Recap: The Golden Knights got off to a slow start in Anaheim, recording their first shot 5:43 into the opening period. The two teams traded penalties but neither converted on the man advantage. After the opening 20 minutes the game was locked in a scoreless tie.
Anaheim took the first lead of the game 4:21 in the middle frame, only to double it two minutes later. William Carrier cut the lead in half with his third goal of the season. The Ducks however, widened their lead adding two more but Zach Whitecloud got Vegas back in the game with a shorthanded goal with :12 left in the period. After 40 minutes expired the Golden Knights trailed 4-2.
Mattias Janmark scored Vegas’ second shorthanded goal of the evening to close Anaheim’s gap. The Ducks regained their two goal lead but the Golden Knights wouldn’t go a way. On Vegas’ third power play opportunity Max Pacioretty kept the visiting team alive scoring his third of the season. The Golden Knights gave up a shorthanded empty net goal, but scored another power play to make it a 6-5 game. Anaheim survived a wild third period beating Vegas by one.
The Golden Knights record drops to 12-10-0 falling 6-5 to the Ducks in Anaheim. Vegas wraps up their short two-game trip with a stop in Arizona on Friday night. Puck drop against the Coyotes is scheduled for 6:30 PM. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: After starting to look a little more like themselves the last week or so, the Golden Knights lacked an attention to details. Major issues in the neutral zone, inability to breakout, unwillingness to cover for active d-men. VGK fought their butts off to come back into the game but they couldn’t get over the hump. A winnable game playing the Ducks on a back-to-back, the Golden Knights couldn’t get it. (Recap by Ken)
Upcoming stories from the Vegas Golden Knights vs. Anaheim Ducks game at Honda Center.
- Max Pacioretty’s ice cold gamely routine
- Points in the decision
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Evgenii Dadonov
** Zach Whitecloud
* Mattias Janmark
Mark Stone still out here making unreal passes while being pinned into the boards.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) December 2, 2021
Yet again, far too easy an exit, far too easy through the neutral zone. Not able to pick everyone up in the defensive zone. Rinse and repeat tonight.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) December 2, 2021
We are now 22 games into the season. Here are the number of goals VGK have allowed…
0 goals – 0 (0-0-0)
1 – 2 (2-0-0)
2 – 8 (7-1-0)
3 – 3 (1-2-0)
4 – 5* (2-2-0)
5 – 3 (0-3-0)
6 – 1 (0-1-0)*Including tonight
2 times in 22 games allowing 0 or 1. This must improve.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) December 2, 2021
Good example of lacking details. As Theodore moves across the blue line w/ McNabb active, Dadonov should fill in. He doesn't, so now Theodore must go back. At that point, Kolesar looks right at McNabb going for the puck, and he doesn't fill in at the point. Someone must cover. pic.twitter.com/q2NgrV8YyL
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) December 2, 2021
Justin
Robin Lehner can look like the absolute worst starting goalie in the league at times. No chance of winning the cup with him and probably won’t get out of the Pacific division with him. Too many soft goals. How many soft 5 hole goals does he give up, my goodness. Seen this movie way, way too many times.
Justin
Shame cuz he seems like a real likeable guy with commendable character. Can be ok at times but when he is off he can be really, really off.
2 power play goals tonight but wow it still looks anemic. Not much hope there either…
Bring back the hsk kids! Bring back the kids!
John W
Writing this one from my Hotel in Anaheim, saw the game at the Arena formerly known as the Pond. Place was only 1/2 full, BTW.
Quick observations:
– Lehner needs to tighten up on his short side. You simply can’t give up that many goals to the near post. He is so big, I don’t understand his continuing weakness in that area. I do understand that the defense is leaving him out to dry too often, but at least 2 of those 5 goals were stoppable.
– Theodore continues to underperform. He did make a few strong defensive stops, but also some costly mistakes (including that horrible misplay with net empty). Still thinking he may be the sacrifice needed to satisfy the Great God Eichel Contract. Still loving Hutton.
– We really need Karlsson back. Roy is in one of his “quiet” stretches, and it’s affecting us up the middle badly.
– I know the coaches and FO still like Kolesar……I spent a lot of time on his shifts watching him, and I still don’t get it. We got rid of Reevo, partly due to him being such an offensive liability. Kolesar is more athletic, but like Reevo, lacks any touch with the puck. Any of the “Kids” are an improvement, IMHO.
– Huge sigh of relief when Stoney came back out after his encounter with the boards…….would have been a standing “O” at T-Mobile.
Need a bounce back in PHX. Thanks to all the Knights fans who said hi to my family and I here.
