Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague (14) skates by celebrating Calgary Flames players after a goal by center Blake Coleman (20) during the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024.
Published Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 | 9:37 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 | 11:09 p.m.
Everyone, from the players to Bruce Cassidy, thought the Golden Knights’ structure two nights ago was a perfect representation of how they want to play.
Attention to detail defensively was sound. Rebounds off saves were cleared with ease. If Logan Thompson recovered in his crease after making a save, the Golden Knights were there to finish the defensive sequence.
That wasn’t the case Saturday. It hasn’t been over the past month, and it showed again for the Golden Knights in a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena.
What’s made the Golden Knights a strong defensive team is making the right plays in the defensive zone. It’s what’s made Cassidy’s system goalie friendly, no matter who is in the crease. But an issue for Vegas as of late has been allowing traffic in their crease and getting dangerous chances in close.
Calgary’s first two goals — coming within 1:58 of each other in the first period — were examples of that. Blake Coleman’s goal at 11:06 came on the power play, but it was off a rebound where Coleman had enough space in front to beat Thompson.
Shortly after, Nazem Kadri made it 2-0 at 13:04 when he found a loose puck in a crowd of four Vegas players near the crease and poked in the rebound.
“What I saw was guys getting out-willed in front of the net,” Cassidy said. “They’re in position. They’re right there. If they’re not there, it’s one thing.”
It’s a problem that’s bled to other parts of the Golden Knights’ game, particularly on the penalty kill.
After a 3 for 3 shorthanded effort in Thursday’s 2-1 overtime win against Boston, Vegas had a strong kill five minutes in. Ivan Barbashev’s slashing call at 9:48 led to Coleman’s goal.
The Golden Knights gave up two power-play goals Wednesday in Colorado, both by Valeri Nichushkin, and were feet within the crease. Going back as far as the 4-1 loss to Florida on Jan. 4, three goals came on the power play, but were caused by deflections or the Panthers getting behind the defense.
Cassidy said the Golden Knights should be able to handle their own in those areas.
“You’ve got to take care of business there. We’re a big, strong team. Take care of business,” Cassidy said. “It can happen once, but now you’re chasing two goals, now you’re chasing a little bit. At the end of the day, we kept chasing, and we never caught it.”
Even on Calgary’s third goal, a breakaway finish by Mikael Backlund, it came off a turnover by Paul Cotter that allowed Backlund time and space to beat Thompson for the 3-0 lead at 17:09 of the second.
“It seems like we’ve got to be better in front of our net, for sure,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “It’s a game of mistakes and they cashed in on ours.”
Chandler Stephenson scored for the first time in 11 games, and Thompson made 23 saves for the Golden Knights (24-14-5) in their ninth loss in 12 games. All nine losses have come in regulation.
Defensive miscues were the issue, but the Golden Knights went into Saturday without All-Star center Jack Eichel. Eichel missed his first game of the season with an upper-body injury that was in relation to a hit he took against Boston.
The hit forced Eichel to leave in the second period, but he later returned. Cassidy said at morning skate that Eichel is going to miss “a little bit of time.” Eichel leads Vegas with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 42 games.
Eichel’s absence is the latest in a laundry list of injuries the Golden Knights are dealing with, including William Karlsson and Shea Theodore, who are both week-to-week. Fourth-line forward William Carrier is also on injured reserve. Vegas called up Byron Froese from AHL Henderson prior to morning skate.
Defenseman Zach Whitecloud said with so many key players out, attention to detail is key.
“Mistakes are minimized or maximized either way in this game. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing on any given night, what guys you have in the lineup, what guys are out,” Whitecloud said. “It’s a league where any 32 teams can shove the puck down your throat if you don’t play the right way.”
Marchessault said he felt like the Golden Knights played a good enough game despite the score, but given the recent results, moral victories are low on the totem pole. The Golden Knights are looking for answers and don’t even have the right questions.
Tightening up defensively in front of the goalie might be the first place to start.
“I think the system we play has been good for us. We just have to execute,” Marchessault said. “It’s a privilege to play in the NHL and you’ve got to find a way to do the job. They don’t care what you’ve done in the past. You need to take the opportunity in front of you, and right now, we don’t have enough guys that are doing that.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on X at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
