Vegas Golden Knights: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly from Game 1 Loss

It was a tough one for the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1.

Their offense let them down again as the Vegas Golden Knights took the first blow of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars.

Marc-Andre Fleury got a rare postseason start and made 24 saves, but he was beat by defenseman John Klingberg who scored the only goal of the game.

Anton Khudobin made 25 saves although he had a fairly quiet night as the Golden Knights laid a goose egg for the second time in three games.

Let’s break down a tough Game 1 loss by going over The Good, The Bad & The Ugly…

The Good

Marc-Andre Fleury – It was nice to see the future Hall of Famer back between the pipes in Game 1.

Playing second fiddle to Robin Lehner for much of the postseason and having to deal with a boatload of controversy thanks to his agent, The Bubble hasn’t been kind to Fleury.

However, when he’s been called upon he has delivered and he was solid in Game 1, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced.

The goal was a tough one but Fleury made some huge stops to keep the Golden Knights alive in the game, while he’s just so damn good with the puck on his stick.

Only One Game – There wasn’t much to take from this game for the Golden Knights when it comes to positive points, apart from the fact that there is still a lot of hockey left in this series.

Let’s face it, this wasn’t a good effort from Vegas who quickly realized that they were coming up against a much better team in the Dallas Stars compared to the teams they have faced in the postseason so far.

No disrespect to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks, of course.

But the Stars are a big heavy team loaded with firepower too, and they are also incredibly good on the forecheck.

It was a wake up call for the Golden Knights but they have plenty of time to right their wrongs from Game 1.

The Bad

Lack of Energy – You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

It is a well-known saying and you can apply that to Ryan Reaves.

While others outside of Sin City may not appreciate what he brings to the table, the bottom-line grinder plays a key role for the Golden Knights and he’s the heartbeat of this team.

But, suspended for Game 1 for an illegal hit to the head of Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Motte in Game 7, Reaves’ absence was notable on Sunday.

He just brings a bucketload of energy to the ice for his team and that was missing in more ways than one in Game 1.

The good news is that Reaves will be back for Game 2 and that will be a huge boost for the Golden Knights.

The Power Play – Special teams have not been kind to the Golden Knights inside The Bubble.

More specifically, the power play has been awful.

Stinking awful.

Vegas went a combined 5/23 on the man advantage in seven games against the Vancouver Canucks, and they went 0/4 in Game 1 against the Stars.

You need your special teams to be on fire in order to be successful in the Playoffs where games are tighter.

That was proven in Game 1 when the Knights failed on four power play attempts and ended up losing by one goal.

Tough.

The Ugly

Stagnant Offense – What is going on with the Golden Knights right now?!

They just can’t score.

After being one of the most potent teams in the early stages of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, their offense has dried up.

And it is worrying.

They scored just one goal in Game 5 against the Canucks, they were blanked in Game 6 and they laid a goose egg in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

The difference here, however, is the fact that the Knights only generated 25 shots on goal and it was a pretty quiet night for Anton Khudobin.

The Golden Knights just aren’t generating enough high-danger chances right now, and that must change if they want to make this a long series, let alone if they want to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.