Mike StG
John W – I agree with everything you said except regarding Lehner. I also don’t get why they keep playing Kolesar, and tonight at 3C?? He’s no Reaves – absolutely NO ONE is afraid of him – he doesn’t drive play, can’t keep the puck on his stick, makes poor decisions with the puck and has hands of stone (and I ain’t talking about Mark Stone). Brooks, Leschyshyn or Rondbjerg would all be better choices. Maybe since it’s reg szn the needs of HSK and possibly losing Kolesar on waivers are factors.
THE hockey GOD
@mike I agree, none of the recent waiver pick ups are showing much potential. [Howden (not a pick up) /Amadio saw less than 8 minutes ice time}.
Brooks showed a little.
It looks like FO did a gun shot approach on the waiver wire, taking a wild shot at these players, many of which passed around and waived by more than one team.
The two AHLer rookies made an epic comeback push in their game against the Wild in their last game. The ducks have a lot of youngsters on their team. It would have been nice to see how VGK rookies matched up with them. Even Jones is picking up his play in AHL. I believe the stint that no. 15, no 46 and Jones in NHL helped their confidence as they picked up their game recently in AHL for the HSK.
I hate to say it, a lot of people ragging on LR but Stone has not really played consistently at all since coming off IR. He took an awful tumble into the boards , hurting his upper body, at what looked liked a misguided attempt to “sell” the penalty against him.
Mike StG
For the Lehner critics: Clear Sight Analytics and Kevin Woodley say Lehner is performing at a very high level and should be in the Vezina conversation. One big reason – he’s faced and stopped more high danger chances than most any other goalie, Also, qhis GSAx is also very high.
Those are the metrics and opinions of the qualified, not the “eye test” of fans who tend to think any goal short of a laser blast or an Ovechkin one timer should have been saved by the goalie.
Tim
Mike, you think overall Lehner is doing a good job ok that’s your opinion and do you believe as we play better teams in the tournament if we make the tournament he’ll shine like a possible Vezina candidate? Hockey’s not my game and I guess the eye test doesn’t count but he scares the hell out of me. Kolesar another eye test tells me he sucks but he plays on so good luck Knights playing handicapped every game.
Alex
Dumbest fan base in sports on display here yet again.
Lehner was not wanted by ANY NHL club when we got him…he is terrible…slow to get up after a flop, can’t stop a breakaway EVER, and his short side is weak
Mike StG
I guess you’re the prime example of that. I was not giving my opinion. I was quoting CSA and Woodley (from InGoal mag), plus the GSAx metric. So, if you don’t recognize them I guess that makes you what you claim others to be. Also, McKenna and Eliot (both former NHL goalies) have given him high marks all season. So has Granger.
If you were actually watching the game yesterday he stopped several OMR and breakaways. If it seems to you that ‘he can’t stop a breakaway EVER’, it’s because he’s faced more of them than any goalie in the league and you can’t stop them all or even most of them.
It’s too bad you’re so haughty and arrogant that you believe you understand the details of the position and game better than actual professionals and players. That’s pretty dumb. Your loss.
Alex
Your failure to understand basic hockey is astonishing…manipulating post poor performances is like trying to learn how to ride a bike by reading books about how ro ride a bike.
Not one team – NOT ONE – wanted this mentally ill nut case before we got him…he can’t make basic plays when he goes down, and cannot stop short side shots (due to being out of position because he favors the other side) and is hopeless on shoot outs and breakaways.
You, along with that loser ex school teacher who posted her personal information on this site, are among the dumbest of the dumb.
Mike StG
I probably understand hockey better than you do, having been following the game since the 70’s.
Your regurgitation of the “no one wanted him” line is totally irrelevant, and rehashing history is pointless. Your calling him a nut case says a lot about your bias as well.
He stopped plenty of short side shots and OMR last night. It’s true that lateral movement is not a strength. He is a very large goalie that uses his size, reading the play and positioning. He also plays deeper in goal than most. He is not a Fleury or Saros type of goalie who depend on athleticism for reaction saves. They’ll play further out of the net, mostly with back heel of skate at the edge of the blue paint. Lehner plays more with the toe of his skates on the edge of the paint.
So, yes his ability to move laterally to react to shots resulting from cross ice passes is a vulnerability, but he more than makes up for that playing his particular style that suits his physical size and ability.
By the way, he won the last shootout. And he had several stops on breakaways last night as well. Your use of “never” and other superlatives reveal your bias against him personally.
FTR, I was not happy when Fleury was traded, as I enjoy his more athletic style, his timely poke checks and his personality. But the team went with Lehner, and I see no need to pile on with undue, biased criticism.
