Vegas Golden Knights: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Preds loss

As is becoming habit for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019-20, a woeful second period proved costly as the Nashville Predators escaped T-Mobile Arena with a 5-2 win on Tuesday.

The Vegas Golden Knights have allowed nine goals in the second period through their first seven games of the year, and they allowed three in the middle frame against the Predators which, ultimately, cost them the game.

Kyle Turris‘ deflected goal from a Ryan Ellis shot got Nashville on the board early, although the Knights dominated the first period after outshooting their guests 18-10, and they had a slender lead to take into the first intermission thanks to Mark Stone and Reilly Smith both recording their fifth goals of the year.

However, it all imploded for Vegas in the second period and three unanswered goals from Colton Sissons, Calle Jarnkrok and Filip Forsberg turned the game on its head and swung the momentum firmly in the Preds’ favor.

And veteran center Nick Bonino iced the game early in the third period with the Golden Knights now 4-3-0 on the year through seven games.

Let’s break the game down by going through The Good, The Bad and The Ugly…

The Good

Cody Glass‘ first period assist – Patrick Mahomes, you can retire now. Cody Glass is enjoying a hell of a start to his rookie year in the NHL and he treated us to another glimpse at his elite playmaking ability in the first period.

Used on the first power play unit once again, Glass had the puck in the slot and without even looking dished a sublime backwards pass to Mark Stone who did the rest for his fifth goal of the year.

It was a breathtaking play from the rookie phenom and the Vegas Golden Knights could have something special on their hands with Cody Glass.

Mark Stone / Reilly Smith – Both players have enjoyed red hot starts to the year and they continued their recent purple patch against the Nashville Predators.

Stone has been lights out and he recorded his fifth goal of the year on the power play last night, making it five goals and five assists for 10 points in seven games, including four points on the power play.

And Smith has also been in lethal form to start the year, with the top line of Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith looking as deadly as they did during their breakout year in 2017-18.

Smith tallied his fifth goal of the year against the Preds with, shock, Marchessault and Karlsson grabbing the helpers, and Smith now has six points (five goals, one assist) on the year.

Special Teams – The Vegas Golden Knights are living the high life with both their power play and penalty kill at the moment.

Let’s start with the power play. Mark Stone recorded his fourth point on the man advantage this year when he connected with Cody Glass’ sublime no-look pass at 9:55 in the first period, making it four straight successful power plays for the Knights.

And, although it would fail to convert on its next three attempts – going 1-for-4 in total – the Golden Knights’ man PP is still getting the job done and it is ranked sixth in the NHL (29.2).

The penalty kill is also getting the job done. And it is getting it done well. Ranked 1st in the NHL prior to last night, the PK did allow one Nashville goal on the power play in the third period, dropping it to No. 3 in the NHL (92.6).

However, it killed four other attempts on the power play by the Predators and the Golden Knights will enjoy success this year if they keep getting this level of production from their special teams.

Fight Night – We haven’t seen too many tilts of late but we were treated to two in three periods on Tuesday night.

First, we got to witness a real clash of the titans showdown as Mark Stone dropped the gloves with Nashville Captain Roman Josi, before Max Pacioretty went to the dance with Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis in the third period.

It was encouraging to see two of Vegas’ locker room leaders drop the gloves in order to try and send a jolt of energy through their team.

The Bad

Marc-Andre Fleury – Now, let’s clarify this. Overall, Fleury was vintage Fleury, stopping 34 of 39 shots and pulling off some sublime and big saves.

However, there was one blot on the goalie’s copybook and it was a significant one after he gave the puck up to Filip Forsberg behind the net, and the forward had an empty goal in which to score in.

You can’t gift wrap goals to elite players such as Forsberg and it really took the wind out of Vegas’ sails at a crucial time in the game.

The Fourth Line – Granted, the power line of William Carrier, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves aren’t expected to drive offense. No, they are on the ice to shutdown the opposition’s top lines and disrupt play with a flurry of big hits.

They did that against Nashville with a combined 14 hits but they also need to chip in with secondary scoring, and they have failed to do that for much of the year so far.

And they were poor in that aspect against the Predators, being outshot 5-1, out-chanced 4-0 and out-scored 2-0.

That won’t get the job done and the fourth line are going to have to step up to the plate offensively with secondary scoring essential if you want to be a contender.

The Ugly

Second Periods – Man, there is something about the Vegas Golden Knights in the second period through seven games this year.

And it isn’t pretty. It is ugly, even.

The Knights have let in nine goals in the second period so far this year, which has cost them three games and could have cost them against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

It isn’t clear what is behind this slump in the middle period, but it appears to be a combination of mental and physical mistakes.

Whatever it is, the Golden Knights are going to have to find a cure and quick or it could turn into a serious and damaging bugaboo.

Looking Ahead

The Vegas Golden Knights are on home ice again on Thursday when they host the rebuilding Ottawa Senators at T-Mobile Arena, before setting off for a three-game road trip which will include matchups against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks.