Vegas Golden Knights Doomed By Terrible Start And Special Teams

Tuesday nights 8-1 loss to Edmonton was the Vegas Golden Knights “welcome to the NHL” moment.

Going into last nights game in Edmonton, the Vegas Golden Knights were on a high from their win against Winnipeg. The Vegas crowd was rocking once again, and the Knights beat a formidable offensive club handily.  The team is now looking to improve their road record when they travel to western Canada. But they did not get off to a hot start in last nights affair.

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Golden Knights by the final score of 8-2. It was just one of those games where everything went wrong from the word go. The first period was one of the worst starts to a game in franchise history going down 3-0 very early.

The very first Oilers goal was shorthanded, and Vegas simply cannot let that happen, especially when you’re on the road with a man advantage against a skilled group of players. And it’s beyond me how they let a defenseman jump up in the play and score shorthanded. The whole first period was infuriating as the team was just not ready to go.

Another unfortunate trend that went off the rails was the special teams. The Golden Knights went 0/4 on the man advantage while also giving up that early shorthanded goal. Vegas also failed to make a single penalty kill as the Oilers went three for three on the power play. I talked about how special teams were going to play a significant part on this road trip, and so far it has.

As if that wasn’t enough, the training staff was looking at Maxime Lagace for an extended period. Lagace ended up staying in the game, but after the seventh Oilers goal, fans got to see their first look at Dylan Ferguson. Ferguson gave up one goal on two shots in over nine minutes of play.

It’s unbelievable how many goaltenders the Vegas Golden Knights have used in this very young season. It’s possible that Ferguson might get the start against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. But Head Coach Gerard Gallant didn’t entirely rule out Malcolm Subban either.

The only goals came from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and James Neal at even strength. The single line that was halfway decent against the Oilers was the fourth line of Bellemare, Tomas Nosek, and William Carrier. The other three units couldn’t generate much of any quality scoring chances and struggled against Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot.

Next: Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Injuries A Major Concern.

All in all, there were no positives to take out of this game. The good news is the Vegas Golden Knights are back at it tomorrow in Vancouver to take on the Canucks. The Canucks trail the Knights by only a point in the standings, so it’s pretty safe to say that this divisional matchup is crucial for both teams.