Knights beat Kraken a second time

The Las Vegas Golden Knights went into Tuesday night’s game with the Seattle Kraken missing six regulars and arguably five of their top-six forwards. But the Knights proved the cliché of `next man up’ as Reilly Smith, the lone healthy player from their top two lines, scored two goals in 46 seconds, leading the Knights to a 4-2 win at T-Mobile Arena.

The contest marked the first time that the Kraken has faced an opponent for the second time – they lost their first-ever regular-season game at Vegas, 4-3, on October 12. The loss drops Seattle to 4-8-1, their worse record of the season, and their sixth consecutive loss on the road. The Knights lost four in a row after their opening night win but have now won six out of eight (7-6 overall).

“Look at the standings,” said Seattle alternate captain Justin Eberle. “We’re losing ground. You can’t win a Stanley Cup [in the first two months of the season], but you can work yourself out of it.” 

Eberle did his part for the Kraken cause. He scored on the power play at 4:49 of the first period to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead. It was his fifth goal in three games. After not registering a goal in the first six Kraken games, Eberle has seven goals in seven games, five in the last three games – including the first ever Kraken hat trick.

Also noteworthy, Eberle’s goal ended a streak of 36 power plays where Seattle was unable to score. The Kraken had only three goals on their first 39 man advantages. The Kraken and the Knights (who also had a power-play goal) are the two worst teams in the league with the man advantage. Seattle’s scored on 7.4% of their power plays, Vegas 8.7%.

Yanni Gourde also scored for the Kraken, his third marker of the season. Gourde, who missed all of the pre-season and the first four regular-season games while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, slowly left the ice after blocking a shot late in the second period. He returned to score a goal in the final minute of the period off a pass from linemate Brandon Tanev giving Seattle a brief 2-1 lead and sat out the third period.

Gourde’s goal with 30 seconds remaining was the first goal of the second period, but surprisingly wasn’t the last. Evgeni Dadonov scored on a rebound with 15 seconds remaining after Kraken goalie Chris Driedger failed to cover a loose puck. Seattle has now given up six goals this season less than two minutes after scoring a goal.

Smith scored the go-ahead goal 30 seconds into the third period, a redirection of Shea Theodore‘s shot from the point to give Vegas a 3-2 lead, then made it 4-2 on the power play at 1:16.

With so many forwards out, Vegas defensemen have become more involved in the offense. Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and an assist for the Knights, his goal coming with 34 seconds left in the first period. Pietrangelo, who played on the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues along with current Kraken Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn, now has four goals and three assists in his last six games.

Driedger, who had only played one period all season, started between the pipes for Seattle and had 19 saves. Driedger made some nifty glove saves but the Knights beat him with some high shots. Driedger had relieved Philipp Grubauer in the Kraken’s fourth game of the season at Philadelphia but injured his knee.

“There’s a couple he wants back, it was a tough night,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol of his goalie’s performance. “There wasn’t a lot of work in and around him…he made a couple good saves. He has to reset and be ready to practice tomorrow.”

Robin Lehner was a standout in the Vegas net stopping 25 shots. Last night’s game was a familiar refrain for Seattle, at times outplaying their opponent (the Knights went ten minutes in the second period without a shot on net) but are often unable to sustain a solid 60 minutes.

“We’re finding ways to lose instead of trying to find ways to win,” Eberle said. “I think we just have to find a way to be a more mature hockey team in situations where we have momentum.”

The schedule gets better for the Kraken. Starting tomorrow night with a tilt against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Seattle will have six consecutive home games at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken also face Minnesota (for the second time), Chicago, Colorado, Washington and Carolina on Thanksgiving Eve, before starting another Eastern road trip.

GAME NOTES

* Marcus Johansson also returned to the lineup last night and drew an assist on the first Seattle goal. Like Driedger, Johansson had only played one game this season. The veteran forward suited up on -opening night in Las Vegas, notching 16 minutes of ice time and incurring a lower-body injury. He replaced Ryan Donato in the lineup who caught an errant high stick to the head in the Kraken’s loss to Arizona on Saturday night. Donato skated Tuesday morning but in a red no-contact jersey.

* Jared McCann missed his fourth consecutive game due to COVID 19 protocols. Assistant coach Paul McFarland, who was also on the COVID list, has returned to the team. Colin Blackwell, an expansion pick from the New York Rangers, has missed all season with a lower body injury, but has been practicing with the team. He could return to the lineup in the upcoming homestand.

* Vegas is one team that doesn’t have any sympathy for other teams’ injury problems. Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Jack Eichel (who’s never actually played for the Knights), the trio who would comprise the top Vegas line are all out, along with forwards William Karlsson,  and Nolan Patrick and defenseman Zach Whitecloud.

* Eichel, who was traded from Buffalo to Vegas just before the Sabres’ game in Seattle last week, was at last night’s game and interviewed on ESPN during the second period. Eichel, one of the top scorers in the league,  is scheduled for neck surgery Friday and is expected to miss three months.

GAME SUMMARY

1^st Period

S – Jordan Eberle (Marcus Johansson, Alex Wennberg) power play, 4:49.

V – Alex Pietrangelo (Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier) 19:34

2^nd Period

S – Yanni Gourde (Brandon Tanev, Joonas Donskoi) 19:29

V – Evgeni Dadonov (Carrier Shea Theodore) 13:45.

3^rd Period

V – Reilly Smith (Theodore, Jonathan Marchessault) :30.

V – Smith (Pietrangelo, Marchessault) power play, 1:16.

Goals/Saves – Chris Driedger S (4-19). Robin Lehner V (2-25).

Penalties – Seattle 3-6. Vegas 4-8.

Referees – T.J. Luxmore, Chris Schlenker Linesmen – Matt McPherson, James Tobias.