The Vegas Golden Knights’ four-game winning streak came to a halt Monday night as the top team in the Pacific Division couldn’t rally back from another 3-0 deficit, falling to the Minnesota Wild, 4-2. In just seven games, the Golden Knights have already fallen behind 3-0 three times, including previous outings against the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs, and only rallied to beat the latter. Unfortunately, it's becoming a troubling trend for Vegas, one that even a talented roster can't expect to overcome every night.
Golden Knights are developing a troubling three-goal deficit trend
According to NHL.com, Vegas lost 11 games by three or more goals last season, accounting for 42.3% of their 26 regulation losses. If there is one silver lining to those 11 blowout losses, it's that Vegas ranked 28th in the NHL in that category, alongside contenders like Boston, Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Colorado.
Before the calendar flipped to January 2026, the Golden Knights had suffered six three-or-more-goal defeats. Although neither of their losses this season qualifies as a three-goal defeat, Vegas has already fallen behind 3-0 on three occasions in just seven games. Without their remarkable comebacks against the Duck, Maple Leafs, and now the Wild, they would have risked losing these games by at least three goals.
Vegas is going to wear their goalies out at this pace
Whenever a team loses and has to come back from a 3-0 deficit, a large portion of the fanbase usually questions how the goaltender played. In this case, Carter Hart had a rough first period and should have stopped two of the Wild's goals. Meanwhile, Maxim Shabanov's power-play goal was in no way Hart's fault. Even with Spider-Man-like reflexes, he couldn't have stopped it, since the Golden Knights just forgot he was on the ice.
Despite posting a .700 SV% in the opening 20 minutes, Hart made 12 saves in the second period, including a stretch when Minnesota held an 11-1 advantage in shots. Hart was far from busy in the third with five saves and still finished the night with an .889 SV%. For those keeping track at home, that was only Hart’s second sub-.900 SV% night, and oddly, it came in his second defeat this season. His partner, Adin Hill, may still be a perfect 2-0-0, but his overall save percentage is just .886, while Hart’s dipped from the .910 he carried into Monday’s contest.
Overall, the Golden Knights need their goalies to make key saves, but the entire team must do a better job of avoiding three-goal deficits early in games. However, the goalies can only shoulder so much of the blame, as Vegas appears sluggish many nights. As in their outing against the Ducks, the same happened against the Wild, and despite some opportunities, the hole was too deep to climb out of. It takes an entire team to dig a hole that deep, and more than one superstar to climb out. At some point, these significant deficits will wear down the Golden Knights' goalies, and the mental fatigue that comes with it could hurt the team down the stretch.
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