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Vegas Golden Knights: Pros and Cons from loss to the Bruins

By Andrew Steele-Davis

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 08: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins save a shot by Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at T-Mobile Arena on October 08, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 08: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins save a shot by Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at T-Mobile Arena on October 08, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 08: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins save a shot by Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at T-Mobile Arena on October 08, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 08: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins save a shot by Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at T-Mobile Arena on October 08, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Game 3 of the 2019-20 NHL regular season was always going to be a measuring stick for the Vegas Golden Knights who went up against last year’s Stanley Cup finalists in the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

And it proved to be a wake-up call for the Vegas Golden Knights who, although not outmatched or outclassed by any means, were punished by the Bruins’ explosive top line who woke from their slumber at the wrong time.

Costly turnovers coupled with a worrying lack of production from their bottom six forward unit transpired to really hurt the Golden Knights, who are now 2-1-0 to start the year and there are more tough tests to come in the month of October.

What is most frustrating about last night’s defeat was the fact that the Knights actually held a 2-0 lead midway through the first period after Mark Stone scored on the power play, before Reilly Smith registered his third goal of the year with Vegas’ top line really beginning to click.

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However, that spurred Boston’s own trio of big hitters into action as arguably the best line in all of hockey right now clicked into place following a quiet first two games of the season, where only Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand recorded a point each.

But that all changed at 11:21 in the first period as David Pastrnak was the lucky recipient of a filthy dish from Marchand which led to “Pasta’s” first goal and point of the year, and he returned the favor not long after when feeding Marchand for a power play goal.

Boston, buoyed by the dominant play of their, took control of the contest and another Pastrnak assist on another Marchand tuck had Vegas against the ropes, before Torey Krug sniped a vicious slapshot beyond Marc-Andre Fleury to send the Bruins on their way.

In truth, it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for a flurry of sublime stops by Fleury early in the third period who stood on his head to deny the likes of Marchand, Jake DeBrusk and David Backes, and that gave the Knights a solid platform on which to pull a goal back and give themselves a slither of hope after Max Pacioretty snapped a lethal wrister beyond Tuukka Rask from the circle.

But, it proved to be too little too late as the Boston Bruins improved to 3-0-0 to start a season for the first time since 2001-02, while the Vegas Golden Knights were left to experience the bitter taste of defeat for the first time this year.

There were positives to take from the game for the Knights, however, as well as negatives and we’ve combed through both the pros and the cons…

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