Vegas plays their best bad game in a long time with a 2-0 loss to Buffalo

It was another loss for the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, but being completely honest, one I find it hard to be mad about. Despite the Golden Knights' inability to gain revenge for their loss to Buffalo just a few weeks ago, and getting shut out for the second time this month, it felt like a legitimately good game for an inconsistent team. While the lack of a point means they've fallen to third in the Pacific as of last night, let's take a look at why it wasn't all bad for the Golden Knights.

A goalie duel is the story of the evening

We might've been wrong to doubt Adin Hill. In his fifth consecutive start (a first on the year), the much-maligned goaltender posted his fourth consecutive game with a positive goals-saved-above-average. Buffalo's play resulted in nearly two expected goals, but Hill held them to just one, coming off a fluky deflection by Josh Doan from behind the net:

I'm not huge on the lack of hustle shown by Andersson there, but my ambivalence on him is well-documented at this point, so we won't beat the dead horse. It's a rough goal, but misplay aside, Hill had a great night, stopping 24 of 25 shots overall and keeping Vegas in the game repeatedly.

Still, I doubt he gets a sixth consecutive start, simply for rest reasons. Hill's finally rediscovering the form he had in years past, which is a great sign for a Vegas team sweating a bit down the stretch. Perhaps the lack of a goalie acquisition at the deadline will pay off.

On the other end of the ice, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was, well, a wall. As the Moneypuck link displays, UPL posted an absurd 3.49 GSAx in his first shutout of the year, locking Vegas down despite multiple great chances. Frustrating for sure, but sometimes, you just get goalied. At least said 3.49 means the offense did continue to show life, despite the shutout.

That said, Vegas' struggles against playoff teams continue

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Once again, the Golden Knights struggled against a playoff contender, with only two wins over playoff teams since November. Even with the favorable analytics, the scoreboard still read zero at the end of the game, which is a problem for a team hoping to once again make noise in the Western Conference's playoffs. This, and the points lost from it, especially matter when taking into account the razor-thin margin for error VGK has now.

They sit one point behind Anaheim and Edmonton for the division lead, and only five points up on Seattle for third, with the Kraken holding a game in hand. Though the remaining schedule does include a lot of non-playoff teams, upcoming games against Edmonton, Dallas, and Utah will be critical to shoring up the Golden Knights' standing in these last 14 games.

Next up, it's the aforementioned Mammoth on Thursday. With Utah in possession of the first Wild Card slot and tied with Vegas on points, it's a big one.