In the midst of their worst five-game stretch of the season, the Vegas Golden Knights will look for improvement Saturday night when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks in the second game of a back-to-back set.
On paper, the timing could be better for Vegas, which is a remarkable 23-4-2 against Western Conference opponents. The Golden Knights will be playing their first game this season versus Chicago, which is last in the NHL with just 31 points.
Vegas sputters into the contest having dropped four of five games for the first time this season, most recently falling 3-2 to the host Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Golden Knights, who are tied for fourth in the NHL with an average of 3.38 goals per game, tallied a total of six goals in the four losses.
“We’re not scoring at the level we were, so we have to look at ourselves and say, ‘Why not?'” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said after the latest setback.
Vegas dominated the first period, outshooting Carolina 13-7, but couldn’t manage to get a puck past Pyotr Kochetkov. The Hurricanes goalie finished with 29 saves, including one on a penalty shot by Keegan Kolesar and another on a third-period breakaway slap shot by Mark Stone that would have tied it 3-3 with 8:08 to go.
“I thought we had a lot of opportunities to score but we didn’t cash in as many as we would have liked,” said Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, who scored a power-play goal.
“It’ll be good to get back at things (Saturday) in Chicago and try and get back on the right foot.”
Vegas has fallen into a first-place tie in the Pacific Division with the Edmonton Oilers, who have won four straight games. Still, Cassidy isn’t ready to push the panic button.
“We’re a first-place team,” the coach said. “I’m not down on anybody. I don’t like to lose and it seems like we’re this close to winning every night so it’s a little bit of adversity. … There are a lot of things we’re doing well, and hopefully it translates (Saturday).”
Chicago brings a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) into the contest and has lost 10 of its past 12 games (2-9-1). The Blackhawks took their seventh straight road loss (0-6-1) on Thursday at Nashville, falling 3-2 to the Predators in a shootout.
Arvid Soderblom kept Chicago in the game by making 39 saves, including 16 in the second period. The Blackhawks jumped in front 2-1 on second-period goals from Connor Bedard and defenseman Alec Martinez, both assisted by Tyler Bertuzzi, but Filip Forsberg tied it 2-2 with 3:03 to go in regulation.
Nashville pulled out the win by scoring on all three of its shootout attempts.
“It’s always tough to lose, no matter what — but especially today,” Soderblom said referring to the loss coming on a trip in which the players are accompanied by their fathers. “I felt like we played good as a team, and a good game by myself. It sucks not getting the win.”
Chicago is just 5-10-3 all-time against the Golden Knights in regular-season play, but the teams have split the past four meetings.
–Field Level Media
