3 takeaways from Golden Knights’ Game 5 loss to Canucks

The Golden Knights face a quandary after their Game 5 loss to the Vancouver Canucks that they also had in the first round of the NHL playoffs: How do you regroup after a loss when you didn’t play poorly?

The Knights were largely in control Tuesday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. They dominated at times. Yet they lost 2-1 because Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko made 42 saves in his first career postseason start.

The game was eerily reminiscent of Game 4 of the Knights’ first-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks. Goaltender Corey Crawford made 48 saves to help his team stave off elimination.

The Knights bounced back in the following game to eliminate the Blackhawks in five games.

“You can’t overreact,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “There’s not many conference semifinal series like this that end in five games. It just doesn’t happen. You’ve got two good teams going at it, and we’ve got a chance to win this in six. We’ll come back and regroup and get ready for that.”

DeBoer can’t pretend he wants the Knights to change too many things for Game 6 on Thursday. They gave up 15 scoring chances, their third-fewest total of the playoffs. They previously gave up 14 twice. They allowed only four high-danger scoring chances, a postseason best.

Meanwhile, the Knights applied constant pressure in the offensive zone. Their 79 shot attempts were their third-most since the restart. Their 38 scoring chances were their fourth-most.

They only lost because Vancouver found a second goal first. Center Elias Pettersson deflected right wing Brock Boeser’s shot past goaltender Robin Lehner 3:19 into the third period, and that’s all it took on a night Demko was dialed in.

“There’s some mistakes that ended up in the back of our net,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We’ll just have to refocus and get ready for the next one.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Demko’s joyous night

Demko’s performance was brilliant and unexpected. The backup goaltender had never played like that in the NHL.

The 24-year-old’s 42 saves were the third-most of his career. He allowed four and five goals in the two starts in which he made more stops. Only seven rookie goaltenders have made more saves when their team is facing elimination.

“He’s an unbelievable goalie and really athletic, and he’s a gamer,” Boeser said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that he came in and played so well for us.”

Demko, who has a career .906 save percentage and 3.02 goals-against average, isn’t the only goaltender to unexpectedly shine in the postseason. The Colorado Avalanche avoided elimination Monday after a 31-save performance from third-string goalie Michael Hutchinson.

“When you’re going in these games, you try not to think too much and just go out and play,” Demko said. “I put in the work leading up to this point, and I just (had) to rely on that.”

2. Penalty kill stays strong

Lost in the defeat was that the Knights’ penalty kill had another successful game.

The PK, one of the team’s clear weak points entering the restart, has been strong all postseason. The Knights are 16 of 19 against the Canucks, who had the NHL’s fourth-best power play in the regular season.

The Knights are 35 of 41 (85.37 percent) in the playoffs. That’s a far cry from their regular-season mark of 76.6 percent, which ranked 27th.

3. Miller provides helping hand

J.T. Miller, the Canucks’ leading scorer in the regular season, doesn’t have a goal in the series. But he has plenty of assists.

Miller had a hand in both goals Tuesday and has helped the team generate most of its offense against the Knights. He has assisted on six straight goals dating to Game 2.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.