Vegas gives up four unanswered goals to drop Game 1 at home to Edmonton

The Vegas Golden Knights got off to a hot start before allowing four straight goals in a Game 1 loss in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

The Golden Knights were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2, on Tuesday, May 6, at the T-Mobile Arena.

“Unfortunately we didn’t do enough in the third to get it to go our way,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said.

During the regular season, Vegas and the Oilers split their regular season series 2-2.

These two franchises are meeting in the second round, serving as a rematch from when they also played each other in the same round two years ago, which the Knights won before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

After Tuesday night’s game, Edmonton now leads the series 1-0. VGK will try to even the series against the Oilers in Game 2 on Thursday, May 8. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at The Fortress.

After winning three straight games to advance into the next round, the Golden Knights couldn’t wait to get back on the ice and came out on fire.

Less than three minutes into the first period, captain Mark Stone got Vegas on the board off assists from center William Karlsson and defenseman Shea Theodore.

Karlsson’s assist on the power play goal was his second of this postseason while Theodore’s assist increased his total to three in these playoffs.

About 10 minutes later, Stone scored again, this time with help from center Jack Eichel, his fifth assist of the playoffs.

“Obviously, not the outcome we wanted,” Stone said. “There were some good parts of the game, some bad parts of the game. We’ll go over it, get ready for Thursday night’s game because it’s going to be a big one for us.”

Stone was undoubtedly the best player on the ice for the Knights with his two goals, which brought his total up to four in this postseason, including a goal in three straight games.

After his performance in Tuesday’s game, Stone tied former Golden Knight Jonathan Marchessault for most postseason goals in franchise history with 36.

Unfortunately for the VGK, that was the last time it scored in the game as the offense struggled to get many shots on goal for the rest of regulation. The Golden Knights actually managed to produce only seven total shots on goal in the final two periods.

Neither Vegas nor Edmonton scored in the second period, but the Oilers outshot the Knights 12-1 in those 20 minutes. It was the first time in franchise history that VGK was held under two shots on goal in a regulation period in the playoffs.

After having the last few days off to await the team’s second-round opponent, goalie Adin Hill was back to start for the Golden Knights.

It was a tough and busy day at the office for Hill and the defense that saw a lot of action in front of their net. By the final buzzer, he finished the game with 24 saves on 28 shots on goal for a .857 save percentage.

Hill is now 4-3-0 when on the ice in these playoffs.

“I think we can bounce back,” forward Brandon Saad. “We’re confident in our group, we let that one slip away, which is tough, especially at home. But, for us, I think there’s no panic. It’s just reset and get onto the next.”

On the other side of the ice, goaltender Calvin Pickard was between the pipes for Edmonton.

Besides the first period, Pickard was barely tested and saw much action in front of his net the rest of the way. He finished the game with 15 saves on 17 shots, for a .882 save percentage.

Oilers’ superstar center Connor McDavid had two assists, which now gives him 11 in this postseason. He now has at least 10 assists in four straight postseason, which is the fourth-best streak in NHL history.

Tuesday night’s game saw Edmonton rally back and record their fifth straight playoff comeback victory, which is a new NHL record.

Vegas was without a few players, including defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who was out with an illness. With Pietrangelo out, that allowed fellow defenseman Kaedan Korczak to make his first career postseason start in his place.

The Knights were also without left-wing Pavel Dorofeyev, who missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury.

The VGK offense missed Dorofeyev, who led them in goals this season with 35. Cassidy said the 24-year-old is day-to-day heading into Game 2.

In addition, Tuesday’s game was the first time in franchise history that the Golden Knights lost a playoff game in regulation after leading by at least two goals.

Despite not getting the win, Vegas recorded more hits, power play goals, blocked shots and committed less giveaways in this game.