Sorry the facts offend you, and that you are left to personal attacks as a way to justify your viewpoint.
Daryl
@Mike….very well said
TS
ARE YOU S-T-I-L -L SMEARING ME FOR NO REASON?? PICK ON YOUR OWN WOMAN, AND LEAVE ME ALONE. LET YOUR PERVERSION/ OBSESSION GO. ENOUGH.
knights fan in minny
your failure to be a human being is amazing pauly are you going to do some smash and grabs tonight you know your kinds favorite past time
THE hockey GOD
spot on analysis Mike, this loss was not LR fault, easily could have been 10 to 5. VGK played a very overall poor D game.
Anyone watching the game could see that, many of the goals were slights off angle feigns by offensive players, misdirection by offensive players, deflections, screens and missed assignments by very poorly played VGK defensive game. Ignore Alex the clown. He knows nothing except for gang banging CVS and home depot stores with his BLM buddies. The misfit line was terrible all night, partly due to Roy not playing well in last few games. no. 17 was also terrible and only saw 8 minutes of TOI. Team is hesitant and slow moving with puck “to the hole”, poor decisions on puck control. This must change direction. Feel that the timing with 61 and 67 coming back from long layoffs is still not there. The leaders are not leading. The anaheim D men clearly outplayed the VGK dman. No. 23 loss on PP and defense is really showing and hurting the team. They have not gotten an answer to loss of 23 on defense yet.
Anyone else can ignore my reply to Mike.
Mike StG
ThG – you nailed it. It’s a work in progress at this point. I do believe when 71 and 23 return the team will look a lot better. Agree that 10 hasn’t been great recently, and he was unable to handle Zegras’ speed. He really belongs at 4C, or 3C tops. I think if 71 was playing they would have shut down the Zegras line. Neither 55 nor 10 could match up and they were -2 and -3 for the night.
The team misses 23 on the PP, but I think more so his play in front of the goal (not just shot blocks).
And I think 27 is probably the expendable piece now, when 9 is ready to play. I had hoped his careless mistakes would correct over time. They first loomed large in the 18 Cup final and I thought maybe it was just the pressure and his age. But he can’t seem to get that part of his game sorted out. He’s gifted but not complete, and after this long maybe we’re waiting for something that will never happen.
knights fan in minny
what do you mean we your not part of this hey ass clown how many 40s do you drink before you go out thugging your brain side is weak BOY
Alex
“We your not part”
You trailer trash idiots are the dumbest of the dumb
knights fan in minny
get outside and dribble with your porch monkey friends
Blitz
Nothing to see here folks, if Chuck Woolery thinks Lehner should get the Vezina then let’s get that parade going.
THE hockey GOD
that is a stretch, the Toronto goalie is leading the parade now, and the Canadian fans are fawning all over “soup”.
Alex
Clearly bad ice is to blame…
Dumbest fan base in sports
THE hockey GOD
you are leading member of dumbest fan base, your posts prove it every time you post.
hey walmart is open now, why don’t you and your thug friends hit it up .
loser
knights fan in minny
clearly you being a loser is correct pauly get me 40 bitch
Daryl
RL has had a great number of high danger chances and he’s done a really good job of stopping them. But again, you can’t just go off stats and numbers. Remember the last two playoffs, VGK had a horrible time scoring and while the other goalie is much to blame for that, so we’re the VGK shooters. They were basically shooting directly into the gut of the goalie. You can be a foot away but when you shoot right at the goalie, he makes the save just by being in front. The stats would should the goalie did an amazing job when in fact he didn’t do much at all. RL has had a lot of shots go off his mask and he’s had shot hit him when he doesn’t even see the puck. Again, those saves look great if weook at the figures you posted but in reality, they weren’t that impressive.
THAT is why the eye test is also important. Now don’t get me wrong, RL makes some great saves and I agree he faces more high danger shots than most and he is doing a good job in those situations…. It’s the other situations I have a problem with.
One of the goals he over plays the puck and never sees the other player crashing backside. He consistently gets beat glove side.
IMO, 3 of the goals last night were very stoppable. I’m not putting the loss just on him as this is a team sport and there are several reasons why VGK lost this game. RL is just one of those reasons
Alex
This idiot thinks the more you write (and copy other on line stories) the smarter he will look.
Dumbest fan base in all of sports
THE hockey GOD
ignore the troll, Daryl,
he is due to hit up a CVS store any time now
Vic
Many reasons why the game was lost, but go back and watch the 5th goal by Drysdale. Focus mainly on Carrier, Hutton and Lehner and you will know why the easy back breaking goal was scored which led to another loss.
