The Vegas Golden Knights scored on their first shot of the game, Chandler Stephenson’s 11th goal of the season. They scored a second goal on their 4th shot, Evgenii Dadonov’s 10th goal of the season. With just 30 seconds left in the first period, Nicolas Roy scored his 8th of the season on the power play. The VGK had 3 goals on just 6 shots and a commanding 3-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pittsburgh was playing the last game of an extended 6-game road trip that started back on January 6, six games in 12 nights. The VGK hadn’t played since Jan 11. Pittsburgh was clearly the tired team and VGK were as fresh as could be, having the last 6 days off. When the first period ended, the crowd of 18,213, including a large contingent of Penguins fans, had every reason to believe that this game was a signed, sealed, and delivered win for the VGK.
However, things changed dramatically in the second period. The VGK were outworked and outskated and took 2 penalties in the first 5 minutes, which completely changed the momentum. The VGK effort was pathetic, especially considering Pittsburgh sent only 8 pucks in the direction of Robin Lehner in the first period.
The Penguins found some unexpected energy and took over the game entirely, more than doubling their offensive output with 18 shots on Lehner in the 2nd period. Local Las Vegas player Jason Zucker got Pittsburgh on the scoresheet with a power-play goal shortly after Nicolas Roy was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Zucker’s goal was followed up with one by Teddy Blueger goal just 49 seconds later.
The 2nd period ended with Vegas clinging to a 1-goal lead. Under normal circumstances, Vegas taking a lead into the 3rd period is money in the bank. But yesterday was a national holiday and the banks were closed. Vegas, who in previous seasons has been dominating at home and lights out with a lead heading into the 3rd period was a shell of itself, mustering up 13 shots through 40 minutes of play, while Pittsburgh had 26 shots on Lehner, who was unfortunately in the midst of a tough night. He also wasn’t getting much help from his teammates who left their game in the first period.
Pittsburgh went on to score 5 unanswered goals in their 5-3 win. The VGK have a very disappointing 2-3-2 record in the first 7 games of their homestand. The eighth game at home on Thursday against the Montreal Canadians is the last; then the VGK hit the road for 4 games back East against 4 of the better teams with Washington and Carolina on back-to-back nights, followed by games against the Florida Panthers and defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay. Picking up only 6 points out of a possible 14 in this current homestand and the tough 4 games that await them, the VGK are in a tough spot headed into the All Star break. They do have 1 game at T-Mobile on Feb 1 vs. Buffalo that will see the return of Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and Malcolm Subban.
It should be noted that considering the long list of never-ending injuries to key players, the VGK have accomplished a lot more than most teams could have under similar circumstances.
Other game Notes and Quotes
“You don’t want to lose at home,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “We pride ourselves on being a good home team. It’s been a tough stretch for us against good teams.”
“Every team in the league is going to blow a 3-0 lead at some point in the season. The key is what do you learn from it?” Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s a very good team over there, a very resilient team with veteran great players. It comes down to little details at key moments in the game.”
“Leading 3-0 after the first period, you can’t walk away from
the game with nothing,” Stone said. “We’ve got a little soul-searching to do.”
My 3 Stars of The Game: Jason Zucker (2G and 7 SOG), Evgenii Dadonov (1G, 1A), Alex Pietrangelo (2A and a team-high 24:17 of ice time)
Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy or on Twitter @TheRealJoePane
For more VGK content, check out the Hockey Knights in Vegas Podcast that can be found at this link or on my Facebook page.
One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game.

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Mike Guido sent this feedback in
You hit it right on the head! I was there and witnessed everything you wrote. We looked sloppy and too many passes instead of shooting. We should of slammed that goalie. I didn’t think he was good at all. It seems every time we have a long layoff we play like garbage. We have an extremely tough road trip. Luckily enough we are still in first in the Pacific. Good piece of writing.
Mike Guido thank you for your feedback sometimes I wonder if I’m being harsh on them. Glad you saw it the same way as i did
Joe P.
Mike Guido replied
Joe Pane absolutely. Super frustrating. I can’t figure out why we can’t win at home anymore. We are 12-9-2 I believe at home. We need to be better all around. We haven’t hit the halfway point in the season with that in mind we have fought through numerous setbacks with Covid, and injuries and we are in first in the pacific. We will bounce back. There is no specific person to blame. It was a sluggish 2nd and 3rd by everyone on the ice. Players should be playing harder just for their jobs alone since Eichel will be playing very soon. I hope he comes back February 1st vs the Sabers. Wouldn’t that be some drama? Tuch and Krebs returning and Eichel playing against his former team.
Mike Guido yes that would make for an interesting night at the Fortress. And don’t forget Subban also
Joe P.
Nick Steffen wrote this
Pathetic effort indeed.
Nick Steffen you would think a team with this much talent would not be capable of this kind of effort.
Joe P.
Nick Steffen replied
Joe Pane, I find it unbelievable that Marchessault’s first shot of the game didn’t come until a minute and a half left in the game. Maybe the Misfit Line should be called the Missing in Action Line.
