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For the first time since the NHL All-Star break, the Vegas Golden Knights have lost a game and not walked away with two points in the standings. Tuesday night, Vegas was defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 following a shootout.
“I don’t know what we learned until we get back out there next time,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Center Tyler Johnson scored the game-winning goal for Chicago in the shootout and was the only player on either team to have a multi-point game. Johnson finished Tuesday’s game with one goal and one assist to go along with the shootout-winning goal.
The Blackhawks’ win snapped a five-game winning streak that the Knights were on coming into the game.
This is the second time this season that the Golden Knights have lost in a shootout as the team is now 3-2 on the year when the game goes to a shootout. It is the fifth overtime loss overall for Vegas who now have an 8-5 record when the game goes past regulation.
With the overtime loss, the VGK now holds a record of 34-18-5 which is good for 73 points in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights lead the division by two points over the Los Angeles Kings and three points over the Seattle Kraken and Edmonton Oilers.
Vegas returns back to T-Mobile Arena for a pair of home games starting Thursday, Feb. 23 as they welcome the Calgary Flames to town for a Pacific Division showdown. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.
The last time the Flames and Golden Knights met was back on Oct. 18 in Canada when Calgary handed Vegas their first loss of the season 3-2.
When it came to the Vegas offense Tuesday, it was about players that continued hot scoring streaks. Right-winger Keegan Kolesar scored the game’s first goal less than four minutes into the contest to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the Windy City.
This was Kolesar’s fourth point in the last five games (one goal, three assists) and it was his sixth goal of the season.
“[Goaltender Laurent] Brossoit stood on his head for us,” Kolesar said. “We had a lot of lulls in our game at times.”
Center Jack Eichel continued his offensive success for Vegas as he scored the lone goal in the second period to break what was a 1-1 tie and regain the lead for the Golden Knights heading into the third period.
It was Eichel’s sixth point in the last five games (three goals, three assists) and his 18th goal of the season.
Brossoit made his first start of the season for the Golden Knights, playing in place of the injured Adin Hill, who was listed as day-to-day by the team.
Brossoit was called up recently from the Henderson Silver Knights to serve as Hill’s backup when original starter Logan Thompson went down with injury. Thompson remains week-to-week with a lower body injury.
“I try not to have too many expectations,” Brossoit said. “I just wanted to keep it simple and play my game. For the most part, I felt pretty good aside from a few jitters in the first period but I think overall it was a net positive for how I felt and there’s a few things that I can sharpen up.”
In his season debut, Brossoit saved 37 of the 39 shots allowed for a final save percentage of .949.
“He was very good,” Cassidy said. “He gave us a chance to win. The goals that beat him were good shots.”
Opposing goaltender Petr Mrazek finished his evening with 34 saves on 36 shots faced for a final save percentage of .944 in the win for the Blackhawks.