Steven Senne / AP
Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) tries to score as Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) deflects the puck in the first period Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Boston.
Published Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 | 6:53 p.m.
Updated 7 minutes ago
The Golden Knights are far along enough, in Bruce Cassidy’s eyes, to settle for moral victories.
That’s what stings the most for Vegas having to battle from down three goals to tie it in the third, only to lose 5-4 to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday.
The result was a heartbreaker for Cassidy in his second return to Boston as Vegas coach. Cassidy spent 14 years in the Bruins organization as a coach before being fired in 2022. One move to Vegas, and he has a Stanley Cup ring to his resume.
But the Golden Knights (33-20-7) are trying to get back to the point of having the chance to defend their title amid a slide of six losses in eight games (2-5-1).
“I expected it to be a close game. I didn’t expect it to be 5-4,” Cassidy said.
The Golden Knights trailed 3-0 after the first 20 minutes with the Bruins putting 16 shots on goalie Adin Hill. What had been a strong start from Hill eventually saw the dam break. Morgan Geekie scored two of his three goals, capping his first career hat trick, to put Vegas in an early hole.
“Obviously not a good enough start,” forward Nic Roy said.
Cassidy said the Golden Knights changed their forecheck to a more aggressive tone coming into the second. That’s when the game started to turn.
Paul Cotter ended a nine-game drought with a baseball-like goal, batting the puck off a feed from Roy. Alex Pietrangelo scored the 600th point of his NHL career with a goal, cutting it to 3-2 midway through the second.
Geekie completed the hat trick at 16:32 before Michael Amadio cut into the lead once more 1:14 later for a 4-3 game heading into the third.
“It’s nice to see we can do that and that we believe we can do that,” center Chandler Stephenson said. “It’s just unneeded, I guess.”
Stephenson became the hero the Golden Knights needed with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 5:01 to tie it. The goal came seconds after Hill stopped a one-timer from Bruins captain Brad Marchand that would’ve made it 5-3.
Boston eventually found that fifth goal on the power play, with Mason Lohrei scoring the winner with 4:37 to go.
Stephenson had a chance to tie it up again with less than two minutes left on a 6-on-4 thanks to a Vegas power play, but Stephenson’s one-timer was stopped by Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman thanks to the shaft of his stick.
“I think it’s pretty common that for a team when they get ahead, the other team’s going to have a push,” Cassidy said.
While they got that push, the Golden Knights failed to get points for the first time on this five-game road trip (1-1-1) with trips to Buffalo and Columbus to go.
The Golden Knights play the Sabres on Saturday, and reinforcements could be on the way. Center Jack Eichel was a full-contact participant at morning skate and could be an option to return against his former team. Eichel has been out since mid-January after undergoing a lower-body surgery.
For now, the Golden Knights have to live with letting this one get away.
“This one’s behind us. We’re on to Buffalo,” Stephenson said.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on X at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
