Fansided

Vegas Golden Knights Complete Awful Eastern Coast Road Trip

By Richard Cardinale |
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 07: Goaltender Charlie Lindgren #39 of the Montreal Canadiens remains focused as William Carrier #28 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates in with the puck during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on November 7, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 07: Goaltender Charlie Lindgren #39 of the Montreal Canadiens remains focused as William Carrier #28 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates in with the puck during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on November 7, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

There’s no other way to put it; the Vegas Golden Knights were god awful out on the east coast.

When the Vegas Golden Knights left T-Mobile Arena following a 7-0 victory over the Avalanche, they were riding high. Injuries hit Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban but the NHL’s newest franchise never waivered. The team ended their homestand 6-1-0 and gave the Golden Knights fans a ton to cheer about for a little while.

The incredible play of Oscar Dansk stepping in for the injured goaltenders was vital to their success. And the red-hot play of James Neal, Reilly Smith, and William Karlsson gave the teams offense a big boost. The blue line led by Nate Schmidt and Luca Sbisa was rock solid throughout the stretch.

It seemed as if nothing could go wrong for this team. Vegas was setting records no one thought they could ever even sniff. But then it all came crashing down in Brooklyn when Dansk went down, and Maxime Lagace had to take over the crease.

Being fair, Lagace was not the reason why this road trip went down the toilet. He played pretty solid in net and gave the Golden Knights a chance to win every night. Unfortunately, his team couldn’t muster enough offense during much of this road trip.

The most impressive effort of the road trip actually came in a shootout loss in Toronto. With the Golden Knights trailing the Maple Leafs for most of the game, the team didn’t quit and kept attacking one of the Stanley Cup favorites. Deryk Engelland eventually earned the game-tying goal with an unbelievable shot over Anderson’s stick side.

The Golden Knights couldn’t get it done in the shootout, but the team showed me a lot in that game. Vegas showed me they have the potential to go up against anyone and give them a hard time. The team pushed hard and had the chance to win the game late in the third and overtime.

But what’s concerning me the most out of this team is the slow starts. Last night’s game against Toronto, they were trailing 3-1 after the first. And in tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, the team came out slow once again and didn’t do much of anything in that first period losing 2-0. We all know the saying, catch-up hockey is losing hockey.

Erik Haula pulled the Golden Knights within one very late into the third period against the Habs, but the comeback fell short on this night as the Knights fell 3-2. The team finished the eastern coast road trip 1-4-1. What a disaster right from the start of this trip. This team will need to do better before they go out on the western Canadian road trip starting next week.

Next: Vegas Golden Knights Power Play Shines VS Senators.

First, however, the Golden Knights will come home before they go up north as they take on the Winnipeg Jets Friday night at T-Mobile Arena. This is a very crucial matchup against one of the Western Conferences most improved teams. Puck drop is at 7:30 PM PT and you can catch all the action on AT&T Sportsnet.

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