Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland sits out loss to Avalanche

Las Vegas Review-Journal

7 years ago

Vegas Golden Knights’ Deryk Engelland (5) plays against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 22, 2018, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

United States gold medal winning olympic hockey player Nicole Hensley of Littleton, Colo., waves to the crowd as she is introduced before taking part in a ceremonial puck drop before the Colorado Avalanche played the Vegas Golden Knights in an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Vegas Golden Knights left wing James Neal, left, unleashes a shot as Colorado Avalanche left wing Blake Comeau, front right, and left wing Matt Nieto defend in the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury leans on the top of the net during a time out against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Denver. Colorado won 2-1 in a shootout. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Vegas Golden Knights left wing Erik Haula, left, flips the puck past Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Denver. Colorado won 2-1 in a shootout. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, front, pursues the puck with Vegas Golden Knights left wing Erik Haula in the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER — Deryk Engelland missed his second game of the season Saturday.

Whether the Golden Knights defenseman is injured or was simply being rested before the playoffs, only the team knows.

“No update right now,” coach Gerard Gallant said following the Knights’ 2-1 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Engelland played Thursday at San Jose, but did not practice with the team Friday in Colorado.

He was replaced by Brad Hunt, who skated with Jon Merrill. Colin Miller moved into Engelland’s normal spot on the blue line alongside Shea Theodore.

Hunt was credited with seven shots on goal, three hits and two blocked shots in 14:28 of ice time.

Gallant has been increasingly mum on injuries as the postseason approaches, and his silence on the matter Saturday — both before and after the game — seemed to indicate Engelland was hurt.

Not so fast, according to Gallant.

“There’s no update, so don’t go with that assumption to be honest with you,” he said.

Penalty parade

The Knights went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill against the Avalanche and have uncharacteristically struggled to stay out of the box the past two games.

Against San Jose and Colorado, the Knights took 10 penalties. They entered Saturday’s game third in the NHL in fewest penalty minutes per game at 6.9.

On a positive note, the Knights successfully killed 12 straight power plays dating back to March 16 before Colorado’s Carl Soderberg scored in the first period.

“It’s more than we usually get, but again, we’ve got to get away from those penalties,” Gallant said. “The guys don’t want to take penalties. There was a couple careless stick penalties there, and we’ve just got to make sure we don’t take them.”

Golden girl

Goaltender Nicole Hensley, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, dropped the ceremonial first puck.

Hensley is a native of Lakewood, Colorado.

Stick taps

Defensemen accounted for more than half of the Knights shots on goal (22 of 40). Theodore finished with a team-high eight shots on goal. … Knights forward Erik Haula celebrated his 27th birthday Friday. … Colorado improved to 16-3-1 in its past 20 home games and 26-10-2 overall at Pepsi Center.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.