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Vegas Golden Knights: 3 takeaways from blowout loss to Rangers

By Dave Stevenson

Max Pacioretty #67 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Max Pacioretty #67 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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The Vegas Golden Knights started their two-game homestand stand off on the wrong foot with a 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers.

The Vegas Golden Knights came home on Sunday to start a two-game home stand following an impressive three-game road trip to the East Coast. They went 2-0-1 on that road trip, with one of those wins coming against the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, the Golden Knights weren’t able to keep their momentum going, as they fell 5-0 to the Rangers.

What went wrong for the Knights on Sunday? They were able to beat the Rangers 4-1 at Madison Square Garden merely six days earlier. So why did they lose? Let’s take a look at some takeaways from the blowout loss.

Slow Start

Things were going well for the Golden Knights to start the game. For the first 11 minutes, they were the better team. The Knights outshot the Rangers 9-2 and were generating a ton of pressure. And then, it happened.

Artemi Panarin scored on a beautiful snipe. But the game wasn’t out of hand yet. However, it got out of hand just 14 seconds later when Chris Kreider scored to make it 2-0. Alexandar Georgiev deserves a ton of credit for turning away each of the 38 shots on goal he faced. 17 of those shots came in the first period. However, the game was lost in the first period thanks to two defensive zone blunders.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 08: Jacob Trouba #8 of the New York Rangers scores a goal during the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on December 08, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 08: Jacob Trouba #8 of the New York Rangers scores a goal during the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on December 08, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Not So Special Teams

Special teams wound up playing a huge role in the game. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, they were burned on both ends of special teams. Their usually reliable power play got four opportunities against a Rangers penalty kill that ranks among the worst in the NHL. The Golden Knights were not able to convert on any of them and only got five shots on goal on those four power plays. That’s simply not good enough.

On the other end of special teams, the Golden Knights were shorthanded five times. Ryan Reaves certainly didn’t do his team any favors, as he got a double minor for a completely unnecessary high sticking call. The Rangers, courtesy of Jacob Trouba, scored on the ensuing four-minute power play. Mika Zibanejad scored one in the third period as well after Paul Stastny got busted for holding Kaapo Kakko.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 08: Malcolm Subban #30 of the Vegas Golden Knights watches the puck after blocking a New York Rangers’ shot in the first period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on December 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Rangers defeated the Golden Knights 5-0. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 08: Malcolm Subban #30 of the Vegas Golden Knights watches the puck after blocking a New York Rangers’ shot in the first period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on December 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Rangers defeated the Golden Knights 5-0. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Goaltending

Ultimately, goaltending was the biggest difference in the game. This was a battle of backups – Malcolm Subban versus Alexandar Georgiev. The latter was the one who stole the show with 38 saves.

Next. Cody Glass will be a big loss. dark

Several of those 38 saves were five-alarm highlight-reel saves. Meanwhile, Subban struggled, which is nothing new. He stopped just 15 of the 20 shots he saw.

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