Vegas Golden Knights: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly from Oilers Loss

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the ultimate modern day version of Batman and Robin, continue to rule the NHL and, unfortunately, it was the Vegas Golden Knights who were their latest victims on Saturday night.

Looking to bounce back after losing to bitter rivals the San Jose Sharks in Overtime on Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights instead came up against an unstoppable force in McDavid and the red hot Oilers.

Having won four of seven outings prior to Saturday night, the Oilers drew first blood thanks to McDavid’s 17th goal of the year.

Defenseman Ethan Bear squeezed a shot through the body of Marc-Andre Fleury to make it a 2-0 game, although Cody Eakin got Vegas on the board before the end of the first period with his third goal of the year.

However, Markus Granlund halted the Knights’ momentum in the second and put Edmonton back in the driving seat again.

Shea Theodore‘s sublime goal did give the Golden Knights a lifeline, but that was snatched away early in the third period as McDavid iced the game on the power play.

Let’s dive into ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’ from the Vegas Golden Knights’ 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, which dropped them to 11-10-4 on the year.

The Good

Cody Eakin – After going the whole of October and the first part of November without a goal, the forward has rediscovered his scoring touch in recent games, recording three goals in four games after getting on the board against the Oilers.

Shea Theodore’s Goal – There is an abundance of skill on this team and Shea Theodore wanted in on that particular action on Saturday night.

Picking up the puck in the neutral zone before skating in to the offensive zone, Theodore effortlessly deked his way past Adam Larson before firing a wrist shot past Mike Smith in the Oilers goal.

It was a sensational effort by the blueliner who now has two goals and nine assists for 11 points on the year.

Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl – Okay, okay, okay, so they are Edmonton Oilers players but, at the end of the day, I believe in credit where credit is due.

And, boy, do the Oilers’ deadly duo deserve a whole heap of praise. They have been sensational all season-long and they ripped the Golden Knights to shreds.

Connor McDavid contributed two goals to Edmonton’s cause while Draisaitl had three assists, and the pair have combined for just shy of 100 points this year. Incredible.

And let’s look at their individual stats just to hammer this point home. McDavid has 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points through 25 games, while Draisaitl has 47 points (16 goals, 31 assists) in 25 games.

The best due in the NHL right now? Hell yeah.

The Bad

Vegas’ Attack – It only generated 27 shots and was nonexistent for large chunks of the third period, which isn’t what you want when chasing a game.

Vegas Head Coach Gerard Gallant tried changing up the lines late in the game but to no avail, and they currently rank 16th in the NHL in Goals For Per Game with a percentage of 2.92, which is worrying given the firepower on this roster.

But, perhaps even more alarming is the fact that the Golden Knights lost the majority of their one-on-one battles and there was a real lack of hustle from this team on Saturday.

Special Teams – We all know Special Teams are key to winning hockey games and the Vegas Golden Knights lost this one in part because of their inability to execute on the penalty kill.

They gave the Oilers three attempts on the man advantage, allowing six shots and one goal, which you simply can’t do when you are facing off against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

And, the Knights couldn’t even get on the power play after the Oilers did a superb job of keeping their discipline and staying out of the box.

The Ugly

Nick Holden‘s Big Shift – There was a point in the third period when Nick Holden came on for a shift and, to be blunt, it started horribly.

Well, that was the good news. Because, it didn’t get any better and to make things worse, Holden was out on the ice for exactly 3:04 which is a long, long time.

He was gassed by the end of it and his outing didn’t improve as the Oilers kept the puck in Vegas’ zone for the large majority of that three minutes.

Talk about a brutal shift.

Looking Ahead

The Vegas Golden Knights finished the homestand with a record of 2-1-1 and will now hit the road for a two-game swing, starting in Dallas against the Stars on Monday and finishing in Nashville on Wednesday.