Two recurring issues rear their heads for the Golden Knights in chaotic, near-comeback loss to Boston

Sailors, the Golden Knights were not on Thursday night, as despite a furious comeback attempt, Vegas got dropkicked by the Bruins of Beantown 4-3. Though the result ended up a lot better than most VGK fans probably expected early on, it still ended with no points, and Boston got the last laugh on coach Bruce Cassidy. In a game where VGK fell into some of its recurring bad habits, let's take a look at what went wrong.

Return to the pits

Needless to say, the Golden Knights have had a problem this year with falling into early holes. Recently, it'd seemingly become part of their identity, with the team overcoming 1-0 and 2-0 deficits in five of their seven games on the win streak. However, the uglier side re-emerged on Thursday, with Vegas down 3-0 after one and 4-0 after two before even potting one.

Poor defense and bad luck were the primary blame; after Tomas Hertl took a somewhat weak high-sticking double-minor in the first, Boston subsequently scored on both the ensuing power plays. A bad turnover led to another goal less than 30 seconds later, and just like that, Vegas was already trailing by three before they could even catch their breath:

After Hertl attempted some sort of hit on Nikita Zadorov in the second, David Pastrnak was left all alone to the left of the net, and it was suddenly 4-0 Bruins. Not exactly a great night for the Czech Olympian, though he did later contribute the second goal of Vegas attempted comeback.

The one-period team returns

Another problem Vegas has had this year has been being a one-period team; in effect, the team only plays 20 minutes of a good game per night. When combined with the problem of falling into holes, that period tends to be the last one. While it'd gone quiet for a little while, it unfortunately returned in full force Thursday night.

Besides the disastrous defense, Vegas was straight-up bullied in their own end in the first period, being outshot, 15-4. and barely putting any pressure whatsoever on Joonas Korpisalo. The second was a little more even, but Boston still came out ahead, 23-12, in the shot column.

Finally, the third period was, as expected, when the team suddenly woke up. Jack Eichel extended his point streak, the aforementioned Hertl redeemed himself for his earlier flubs, and Pavel Dorofeyev contributed his first non-power play goal in a while with this wonky deflection:

However, it was all too little, too late. Despite great pressure (including outshooting Boston 21-5), Vegas' comeback attempt just ran out of time, with Dorofeyev's goal leaving Vegas less than three minutes to tie things up. If this team wants to contend, they desperately need to remember how to play this forcefully for the entire game. It'd be great if we could see this aggression in the first period when there's a chance to take a stranglehold, rather than endlessly fighting uphill.

Next up, Mitch Marner's return to Toronto on Saturday. Oh boy.