3 takeaways: Knights hold off Senators as coach hits milestone
Bruce Cassidy won his previous 399 games mostly how he did Thursday.
Solid defense, good goaltending and locking things down when the time called for it.
The Golden Knights needed some version of that to get the sour taste of being shut out in Toronto 24 hours prior out of their mouths.
They did so on a milestone night for their coach in his hometown.
Cassidy became the eighth active coach to win 400 games, and the Knights bounced back with a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
The 59-year-old, in his third season with the Knights, won his 108th game with the franchise that he won the Stanley Cup with in 2023. Cassidy, from Ottawa, Ontario, is 10 wins from tying Gerard Gallant for the most wins by a coach in franchise history.
“It feels great. You never know where your number is going to end up,” Cassidy said. “In this business, I’m just worried about No. 401 right now.”
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves for his first win since Oct. 26 to help the Knights (12-6-2) bounce back from a 3-0 loss to the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Center Jack Eichel and left wings Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev scored.
Eichel said Wednesday that it’s been frustrating that goals haven’t come as of late. He took it upon himself to open the scoring at 6:45 of the first for a 1-0 lead.
“We came out strong, much better than we have in previous games,” Howden said. “That was our mentality coming into tonight, being ready to go from the start.”
That was the lone goal amid a flurry of shots in the first period, with the Knights holding a 15-13 edge over the Senators (8-10-1). Despite the goal, Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark stood tall.
It was the first time in six games the Knights scored first. They built on that with Howden’s eighth goal of the season at 10:51 of the second period to make it 2-0.
“I thought we controlled the game in the first half,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy was disappointed with how the third period unfolded Wednesday, primarily because the Knights gave up an early goal in the period off a two-on-one on the power play.
The Knights weren’t shy about giving Ottawa chances in this one, either.
They committed two penalties — a holding penalty on Samsonov and a too-many-men infraction — that allowed the Senators to climb back in it.
Right wing Adam Gaudette, who scored twice in the Knights’ 6-4 win on Oct. 25 at T-Mobile Arena, cashed in on Samsonov’s penalty at 7:17 to make it 2-1.
But Dorofeyev responded two minutes later on a breakaway sprung by center William Karlsson to make it 3-1.
The Senators outshot the Knights 18-5 in the final frame, but Samsonov held firm for arguably his best performance of the season.
“They had a few plays where they could’ve put in one or two of them in,” Howden said. “Big saves for him.”
The Knights continue their season-long five-game road trip in Canada on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Pietrangelo day-to-day
The Knights announced before the game that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Pietrangelo is the third defenseman to be out due to injury. Nic Hague is still on injured reserve but skating in a noncontact role, and Ben Hutton is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Robert Hagg was recalled from the Silver Knights before the game. The 29-year-old played 8:59 in his 344th NHL game.
Pietrangelo has gotten off to a strong start with 14 points in 19 games.
2. Dominance over Ottawa
The Knights have the Senators’ number.
They improved to 6-0-1 all-time at Canadian Tire Centre and 12-1-1 overall against Ottawa. It’s only the fourth time, however, that the Knights were held to three goals or fewer.
Eichel scored his 14th goal in 23 games against the Senators and his 34th point. Most of his damage came while with the Buffalo Sabres, including a four-goal game on Nov. 16, 2019.
Eichel scored his fourth goal in six games with the Knights against Ottawa.
3. Needed response
The Knights felt they left too much meat on the bone Wednesday against Toronto. They felt they could’ve done a better job getting to the tough areas and making life tough on Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll.
Playing another game the next day after that disappointment and controlling play through the neutral zone was an encouraging sign.
Cassidy said things got hectic late, which is true, and it’s an area the Knights need to improve on. They held a talented offense to two goals on 40 shots.
Samsonov had a lot to do with that, as did the Knights blocking 23 shots.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.