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

As road trips go this latest one was a house of horrors for the Vegas Golden Knights who finished the four-game swing with a shocking loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.

Although they began the road trip with a 2-1 win in Columbus against the Blue Jackets, the Vegas Golden Knights dropped three straight and are now 9-7-3 on the year ahead of matching up against the Chicago Blackhawks at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday night.

Of all the defeats on the road trip, including against Stanley Cup contenders the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals, the loss to the Red Wings on Sunday was the toughest and most frustrating to take.

Not only had Detroit dropped 12 of 13 games prior to beating the Boston Bruins on Friday, but the Golden Knights blew yet another lead in the third period in what is rapidly becoming an alarming trend.

Jonathan Marchessault‘s fourth goal of the year got the Knights on the board in the first period, but a power play goal from Andreas Athanasiou made it a tied game heading into the middle frame.

Max Pacioretty has been red hot for Vegas as of late and he tallied his fourth goal in five games following a sublime cross-ice pass from Nicolas Roy.

However, one of the Golden Knights’ biggest bugaboos this year reared its ugly head yet again in the third period as the Red Wings tallied two goals to take the two points, including the game-winner with seconds remaining.

And, on that note, let’s go through The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from last night’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings…

The Good

Max Pacioretty – It is fair to say that, not only will this be the only item filed under “The Good” section, but that Max Pacioretty has been the only real bright note of late for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The most consistent offensive threat on this four-game road trip, Pacioretty continued his golden touch in-front of the net against the Detroit Red Wings after tallying his fourth goal in his last five games.

It was a typical Pacioretty snipe from what was a sublime cross-ice dish from fourth-line grinder Nicolas Roy, and the veteran forward is clicking at nearly a point per game pace right now.

Pacioretty has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points through 19 games, and he’s carrying the second line at the moment with Paul Stastny without a point in the last six games while Mark Stone has now gone four consecutive games without a point.

The Bad

Brayden McNabb – The defenseman was a +1 on the night but he made an absolute boneheaded play at 19:29 in the third.

With the puck in the Detroit zone, Vegas lost possession and Robby Fabbri – who has been a man reborn since his trade from the St. Louis Blues – chipped the puck over to Anthony Mantha who breezed past McNabb before charging hard to the net and wristing home the game-winner.

It was a poor, poor play from McNabb and it was a severe error that not only cost the Knights the game, but also summed up their defensive struggles this year.

Top Six Struggles – As mentioned above, the Knights have lost their offensive prowess as of late with only Max Pacioretty contributing.

Paul Stastny has gone six straight games without posting a single point, while Mark Stone hasn’t put up a single goal or assist in the last four games.

Jonathan Marchessault potted a goal and Reilly Smith tallied an assist against the Red Wings, but William Karlsson is without a point in the last three games and the top two lines have combined for just seven points in the last three games, with Pacioretty claiming three of them.

Not nearly good enough.

The Blueline – Not only has the defense played sloppy hockey for large chunks of this season, they also aren’t chipping in with enough offense either.

Shea Theodore had an assist against Detroit but that was only his second point in his last 13 games, while Nate Schmidt has just two points (one goal, one assist) on the year.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this blueline lacks an absolute horse and it is really starting to show now.

The defense needs a complete overhaul and that should be the main priority for the front office during the off-season.

The Ugly

Third Period Collapses – A real bugaboo of the Vegas Golden Knights this year has been their complete inability to play a full 60-minute game, and that was evident again on Sunday at Detroit.

Taking a lead into the third period thanks to Max Pacioretty’s snipe in the second, the Golden Knights again blew it and imploded with Detroit grabbing the game winner with seconds remaining.

In total, the Golden Knights have now lost four leads in the third period in the six games they have played since Halloween.

It is an alarming trend that is now more than a minor concern and, if the Knights don’t learn how to close out a game, then this year will be another disappointing one.

Third Line Ineptitude – How bad has the third line been this season? Awful, horrible, disgusting are all words that can probably sum up their lack of production.

Cody Glass‘ sheer talents are wasted on that line and Alex Tuch‘s injury ravaged season hasn’t helped, either.

Brandon Pirri just isn’t consistent enough to be a solid to good productive performer in the NHL, while Tomas Nosek isn’t the answer either.

And then there is Cody Eakin who has been plugged in on the third line for his defensive prowess, but he isn’t even getting the job done in that department either.

The third line has been a complete disaster thus far and, if I was behind the bench, I would drop Paul Stastny down to the third line, promote Cody Glass back up to the second line and plug Eakin in as the fourth line center.

We will be doing a story shortly on what to do with Eakin but, overall, the third line really hasn’t helped the Knights this season and it has been one of the driving forces behind their recent struggles.

Looking Ahead

The Vegas Golden Knights return home on Wednesday when they host the Chicago Blackhawks at T-Mobile Arena – a team they beat in a shootout in October.

The Knights will then head to LA to face the Kings on Saturday before starting a four-game homestand on Sunday.