With 12 games left in the regular season, it’s fair to say that things are trending in the wrong direction for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas, which held a four-point lead in the Pacific Division at the Olympic break, stumbles into Sunday’s contest at Dallas having won just three of its previous 12 games. The Golden Knights have scored one goal during their current three-game losing streak.
And, what seemed like a foregone conclusion less than two months ago — a playoff berth — suddenly is very much in question. The Golden Knights (31-25-14, 76 points) have dropped to third place in the Pacific, with the Los Angeles Kings, Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks all within striking distance.
Vegas comes in off a head-scratching 4-1 loss at Nashville on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Knights recorded a 20-4 edge in shots in a dominating first period but still went into the locker room trailing, 1-0, thanks to a Steven Stamkos’ one-timer.
The Golden Knights then allowed a power-play goal to Stamkos and a shorthanded goal to Tyson Jost in the second period. It marked the sixth time in the last 12 games that Vegas fell behind 3-0 in a contest.
Defenseman Shea Theodore ended a 153-minute scoreless streak later in the period, but Ryan O’Reilly answered with another power-play goal to seal the win for the Predators.
“We chase the game a lot. That’s been a problem,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’ve got to finish better. Obviously, one goal in three games. Some guys we rely on just haven’t got it done offensively, or a little snake-bit. Whatever the reason is, it’s not going into the net.”
Vegas lost despite outshooting Nashville by a 40-20 margin.
“It’s crazy,” forward Brett Howden said. “There’s a lot to like about the way we played tonight, but we have to do a better job of finding a way. We need to start pulling some games together here. There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves. The good thing is we’re right back at it tomorrow, get another chance to go at it … and try and come out with a win.”
The bad thing is it comes against Dallas (43-15-11, 97 points), second in the league in points behind Colorado. The Stars tied a franchise record with a 15-game point streak (14-0-1) and have picked up points in 17 of their last 18 games (15-1-2).
The Stars also will be playing the second game of a back-to-back, coming in off an emotional 2-1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn. Jason Robertson scored his team-leading 38th goal on a power play in the first period, and Jake Oettinger finished with 26 saves.
Dallas failed to convert on a four-minute power play near the end of the third period when Minnesota’s Bobby Brink drew blood with a high stick on Sam Steel during a mid-ice collision. The Wild won the game after Brink found a wide-open Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot 3:08 into overtime.
“We had our chances on the power play,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Their goalie made some great saves. Then when it gets to 3-on-3, we got a look, they got a look, and they obviously got a clean look and got one.”
