3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Win streak, points streak snapped — PHOTOS
The stage was set for Jack Eichel to be the hero when he put the Golden Knights ahead of his former team with an early third-period goal Friday night.
Buffalo was having none of it.
The Sabres answered with three consecutive goals, including one by former Knight Alex Tuch, and ended the Knights’ winning streak at four games with a 5-2 victory at T-Mobile Arena, taking advantage of some loose puck management by the home team.
“We have a 2-1 lead after Jack’s goal, so you bear down and play the right way. Play winning hockey,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We didn’t. We played losing hockey after that, and what did we do? We lost.
“We don’t lose a lot, but we lost tonight because of much more our actions and then them doing what they do best when we messed up.”
It didn’t take long to wipe out the lead Eichel gave the Knights (20-6-5). Casey Mittelstadt equalized just 1:39 later to settle down a crowd that had been worked into a frenzy by Eichel’s goal.
“We got scored on pretty quickly after, then we started to turn over the puck a bit and play into their game,” Knights captain Mark Stone said. “When we were at our best there, we were forcing them to play defense, and they’re not a great defensive team. But off the rush, that’s where they excel.”
They showed it.
First-round pick Zach Benson put Buffalo (13-15-3) ahead four minutes later, and Tuch scored in transition just 1:43 after that.
Mittelstadt, who also had an assist, added an empty-netter. Dylan Cozens, who opened the scoring in the second period, also had two assists.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Trading blows
Eichel drew two penalties in the second period, the first a tripping call that led to a game-tying power-play goal.
It was the second that had a bit of a twist, though.
Eichel delivered a hard check in the corner as he drove Buffalo defenseman Owen Power into the boards.
Peyton Krebs didn’t take too kindly to the hit and went after Eichel, some extracurricular activity that earned him a two-minute penalty for roughing.
The teams tussled a bit, though cooler heads prevailed and no additional penalties were assessed.
The twist? Krebs was a 2019 first-round pick of the Knights who played 13 games at the NHL level for the organization before being traded to Buffalo as part of the trade that landed Eichel with the Knights.
Tuch was the other player acquired by Buffalo in the deal.
2. Just another game?
Eichel insisted Friday morning that the matchups with the Sabres are just another game on the calendar despite his bitter history with the organization.
“You want to win every night you go on the ice,” Eichel said before the game. “You try to win every game the whole year. There’s obviously a different personal connection having played there, so it’s a past team and you want to win every game, this game just as much.”
Cassidy said Eichel was just downplaying the significance.
“It means more to him,” Cassidy said. “I would say it would be a rare instance when a player doesn’t want to put his best foot forward and his teammates wouldn’t want to push him forward when they play a team they left for whatever circumstances.”
3. Back at it
The Knights gave up four goals in their first two games of this homestand and were still able to take two points out of each game.
That didn’t happen Friday, as they weren’t able to outscore their mistakes. Now they will practice Saturday before a home game against the Senators on Sunday and an ensuing road trip.
“We were able to take four points out of this building and that’s not going to happen for long if you give up four goals every night,” Cassidy said. “So that’s the first thing we’re going to need to correct tomorrow and hopefully get it tilted the right way starting against Ottawa.”
Stone agreed that Saturday’s practice is a necessary and important one.
“We have to get right back at it, starting at practice tomorrow,” he said. “Then have our best game before we head out on the road trip.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
