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The Vegas Golden Knights had their four-game winning streak snapped Thursday night as they were defeated 7-2 by the Calgary Flames inside the confines of T-Mobile Arena. Thursday was the first home game for the Knights since returning from a recent five-game road trip.
“I’m going to have to do a deeper dive as to why we’re struggling against our own division,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I’ve said it before, we’ve got to get out of our division if we expect to go where we want to go, I know that much. How we’re going to correct that is still a work in progress.”
The Golden Knights were outscored 4-0 in the third period and outshot 30-19 for the game. Calgary scored all four third period goals within an eight-minute span.
Thursday’s loss was the biggest loss that Vegas has suffered all season and it is the most goals allowed by the Golden Knights in a game all year.
Right-winger Tyler Toffoli finished his game with two goals and two assists to lead all scorers with four points in the win for the Flames. Toffoli was one of five Calgary players to have a multi-point night.
Vegas also finished with an 0-for-4 night on the power play.
“The power play was, fill in the blank,” Cassidy said. “I’ll settle for awful because that's what had a chance to be the difference maker tonight.”
Left-winger Reilly Smith was also asked about some of the struggles on the power play in this one.
“I think we were slowing the pace down and trying to pass the puck through too many bodies,” Smith said. “We just kept getting caught up and then our entries weren’t very clean either.”
With the loss, Vegas falls to 42-21-6 on the season as they remain at 90 points in the Pacific Division. The Knights do still hold onto the division lead over Los Angeles and Edmonton.
“Those matchups in the Pacific you want to make sure you’re dominating because those are the teams you’re going to be seeing down the stretch,” defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. “I think everyone wants to be playing their best hockey and making statements every night.”
Vegas will wrap up their brief two-game homestand Sunday, March 19 as they welcome in the Columbus Blue Jackets for a matinee matchup in the Fortress. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.
The Golden Knights will be going for the season sweep as Sunday’s matchup will be the second of two games scheduled between Vegas and Columbus this season. Vegas won the opening game between these two organizations in Columbus back in late November when the Knights grabbed a 3-2 win in a shootout.
Thursday’s game snapped a four-game streak of Vegas scoring first in the game. Defenseman Mackenzie Weegar got the Flames on the board with his shot from the point with 4:55 to go in the opening period. The score remained 1-0 heading into the second period.
Moments before Weegar’s goal, defensemen Brayden McNabb came within mere inches of scoring the game’s first goal when he got a rebound and fired the puck towards the net. The puck doinked off the top of the crossbar and stayed out.
The second period saw far more action than the first period in the scoring department on both sides. Calgary jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the period. Vegas countered with two goals of their own from Whitecloud and Smith.
Smith extended his point streak to seven games and has scored two goals and six assists during that time. This streak ties the longest of Smith’s career. He was the only Golden Knight player to record a multi-point game in Thursday’s game.
Calgary regained the lead with less than three minutes to go in the middle frame when right-winger Blake Coleman broke the 2-2 tie to give the visitors a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.