Karl B DeBlaker / AP
Carolina Hurricanes’ Brady Skjei (76) checks Vegas Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault (81) into the boards during the first period in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023.
Published Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023 | 6:54 p.m.
Updated 1 hour, 58 minutes ago
There hasn’t been much to complain about for the Golden Knights when it comes to special teams. They’ve been operating all season with a top-10 power play and, entering tonight, a top-5 penalty kill.
The PK has looked anything but that in the last two games, and tonight was its worst showing with the Golden Knights giving up three power-play goals in a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
Vegas entered the day killing 85.9% of its penalties this season. But the Golden Knights have given up five goals shorthanded in the past two games, including two on Sunday in the 6-3 win over Ottawa on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights (21-7-5) were 0-for-4 on the power play.
Logan Thompson was pulled after giving up a career-high six goals on 28 shots. William Carrier scored twice, and Nic Hague also scored for Vegas.
“Games like that happen,” said forward Jonathan Marchessault. “It’s not about X’s and O’s tonight. Our effort was invisible.”
The Golden Knights went into the second period carrying some momentum. After Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring with the Hurricanes’ first power-play goal at 10:27, Carrier tied it 1-1 at 13:15.
What’s been normally considered a strength this season has been anything but, and it failed the Golden Knights in the second period. They went into the middle frame tied 1-1 after Carrier’s game-tying goal in the first.
After that, the wheels fell off.
The Hurricanes scored three times in the second, including two goals from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Michael Bunting at 2:28 apart. Bunting’s goal was the second power-play goal of the game for Carolina.
“We needed a big kill on the fourth goal and they managed to get a greasy rebound,” Marchessault said. “Good for them. They were harder in front of our net.”
It took 10 seconds into the third for the Hurricanes to score their third. Nic Roy was called for a high-sticking penalty four seconds into the third, only for Seth Jarvis to score on a rebound six seconds into the power play for a 5-1 lead.
Thompson was pulled 4:44 into the third after defenseman Brady Skjei’s shot beat him short side. Jiri Patera made 10 saves in 15 minutes; the AHL Henderson goalie was recalled on Monday in place of the injured Adin Hill. Hill is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said there’s no silver lining in getting Patera some game action because he doesn’t like pulling the goalie midgame, since it means they didn’t play well enough. Given that Thompson made an appearance for the 10th time in the last 11 games — and appeared to suffer an injury himself in the third period Sunday — the time might have called for it.
“We didn’t do a good enough job getting into shooting lanes, pushing them further away from our net or getting the stop, or all of the above,” Cassidy said. “Not good enough on our part.”
While the Golden Knights have dealt with injuries to defense and goaltending, one constant strength was finding ways to keep the puck out of the net. It’s the fourth time in the last five games Vegas has allowed four goals in a game, and now second time in the last three it’s allowed five.
What’s been considered a positive for Cassidy has not been the case. With not a lot of days between games on this trip — Vegas plays at Tampa Bay on Thursday — there’s not a lot of time to figure it out.
“It’s not always about the other team. It’s about us,” Marchessault said. “We didn’t execute, we didn’t support each other. We made our life more complicated. Tonight we needed a more simple game, and we didn’t do it.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
