34 later. Pressured by Tom Wilson, Rasmus Andersson turned the puck over to Aliaksei Protas behind the net. Protas backhanded a pass into the slot, and Pierre-Luc Dubois slammed home his second of the night.
The Capitals extended their lead at 14:52 in the second. They came in waves off the cycle, and Rasmus Sandin set up Jakob Chychrun for a one-timer from the right circle.
In the third period, the Golden Knights finally came alive. They outshot the Capitals 13-8 and controlled 67.1% of the expected goal share.
Their work paid off, and the Golden Knights got on the board just 2:27 into the third period. Kaedan Korczak sent a stretch-pass to Braedan Bowman, and the puck took a hop over his stick into the offensive zone. Bowman raced after it, moved in all alone, and beat Logan Thompson blocker-side.
The Golden Knights made it a one-goal game on the power play at 9:15 in the third. Pavel Dorofeyev centered for Tomáš Hertl, and Hertl tipped it home for his 600th career point.
Down by one, the Golden Knights pressed; however, a late penalty by Mark Stone halted their momentum. They killed it off and pulled Akira Schmid for the extra attacker, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
“We weren’t ready to play,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy following the 3-2 loss. “The Coach has to prepare the team… But in this one, the players weren’t ready to play. They’re professionals; they have to be ready to go. We weren’t nearly good enough.
“We got through the first period, so you’d think it would be better in the second,” Cassidy continued. “But it got worse that whole period. We’re always going to respond, and we did again tonight… When we play 20 minutes, we almost win the hockey game; imagine when we play 40 or 45.”
Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner, Shea Theodore, and Noah Hanifin returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles. Eichel, Stone, and Marner each recorded just one shot on goal.
“These are high-end players that have to be ready to play,” lamented Cassidy. “Toews and Makar played back-to-back; so did McDavid, Matthews, and Jack Hughes… We gave our guys days off— scripted that on purpose— and got through it in LA and played well.
“They had plenty of rest, to be perfectly honest,” Cassidy finished. “They’re going to be better on Sunday. Those are our best players. They’re our leaders, and we expect them to play like that.”
