FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Canucks - Game 23 - 2022

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Canucks – Game 23 – 2022

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (16-6-1)  | Vancouver Canucks  (8-10-3)

The Golden Knights’ Reverse Retro night gets spoiled by the Vancouver Canucks. Vegas loses two straight games for the second time this season. 

Last night at the Fortress at T-Mobile Arena, there was something different in the air. The Vegas Golden Knights were finally debuting their Reverse Retro jerseys. With their glow-in-the-dark neon-lit numbers and a different pregame presentation, this would be quite a night for the Golden Knights to get back in the win column.

The Vancouver Canucks were in town to avenge their loss from their last meeting against the Knights after giving up a two-goal lead in the third period a couple of nights ago. Going into this game, the Golden Knights are 11-1-3 all-time against the Canucks. 

Logan Thompson was the starting goalie for Vegas, as Vancouver started Spencer Martin.

In the opening minutes of the first period, the momentum was on the Golden Knights‘ side at first as the game remained deadlocked at 0-0, but in the later half of the period, the momentum would turn in favor of the Canucks as they were gifted with power plays.

Nicolas Roy would get called for a tripping penalty, hoping the Knights’ penalty kill unit would hold off the Canucks from scoring. Unfortunately, that was not the case when Brock Boeser scored to put the Canucks on the board first, 1-0.

Going up 1-0 was not good enough for the Canucks. The Knights went on the power play after but couldn’t manage to get a goal out of it. But Vancouver got another power play opportunity due to a high sticking call on Nicolas Roy, his second time going to the penalty box that night. The power play for the Canucks would once again pay off when J.T. Miller would score by shooting a wrist shot from the top left of the circle to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Canucks begin to dim the neon lights for Vegas, as special teams would play a big part. Through the first two periods, Vegas was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Vancouver was 2 for 3.

The first period was a very odd start for Vegas especially playing at home. Giving up two goals, and power-play goals for that matter is a big concern for the special teams for Vegas.

“The first seven, eight minutes, we were the better team,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We had some good looks. … In hindsight, when you’re playing your fifth game in eight days, if one of those goes in, maybe it gives us some juice, and we’re not chasing the game. Their goalie made big saves. Then we got ourselves in penalty trouble and didn’t get the job done.”

But the Knights were looking to rebound from their first-period woes, to make a comeback somehow. In the second period, the Knights got on the power play but were still unable to get any chances. The mood of the game was much like the first period. Vancouver again went on the power play due to a high-sticking call on Reilly Smith.

Vancouver would once again get on the board. This time it was Elias Pettersson who scored after converting on a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Quinn Hughes to make the score 3-0. 

Vegas was now looking down at a 3-goal deficit, but the scoring would continue for the Canucks. At the 13:19 mark of the second period, Andrei Kuzmenko hit a one-shot from the slot to extend the lead to 4-0. Vegas was feeling the effects of the second-period woes. With 1.4 seconds left in the period, the Canucks went on the board again when Bo Havart scored after shooting past Thompson to make the score 5-0.

In the third period, the Knights showed complete frustration when Jonathan Marchessault got a 5-minute penalty for fighting. Later in the game, Keegan Kolesar would get 5 minutes for fighting as well.  But Marchessault would later redeem himself when he scored off the right post after Reilly Smith’s initial shot rebounded off the back glass behind the net to put Vegas on the board 5-1 finally.

One goal would not be enough, and too late for the Knights as they would lose their second straight time for the second time this season.

“It’s been a really taxing schedule. Maybe it caught up to us this weekend,” Cassidy said. “We couldn’t find that second wind, second effort that we needed. It’s not stopping. We have to mentally fight through.”

Another shocking takeaway from this loss is that since opening the season an NHL-best 13-2-0, the Golden Knights have lost five of their last eight, with four coming home. It does not get any easier for Vegas as they start a four-game road trip. Regardless, the Knights must fix their special team issues. The power play worked for the Canucks, but the penalty kill was a massive issue for Vegas in this game. Special teams were the most significant difference maker and key takeaway from last night.

The Golden Knights will start their four-game road trip when they play against the Columbus Blue Jackets at  Nationwide Arena on Monday. They are scheduled to drop the puck at 4:00 pm. The game can be seen on  AT&T Sports Net (channel 313 on Cox Cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.