All it took was a poor 20 minutes of play for the Vegas Golden Knights to lose 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored a goal with an assist, while Nicolas Roy also scored for the Golden Knights (45-21-8), who saw their six-game winning streak come to an end. Adin Hill made 17 saves.
“We didn’t play for 20 minutes in the second,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If we could have just had a B game, right? We talked about this a lot. There’s A and B games. I liked our start. First period was good. We got ourselves in some penalty trouble. And you have to weather the storm against good teams. One goal can’t become two or three.
“Today, we didn’t get out of the second period well enough.”
Golden Knights’ Faulty Second
The Golden Knights surrendered three goals in the second period. They were outshot 11-4 in the period and mismanaged the puck multiple times.
“We had turnovers and they took advantage,” Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad said. “They have a lot of good players and a lot of skill. They could score goals. So, for us, we didn’t sustain any zone time. They played with the puck, and that feeds into their confidence. We did a better job in the third, but it’s hard to play catch-up.”
Second Line Magic
Roy’s insertion into the Brandon Saad and Dorofeyev line has been seamless. With Tomas Hertl out indefinitely with a upper-body injury, Cassidy opted to put Roy with the wingers to give the line a similar feel to it.
“‘Nic’ is a big body that likes to carry the puck through the neutral zone in the middle of the ice,” Cassidy said. “He’s not an outside speed guy, so the two wingers are basically playing a center that’s similar to that.”
Roy scored the opening goal after Dorofeyev made a good play forcing a turnover in the neutral zone. Dorofeyev scored his team-best 32nd goal early in the third period, adding to his career totals.
“Everything he’s done this year is proving a lot of people what he is,” Roy said. “We all knew he was a goal scorer, but pretty unbelievable season.”
Back To The Postseason
The Golden Knights made the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons, thanks to the Calgary Flames losing the Utah Hockey Club.
They are still competing for home-ice advantage in the Pacific Division side of the bracket with a five-point advantage on the second-place Los Angeles Kings.
“It says a lot from top to bottom,” Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy said. “Everybody, starting with [team owner] Bill [Foley]. Obviously, the coaching and all the staff we got here, we got the best. We got the best fans. It’s a really good setup. So, it’s really fun to be part of it.”
