3 takeaways from the Golden Knights' 4-3 overtime loss to Dallas

Same score, same sting, different location! The Golden Knights lost again to the Dallas Stars 4-3, this time in overtime thanks to Wyatt Johnston’s winner 20 seconds into the extra period. It was a night of some good, and some familiar “UGH!” with this team. Here’s my three takeaways from tonight’s stinging loss.

Happy Groundhog Day, y’all!

Groundhog Day isn’t for another week, but this type of result definitely fits right in with that motif. Friday night in Dallas had a very similar vibe to what we saw tonight. Vegas gets the lead, Dallas hangs around and slowly but surely yanks momentum away, wins it late. Much of last year’s first round series had a very similar vibe tonight. Given that the path to Lord Stanley’s Cup will likely go through Big D (unless Winnipeg or Edmonton get there first), that is a bright red klaxon of trouble that the Golden Knights will have to deal with somehow before the playoffs begin.

Another bad mistake bites the butt…

Yeah, that’s a bit of a groaner joke-wise. But it’s been a groaner of the night, so it fits. Anyway, as has been the case at many different points this month, a mistake costs the team. This time, it was Shea Theodore in the second on the power play whose turnover turned into a shorthanded goal and killed a lot of the buzz that Dorofeyev’s nifty 3-1 bumper goal had provided Vegas seconds earlier on the five-on-three. Without that goal, Vegas probably puts this to bed ala Florida Sunday night and we don’t even come close to overtime.

Of course, if Adin Hill comes up with a way to smother that Johnston shot, the result would have also been the same. Which is the other part of this that needs to tighten up if we wanna see another Championship parade come June. Oettinger got the clutch save on Theodore early in that overtime. On the plus side, we’ve seen how capable Hill is of making that kind of clutch save. He just has to get it back again.

The grab bag of good

Like I said, there was some good from this game that the Golden Knights can clutch onto, along with the lone standing point. Jack Eichel had a great night, bumping his points streak up to seven games. Ivan Barbashev had another solid game and was about a half-foot past the blue line away from finally breaking his goalless drought. Also, the Vegas penalty kill had another banner day, killing off three Dallas penalties (one of which was a double minor). Since last Monday, they’ve killed off nine of the last 10 opposition power plays. For a team that’s been mired in the middle of the pack in the league all season long on the penalty kill, that’s worth taking some pride in. It will also include copious amounts of good luck spells to ensure it sticks along through the playoffs.

Next on the marquee:

The month and the homestand come to a close Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 P.M. Yeah, January’s been a groaner of a month. But this is a good chance to at least end it on a happy note, which hasn’t been the case for this team the past couple of seasons. Columbus is pesky, but more than capable of overcoming, especially if the team from Sunday night shows up. Till then…