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Vegas Golden Knights crumble in ugly, toothless loss to Wild

ByAndrew Steele-Davis|
SAINT PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 11: Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild scores a goal against Nate Schmidt #88 and Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 11: Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild scores a goal against Nate Schmidt #88 and Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
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SAINT PAUL, MN – FEBRUARY 11: Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild battles with Tomas Nosek #92 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – FEBRUARY 11: Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild battles with Tomas Nosek #92 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

Notes & Stats

This was the Vegas Golden Knights Lineup to start the game:

Marchessault-Stastny-Smith
Pacioretty-Stephenson-Stone
Eakin-Karlsson-Tuch
Carrier-Nosek-Reaves

McNabb-Schmidt
Holden-Theodore
Merrill-Whitecloud

Fleury

Here were some key stats from the game:

  • SOG – VGK: 26 – MIN: 25
  • FO% – VGK: 56% – MIN: 44%
  • PP – VGK: 0/4 – MIN: 3/5
  • PIM – VGK: 12 – MIN: 10
  • HITS – VGK: 13 – MIN: 10
  • BLKS – VGK: 10 – MIN: 17
  • GVA – VGK: 1 – MIN: 6

Here is the Official Scoring Summary from the game:

  • Joel Eriksson EK (7) – PPG – Greenway (15), Dumba (15) – 5:30 / 1st
  • Jared Spurgeon (7) – PPG – Fiala (23), Suter (32) – 12:44 / 1st
  • Kevin Fiala (14) – Parise (15), Brodin (21) – 9:11 / 2nd
  • Zach Parise (21) – PPG – Staal (24), Fiala (24) – 15:47 / 2nd
SAINT PAUL, MN – FEBRUARY 11: Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild makes a save against Alex Tuch #89 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – FEBRUARY 11: Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild makes a save against Alex Tuch #89 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

Let’s go over some notes from the game:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights dropped to 28-22-8 on the year following this loss, while they are 14-12-4 on the road.
  • This was a bad, bad loss for the Golden Knights for a multitude of different reasons, including the fact that they lost to a Minnesota Wild team that may well have been deflated after seeing forward Jason Zucker traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
  • Not only was Zucker drafted and then nurtured by the Wild, but his trade probably means that a long overdue rebuild is coming in Minnesota.
  • However, if the players in that Wild locker room felt deflated they certainly didn’t show it as they completely outplayed, outfought and out-willed the Golden Knights.
  • It was just an ugly effort from Vegas who showed a real lack of hustle and fight throughout this contest.
  • And, that brings us back to a similar place, the Golden Knights continue to take one step forward before quickly taking two back.
  • While they may well stamp their playoff ticket given how bad that Pacific Division is, this team will not advance very far in the postseason if they don’t establish an identity and work things out soon.
  • And the most concerning aspect of this loss was the goals the Golden Knights allowed. Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed four goals on 20 shots before being pulled for Malcolm Subban, was left to hang out to dry by his teammates on too many occasions.
  • The Wild just crashed hard to the net and battled for the puck, and they were rewarded while the Knights waited for things to happen and they were punished. It was that simple.
  • The one major positive for Vegas was the performance of William Karlsson who, despite missing eight games with a broken finger, looked incredibly sharp upon his return and he made a number of sublime passes.
  • It puzzled me that Karlsson was put on the third line, however, and if it happens against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, then I will be concerned. I’m already questioning the line combinations as it is because, after all, both the stats and the eye test suggests that a top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith and a second line of Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Mark Stone works.
  • This was the third time this year that the Knights have been shutout, while they have now been outscored 13-5 by the Wild in four outings at Xcel Energy Center.
  • What do I always say about special teams? You live and die by them and, right now, the Golden Knights are being killed.
  • They went 0/4 on the power play but they allowed three power play goals on five attempts, which just isn’t going to get the job done.
  • The Golden Knights are currently ranked 22nd in the NHL on the PK (78.0), and they have now allowed six power play goals in the past three games.
  • Nate Schmidt led all Vegas Golden Knights skaters in total ice time with 24:09 minutes, including 4:42 minutes of shorthanded time.
  • The Official Three Stars of the Game were: 1. Kevin Fiala 2. Alex Stalock 3. Zach Parise

Looking Ahead

It isn’t going to get any easier for the Vegas Golden Knights.

They have the ninth toughest remaining schedule in the NHL, and they also face a hellish slate of games this month.

That continues on Thursday against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena, before having to navigate a run of games against the New York Islanders, the Washington Capitals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.

Yikes.

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