3 takeaways from Golden Knights’ loss: ‘Good teams find a way to win’
Jack Eichel’s breakaway goal late in the second period appeared to be what was needed for the Golden Knights to mount a comeback Thursday.
The home fans in the announced crowd of 18,109 at T-Mobile Arena finally found their voice after being drowned out much of the night, and momentum appeared to be on the Golden Knights’ side entering the third period.
But the Knights were unable to overcome a one-goal deficit and went on to a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins.
“We’re trying to get some mojo but, I mean, at some point there’s no excuses for our group. Like, enough is enough,” winger Jonathan Marchessault said. “We can blame it as much as we want on every little thing, injuries or whatever, it doesn’t matter. Guys in the lineup, we all have to step up. Good teams find a way to win. We’re not doing that.”
The Knights were unable to build off their win over San Jose on Tuesday and lost for the sixth time in the past eight games to fall into the second wild card in the Western Conference behind Edmonton based on a tiebreaker.
They play the second of back-to-back games Friday at Anaheim.
Craig Smith, who entered the game with six goals in 47 games, finished with a hat trick. David Pastrnak scored twice in the third period to help Boston improve to 4-1 on its six-game trip.
With the Knights down 2-0, Eichel pounced on a mistake by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who sent an errant pass into the neutral zone during a line change.
That led to a breakaway for Eichel, and the native of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, lost the puck trying to make a move to his forehand. But it slid under the pads of Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman with 2:26 remaining in the second.
“Oh, I meant to do that,” Eichel said jokingly.
However, the Knights couldn’t capitalize in the third period, continuing a disturbing recent trend.
William Carrier hit the post early in the third for the Knights, who hardly threatened after that until Marchessault scored with less than four minutes remaining while the goalie was pulled for an extra attacker.
“Disappointing,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “Recently we have had opportunities to get points in the third period and haven’t gotten the job done.”
Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. Goals remain elusive
The Knights used the same lineup for the third straight game but couldn’t snap out of their scoring drought. Since the All-Star Game, they’re averaging 2.11 goals per game, which ranks 30th in the NHL.
The last goal from a defenseman came Feb. 8 against Edmonton by Alex Pietrangelo, and that group has combined for eight points in the past eight games after being a central part of the offense early in the season.
“We’ve got to get some scoring,” DeBoer said. “We were the benefit of some depth scoring early in the season that won us games, and tonight we were on the wrong end of that. Their depth scoring won them the game.”
2. McNabb departs
Defenseman Brayden McNabb left with about a minute to go in the second period and did not return.
McNabb was battling for the puck with Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and then Jake DeBrusk near the blue line when he appeared to sustain an upper-body injury.
DeBoer said McNabb was undergoing X-rays after the game, and he did not have an update on whether he would be available Friday.
3. Power play stalls
The Knights were let down by their power play again, including a prime opportunity early in the third period to tie the game.
After failing to score on both of their chances with the man advantage against the Bruins, the Knights are 2-for-33 since scoring twice against Montreal on Jan. 20.
Their last power-play goal was Feb. 18 against Los Angeles.
“We had a few chances, but it’s similar to our offensive zone,” Eichel said. “It seems like we’re one-and-done, and we’re not sustaining pressure when we get the opportunity. It’s like we’re just letting them off the hook a little bit too much.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.