The Vegas Golden Knights have lost four straight games through their first five games of the 2021-22 season. After the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up a 7-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, perhaps it no longer makes sense to blame things on the injuries the Vegas roster is dealing with right now.
Fans are frustrated, but it is still early in the season. There is plenty of time for things to turn around for the Golden Knights, right? Sunday night, Vegas looked to make that return to the win column as they took the ice against the New York Islanders.
The Golden Knights have gone 27 straight power plays without a goal, a streak that reaches back into last season. Even without a fully healthy roster right now, this is something that absolutely needs to improve if the Golden Knights want to turn this season around.
VGK head coach Pete DeBoer, in his post-game media, mentioned that “adjustments are being made,” and while we can only speculate on what he means at the moment, surely the team is hoping for a payoff soon.
First period
The first of the VGK power plays in this game came just 9:35 into the first period, but as mentioned, the home team had nothing to show for their efforts on the man advantage. With the Islanders already up 1-0 with an early goal from Josh Bailey, the Golden Knights started playing catch up from the start.
As the period ended, the shots were 12-11 in favor of the Golden Knights, but no VGK shots in the last 9 minutes of the first period. Of course, none of the shots count unless they find their way over the goal line.
Second period
Vegas came out strong to start the second period but could still not find the back of the net, though not for lack of effort.
The original misfits line of Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, and Jonathan Marchessault had some good chances, but couldn’t quite find their finishing touch at any point. In the same way, Keegan Kolesar and Chandler Stephenson also had their own fantastic chances that just never hit their mark.
The Islanders, playing their second game in as many nights, simply needed to keep the Golden Knights at bay long enough to secure this win. At the end of the second period, it looked like they just might pull it off. Though, 20 minutes is plenty of time for the Golden Knights to overcome a one-goal deficit. More than enough time to at least tie the game and pull off a comeback to stop this losing slide they are on.
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“If wishes were fishes, even beggars would eat.”
That line seems pretty applicable to this team right now, if those fish were goals and the Golden Knights were the beggars.
The team wants it. The guys are making the effort, but it’s the same story it seems like it’s been all season. Nothing seems to be going right for this team. Sunday night, it was that they just couldn’t manage to solve Sorokin. This team couldn’t manifest their fish as the Islanders walked out of T-Mobile Arena as victors over the Golden Knights, winning 2-0.
Takeaways
Jake Leschyshyn
Leschyshyn stood out in a positive way in his third NHL appearance, especially in the first period. The rookie forward made himself noticeable early on in this game. While still searching for his first career goal, the 22-year-old has certainly been putting in the effort to find it. Per Natural Stat Trick, he led the team in CF% with 76.92 in his 9:13 TOI.
The power play, the power play, and the power play
Honestly, what else is there to say? The fans know it. The coaches know it. The players know it. The power play is struggling and something needs to change. Assistant coach Steve Spott and head coach Peter DeBoer have worked together long enough to know that something is not clicking. This team can take shots on net for the entire two minutes, but if none go in, it simply does not matter at this point.
Daniil Miromanov
Perhaps you don’t stalk Elite Prospects, but seeing a guy listed as a D/LW on the site is entertaining. No? Just me? Anyway, as a guy who has played both positions and who has taken a bit of a different path to get to the NHL, Miromanov has stepped into the show on the right foot. He will be looking for more chances at the NHL level as the season progresses. With the injuries this team is facing right now, he may have this opportunity for a while.
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