Knights on Ice — In Spite Of

In spite of the fact that the VGK scored on their first shot of the game by Mark Stone just 1:24 in to take a 1-0 lead over the Boston Bruins, and in spite of the fact that the VGK held the Boston Bruins’ power-play unit, which is the 3^rd best among all 31 teams, scoreless in 5 power-play attempts, and in spite of having 2 different one-goal leads in the game along with entering the 3^rd period with a 2-1 lead, the Bruins rallied to tie the game on a goal by Jake DeBrusk 4:26 into the 3^rd period and David Krejci scored the winning goal at the 12:18 mark. The result was that the Boston Bruins defeated the VGK by a final score of 3-2.

It was Coach DeBoer’s first regulation loss since taking over the coaching duties when Gerald Gallant was unexpectedly fired last week after the VGK lost to Buffalo to extend their losing streak to 4 games.

“Disappointing going into the third with the lead and not getting points, but we didn’t help ourselves with the penalties early in the game,” DeBoer said. “Despite the fact we killed them off [5-for-5 on the penalty kill], it takes a toll on you.”

The VGK have lost 6 of their last 7 games. They’re 1-5-1 and in spite of these miserable results, they remain in the thick of things in the pathetic Pacific Division.

Have a look at the Pacific mosh pit:

1^st place: Vancouver, 58 points

2^nd place: Edmonton, 57 points

3^rd place: Calgary, 57 points

4^th place: Arizona, 57 points

5^th place: Vegas Golden Knights, 57 points

Vancouver and Edmonton have played 3 less games than VGK; Calgary has played 2 less; Arizona has played 1 less.

Every one of these teams, except for Calgary, has at one time or another occupied the top spot in the division.

Fleury, who made 34 saves on 37 shots, still seems preoccupied. Nate Schmidt continues to struggle defensively; in spite of having 2 assists last night, Nate still wound up with a -1 for the game. One of Schmidt’s assists did come on Nicolas Hague’s first-ever NHL goal, though it didn’t help in Nate’s +/- calculations, as power-play points don’t count in + ratings.

Unfortunately, Hague’s first NHL goal was overshadowed by the VGK’s failure to hang on to multiple leads and most importantly, a lead going into the 3^rd period.

This 10-day break couldn’t come at a better time for a team that appears to be missing something. Is it desire? Is it the killer instinct? Or is it just not being prepared? The change in head coaches as of now hasn’t gained any real traction or solved the problem. No one really seems to know what needs to be fixed.

PDB has made some noticeable changes. His current game plan is to play just about everyone on the penalty kill. Alex Tuch, to the best of my recollection, never played on the penalty-kill unit under Gallant, but PDB used him in these situations last night. Considering that Tuch’s offensive weapons seem to be missing, I guess his skating ability, along with his long stick, might be a good way to get him feeling comfortable again. Time will tell on this, but time is getting short for the VGK, who have played the most games in the league at 52 and have only 30 games left, and if their goal is to win the Pacific Division, they’ll have to leapfrog over 4 different teams.

The VGK just seem to be mired in a state of uncertainty. The coaching change was supposed to wake up the team up, give it a jolt, so to speak. But other than the quick first goal in the Ottawa game and last night’s game, it appears that the same old stuff lingers.

The VGK return on Jan. 31 vs. Carolina on the road to complete this 8-game road trip, their longest of the season.

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Nic Hague’s first goal