February 8th could not come soon enough! The Vegas Golden Knights lost their third straight game 4-2 to the New York Rangers. Where the other two losses could be traced to bad breaks, this one could be traced to a bad period. Here are my three takeaways from a very “stepped on Lego and fell down stairs” start to the road trip.
🎥 Eichel: We did a lot of good things through 40 minutes. To let it slip away is not a great feeling. pic.twitter.com/RmOvhDLZJs
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) February 3, 2025
A Collapse…in a New York Minute!
For the first 40 minutes, this was actually shaping up to be a really good night for the Golden Knights. They outshot the Rangers 29-16. The defense had kept any threats to Adin Hill well contained, aided by a little luck (see Zach Whitecloud’s block/near-own goal from a New York chance in the first).
Then came New York’s first power play, and the tying goal by Mika Zibanejad that followed. After that, everything turned into a pile of goo for Vegas. Defensively, they looked disjointed and out of balance, leading to another power play goal given up by Artemi Panarin. Then Hill tried to compensate for it which would lead to him getting burned by K’Andre Miller. As for the offense, for those last 14:56, Vegas had almost as many missed shots (five) as actual shots on goal (six). This is forming an Achilles heel begging to be exploited by someone come late April.
“Little Diddy ‘bout Jack and Marchy…!”
On the beat of good news which (even with yet another bad ending) still applies to tonight, two notes come to mind. With Jack Eichel’s two-goal effort Sunday, he tied Jonathan Marchessault back in 2017-18 for the single season all-time record for two-point games (22). It’s a little fitting given the similarities in their game; natural distributors who can also wire it into the back of the net when the golden chance arises.
It sucks the Golden Knights don’t play Buffalo till March 15th, which would be the perfect time for game number 23. But UBS Arena’s 632 miles away from Buffalo… it's a pretty good second choice, I think.
A nice “RhapSaady in White”
The second one came for the newest Golden Knight, Brandon Saad, who had his debut tonight. He had a pretty good night for someone who hadn’t played in five days, especially in the first period. He generated some good opportunities in the first period, came within inches of beating Jonathan Quick in the second.
In terms of rhythm with his linemates Mark Stone and Brett Howden, outside of a missed pass by Stone to Saad a little early on, there were the makings of a good line combo in the future. That is, if it survives the line blender.
Next on the Marquee:
It’s a little Tuesday jaunt to Long Island and the New York Islanders at 4:30 P.M. who had an equally terrible Sunday. It's one that also had a lost lead and a collapse, though theirs started late in the second instead of early in the third. Unfortunately, they’re also 4-1 since this past Saturday. So if you have any good luck charms nearby, I’d suggest charging them now. Till then…