The Vegas Golden Knights will try to bounce back from their worst home loss in franchise history when they face the surging Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Vegas, which holds a two-point lead over the second-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division, comes in off a 6-0 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night, falling behind 4-0 in the first period and allowing all six goals in the first 25 1/2 minutes. Goalie Jaxson Stauber, making just his seventh NHL start and first with Utah, made 29 saves to garner his first career shutout.
“This one stings a bit,” Vegas forward Tanner Pearson said afterward. “Not the way we want to play at home.”
The six-goal home loss was the most lopsided in team history. The club had lost by five goals at home four times prior.
It was also the seventh game in 11 days for the Golden Knights, who didn’t land in Las Vegas until early Thanksgiving morning after a season-long five-game road trip. The following day, Vegas then grinded out an emotional, hard-fought 4-3 overtime win over Winnipeg (which entered Monday tied for first in the Central Division) in the front end of a back-to-back.
Not surprising then that the Golden Knights came out a little flat and looked tired at the start in the loss to Utah.
“We didn’t execute well enough early on,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We mismanaged the puck on the first three goals. You end up chasing the game. You can’t chase the game in the National Hockey League. You will catch up every once in a while … but it is not a good formula, so we put ourselves in a bad spot.”
“We’ve got to find a way to start better, especially at home,” veteran Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “It’s tough to get down 4-0 in the first, but we tried to push our way back. It’s just a huge climb in this league.”
Next up is defending Western Conference champion Edmonton, which is five points behind Vegas, in a potential four-point-swing contest for both teams. The Oilers, who sputtered out of the gate with just two wins in their first seven games (2-4-1), are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games and come in on a three-game winning streak.
It’s the final game of a three-game road trip for Edmonton. The trek began with a 4-3 overtime win over Utah on Friday and was followed by an impressive 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in Denver.
Stuart Skinner made 27 saves in the win over Colorado, and Vasily Podkolzin scored a goal in his third consecutive game for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored the game-winner in overtime a night earlier in Salt Lake City, had a goal and an assist, and Kasperi Kapanen and Brett Kulak also scored goals for Edmonton, which won for the fourth time in five games.
“Getting the two points is massive, especially on a back-to-back,” Skinner said. “It’s hard to do.”
“It’s a good team win, so rest (Sunday) and go finish (the road trip) in Vegas,” Podkolzin said.
After Tuesday’s game with the Golden Knights, Edmonton returns home for eight of its next nine games.
–Field Level Media