Vegas Golden Knights Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

That five-game win streak remains elusive for the Vegas Golden Knights who dropped a 4-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

After winning four consecutive games for the second time this year, the Vegas Golden Knights were looking to maintain their perfect record on this current seven-game homestand.

However, the Knights were going up against a Penguins team who, despite racking up over 170 man-games lost this season, have been rolling and were tied for second in the Metro Division heading into this contest.

And Pittsburgh, obviously boosted by the fact that Sidney Crosby had made the trip after missing 25 games with a core muscle injury, scored three unanswered goals during the opening two periods.

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But, just as they did against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, the Golden Knights fought back and made it a one-goal game heading into the third period thanks to goals from Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny.

However, unlike Saturday, the Knights couldn’t finish the job and Brandon Tanev‘s ninth goal of the year effectively iced the game for the Penguins, with Reilly Smith‘s chipped effort proving too little too late.

There was some good, a little bit of bad and a sprinkling of ugly from the Vegas Golden Knights’ 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, so let’s dive into our breakdown with a twist…

The Good

Unlucky Knights – It wasn’t actually a bad outing from the Vegas Golden Knights, who outshot the Pittsburgh Penguins 34-16 and gave it their best shot.

However, you can’t keep on spotting very good teams three-goal leads because you will be punished more times than not.

After all, as impressive as the gutsy comeback against the St. Louis Blues was on Saturday, it was more of an exception than the rule.

But, you can’t win them all during an 82-game regular season schedule and the Knights won’t lose too many during the second-half of the year if they play like they did against a determined Pens team.

Max Pacioretty – Get him to the All-Star Game quick!

How Max Pacioretty isn’t on the plane to St. Louis already is beyond me, given that the forward is on pace for a career year.

With a goal against the Penguins, Pacioretty now has 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points, which leads the Golden Knights.

He was all over the ice on Tuesday, recording nine shots on goal and dishing out three hits in 24:20 minutes of total ice time.

Pacioretty even got into it with Kris Letang as he attempted to stick up for his teammates, illustrating the veteran’s leadership abilities in the process.

So, people, do the right thing and go and vote for Max Pacioretty to go to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis via the “Last Men-In” ballot, which you can access here.

Shea Theodore – There is no doubt that Theodore is rapidly morphing into the Vegas Golden Knights’ best defenseman.

He’s playing at the peak of his powers right now and is on pace for a career-year with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) through 46 games.

And Theodore recorded the primary helper on Paul Stastny’s goal against the Penguins, while recording a +1 rating in 26:01 minutes of total ice time.

He was absolutely dominant at times and he’s becoming the puck-moving defenseman this team needs him to be.

Nic Hague – This was arguably the rookie’s best game of his young career in the NHL. Logging 16:07 minutes of total ice time, including 1:34 on the power play, Hague was dominant offensively against Pittsburgh.

His strong outing was rewarded with some time on the man advantage and he tallied another assist, taking him to 10 points on the year.

This was a mature display by Hague and he is getting better and better with each passing game, which is encouraging news for the Vegas Golden Knights moving forward.

The Bad

Nate Schmidt – Sticking with the theme of defensemen, this was a rough outing for Schmidt who was exposed by the Pittsburgh Penguins time and time again.

He did record a secondary helper on Reilly Smith’s goal in the third period, but that was the only highlight for Schmidt.

The defenseman finished the night with a -1 rating and it could and perhaps should have been worse.

Schmidt’s poor pass led to Pittsburgh getting on the board in the first period, and it was just a nightmare night for the blueliner who has had a few of them recently.

The Ugly

Defensive turnovers – We’ve touched on this already but the Vegas Golden Knights ultimately cost themselves the win.

Because, as good as they were, they coughed up far too many turnovers and odd-man rushes, particularly early on when they spotted the Penguins a three-goal lead.

Just look at Pittsburgh’s first goal in particular. Nate Schmidt’s awful pass was picked off, leaving the defense and Marc-Andre Fleury exposed as Evgeni Malkin got on the board.

Fleury allowed four goals on just 16 shots but that is more of an indictment of his defense than it was of him, who was facing his former team.

Fleury was left to hang out to dry by his defense and they gave their forwards too big a hill to climb against a Penguins team hanging on to their contender status despite dealing with a plethora of injuries this year.

Looking Ahead

There is still two games left on this long seven-game homestand for the Vegas Golden Knights, who will have a day off on Wednesday before hosting the LA Kings on Thursday.

They will then prepare for a monster eight-game road trip by concluding the homestand against the vastly-improved Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.