Marianne Coninx responded to Nick Steffen comments
Nick Steffen that line needs to be broken up. It’s been needed for two seasons plus now
Disappointed is not nearly strong enough. I was/am concerned who we’ll lose when we add Eichel. After last Knight, ANY ONE of our overpaid team can move on. Their play over the recent home stand is embarrassing. The team needs to coalesce and FAST. ( to be fair, Petro is probably the only player giving his all). The rest can move on…
Marcy
I fully understand the concern you have but I’m not sure it’s panic time just yet. With the depleted line up they have had from basically opening night they have played and have results that are impressive, but with that being said you cannot blow a 3-goal lead to any team on home ice especially one who is at the end of a 6-game road trip that spanned only 12 days. The Penguins were looking to get this game over with as quick as possible and get home to their families and out of hotel rooms. And when the fell behind 3-0 they were or should have been “TOAST”. But we know what happened. You take on Petro is spot on he comes to play every game and has been the only bright spot night after night. This upcoming 4 game road trip will be a challenge. Good teams find a way, do the VGK qualify as a good team? I do believe they are and will get the train back on the tracks. Eichel pending return will help for sure.
Joe P.
Charlie Anzalone wrote
Cup condensers don’t blow leads like the golden knights do.
Charlie Anzalone later added this
Good read can’t just blame Lehner here.
Charlie Anzalone no he had very little support especially on Pittsburgh first goal.
Joe P.
Drew Thrasher sent this comment in
Yeah, they let off the gas when they went up 3-0.
Drew Thrasher absolutely
Joe P.
Christopher Couch had this to say
We have a real problem between the pipes this year.
Christopher Couch it’s trending that way currently, but Panda 🐼 has not gotten a lot of support. The first Pittsburgh goal they were a group of Pittsburgh players just whacking away at the puck in front of Lehner and with very little push back from Vegas
Joe P.
Christopher Couch responded to me
Joe Pane I agree. The defense seems to play better when he’s not out there.
Hey Joe.
Thank´s for the recap.
I wrote to you on FB earlier today about the defensive side of the game from what I saw on an condense game recap on NHL.com.
Maybe I should be thankful to the swedish broadcasting company who had made the good decision to not show the game in Sweden.
The offensive play by the VGK was even more dreadful than I expected.
Maybe we should leave the not so flattering comments in a slumber close to hibernation until they´ve played against Montreal.
If Vegas doesn´t win over the Habs maybe the GM and the coach should sit down and ventilate some new solutions in the trade market to get a sniff of the playoff nectar.
They have a lot of time to figure it out. Trade deadline is set to March 21st.
The only deadlines I know is Dec 24 (Europe) and Dec 25 (North America).
There are the two Sanity Clauses due to travelling by reindeer and sledge. It takes a lot of time to go from Europe to North America.
The Sanity Clause have no stunt stand-ins and travel by the hight of speed.
He has tried to stay away from drugs but Rudolf the Russian Dealer pours some crushed antler dust in SC:s (not Stanley Cup) food to keep him awake through the journey from Europe.
I can asure you that I`m not on drugs but I have to write this to forget the awful version of hockey the Golden Knights playing for the moment.
If you read this comment really slow, hopefully it´s Thursday night when you`re finished and our beloved team is punishing the Semi-Frogs (French-Canadian) on the ice.
Now I`m finished! 😅
Kenneth
The Swedish broadcasting company did you a favor the last 40 minutes was painful to watch. Pittsburgh had a “Fork In Them” after the first period except the VGK forgot to finish the meal and let them back into a game they had no business being in. Before the game started Pittsburgh could not wait for the game to be over and jump on their charter and head back east. Vegas was and should have been ready to play considering they had 6 days off. But what was supposed to happen and what happened never happened. VGK a well-rested team blew a 3-goal lead on home ice to a tired team. Totally unacceptable from a team that has sights on winning the Stanley Cup.
Joe P.
Steven Wrathall sent this comment in
Pathetic performance with 5 unanswered goals allowed. If only we had a way to stop that. hmmmam
Karl Ganz wrote this
Truth!
Patty Golio added this comment
Most definitely!
Drew Thrasher sent his opinion in on what happened
Yeah, they let off the gas when they went up 3-0.
Drew Thrasher absolutely.
Joe P.
Mary Becker had this to say about last night’s game
No comment for me I think you said it all we were at the game last night traded our seating for handicap section 17 great seats great one period of game
Johnny Lawless had this comment about the game
11 giveaways to 2 was the stat that jumped out at me on this one.
Karl Ganz sent this comment in
Joe Pane my wife and I were there too…saw it the same way!
Karl Ganz if you didn’t see it that way you weren’t watching very closely. Glad I’m not the only one. Sometimes I think I may be too harsh on them, but they are built to win now so performances like last night is just not how a potential Stanley Cup team would play with a 3-0 lead at home against a tired team.
Joe P.
Damien Garrett added this to the conversation
Will add not to mention frustrating as well.
Vegas gave up 21 High Danger Scoring Chances last night..And only had 9 of their own..You wont win many games playing like that..Theodore and Coghlan were pathetic..How does Theodore let one of the slowest players in the league(Boyle) beat him, and Coghlan stands there and lets Blueger put in the rebound..And the other goal Joe mentioned where the Vegas defense let the Pens whack away at a puck several times..Vegas has given up the 3rd most high danger scoring chances in the NHL behind only the Flyers and Red Wings..High danger scoring chances have an expected success rate of 30% per Steve Valiquette of Clear Sight Analytics..That’s unacceptable for a playoff bound team..
Edward
I could not agree any more with you, glad to see that we are both seeing the same things happening more than they should.
Joe P.
Joe you write a great column, and tell is like you see it, exactly what we want to hear
win lose or draw 🙂
Keep up the great work….and fyi..i’m not a knights fan..hehe
Thank you, Mike, post and words like yours make me feel like my work is appreciated and acknowledged.
Joe P.