The Vegas Golden Knights snapped their shutout streak but at the end of the day, it wasn’t enough. Now the Golden Knights have lost three straight games, two of which are against divisional rivals competing for a playoff spot. Yesterday’s loss meant a lot more than you think.
The Vegas Golden Knights are in a tough division. That much can’t be argued. Furthermore, you can’t argue that the Golden Knights needed that win and they didn’t follow through.
Before we get into why It was such an important game, let’s talk about the game and recap some of the highlights.
Max Pacioretty, How about that? Prior to the game it was mentioned the fact that he hadn’t scored since his two-goal game against the Boston Bruins on December 14th. Seems appropriate that he scored two yesterday against the Kings. Now, although that didn’t lead to a win, it does lead to my second point.
Max Pacioretty might’ve scored two goals yesterday night, but the bigger story is that Jack Eichel got his first point as a Vegas Golden Knight.
Max Pacioretty scoring was great. When he scores, this team just plays better. He is a huge part to the Knights’ offense, and getting his scoring streak going again is going to be vital as this season continues. However, Jack Eichel hasn’t played in a game in over a year. Therefore, he hadn’t scored or even had a point in a long time.
Jack Eichel finally getting on the scoring sheet not only helps boost his confidence, but it gives this team some confidence around his game.
The first assist for Jack Eichel as a Golden Knight. pic.twitter.com/5Kxrzp62OS
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin17) February 19, 2022
The Vegas Golden Knights, although they did in fact lose the game, played very well when all things are considered. They were playing fast, taking good shots, passing well, playing good in the forecheck and backcheck, but they came up short.
They had good defensive positioning, but they weren’t winning puck battles which is a big factor in the loss. Finding ways to stop the Kings from making plays on the boards, stopping transitions, and making them have to set up plays, was key. They just let them play a puck possession game that resulted in them having their way with them.
As for goaltending, Laurent Brossoit’s second-start in a row wasn’t anything spectacular. Now, I don’t often expect a secondary goalie to shutdown a team, but Brossoit played so well against Colorado that I had higher expectations that how he performed.
Nonetheless, the Golden Knights lost a important game to an in-division rival. Although they walked away with a point, the Kings walked away with two. How much that’ll play into a factor into the Golden Knights standings, we’ll have to wait to find out. But as it stands, that was a must-win that the Knights lost.