THE hockey GOD
@ Vic was that goal 1, 3, 4, or 6 ?? 🙂
Alex
Very poor ice conditions for the Ducks goals for Lehner to contend with, per this moron
THE hockey GOD
no one was complaining about the ice conditions, moron. Take your BS elsewhere you have nothing to contribute here except hate and evil.
phantom major
last season Vgk allowed 2.18 goals per game
best in the league
this season Vgk allowing 3.18 goals per game
24th worst in the league
PDB=
Pond hockey
Defensive
Blunders
phantom major
RL= 29th in save %
RL=38th in GAA goals against
goals saved above expected= RL is 29th
guess who is 25th? Laurent Brossoit
so, wide open pond hockey + avg goaltending = bubble team at best, no playoffs at worst
Mike StG
Phantom – pulling numbers out of your butt??
Lehner is 39th in GSAx? Wrong.
As of Nov 30th GSAx (all situations) Lehner is 8th in league at +9.2. Ahead of Vasilevskiy at +8.9.
His Save% is pedestrian at .913, but his Save% differential is +2.8, again above Vasi (+2.6). That’s 7th best in the league. This is actually a better measure of performance than GSAx, which is cumulative and affected by how many games are played.
As for “pond hockey” I don’t suppose you think it’s relevant that for 16 of the first 22 games Vegas played 3-4 rookies every game and 5 of them played their first NHL game in that stretch. And that no team in modern history has ever played with that high a percentage of their salary cap out of the lineup. Just blame PDB that the best they could do under those circumstances is 12-10-0. Lol…
phantom major
wrong. I used his stats for Dec 2 , not Nov 30
his CURRENT Stats are 9 wins, 9 losses
GAA is 3.08
save % is .909
stats are from NHL.com and moneypuck …take it up with them
Mike StG
You obviously are confused.
GSAx 39th?? Wrong. Nothing you quoted involves that. His. GSAx is 8th best in league. Maybe you meant GAA?
You also don’t address Save % differential. .909 is Save %, which doesn’t reflect other meaningful factors. I’m talking about save % differential. Look it up.
Won-Lost isn’t meaningful either as relates to actual goalie performance. A goalie can be 1-3 having lost 1-0, 3-2 and 4-0 but that doesn’t make him a lousy goalie. It’s a team game.
Daryl
The Pens were tops with the most salary Cap out…. VGK was 2nd. The Lens also had a winning record when they were so short
Mike StG
Daryl, that’s not correct if you’re talking about this season.
Based on missing 5 games or more:
Pens – ~$26.3M. If you add LeTang, who missed only 4 of 23 games, that comes to about $33.5M.
VGK – $37.9M. That doesn’t include Tuch or Eichel. If you just added Tuch since he was on LTIR at szn start that’s north of $42M. If you put Eichel that’s nearly $48M in player salary not playing, but Eichel puts them over the cap so it’s not a fair comparison.
As far as record goes, Vegas is 12-10 which is actually a winning record. Pens are 10-8-5, which is NHL .500 but actually a losing record 10 wins vs 13 losses.
Regardless, both teams have done fairly well considering the huge impacts of injuries to their core players. Looks like both teams could be back pretty much full strength in the next 3-4 weeks. I think they’ll both be in playoffs, but the road to the cup final is pretty brutal for the Pens.
Daryl
My information came directly from NHL Network and I did not fact check it. Those figures did not include Eichel though. So I don’t know for sure which is correct or not. They were talking about how many players were missing from VGK but then said they weren’t even the top team with the most Cap depleted team. They said the Pens were and VGK was 2nd. I also don’t know how many games that was based off of, it could have only been 4 games. I know Crosby came back for one game before having to miss several more.
Daryl
And yes they wert king about this season….
Blitz
I am having a hard time seeing what the knights do well. I see alot of what they are not doing well. Personally I don’t see this team getting into the playoffs, maybe, just maybe, as a wild card. Still 3/4 of the season left and I am still hoping, but the mojo is gone.
Passing is awful. The ducks are a young “green” team and yet the passing is tape to tape. Oilers passing is ridiculous. Lots of other examples from recent teams, but VGK passing is bad compared to just about ever other team I watch. Lots of passes in front or behind players when trying to hit a player on the run. If it is tape to tape players almost always have to “gather” it, disrupting timing and allowing opposing players to close. It’s not clean. This is especially true on the PP. I watch other power plays and passes are bam bam bam, often with a one timer or continuous shot on goal in the mix in a fluid fashion. Vegas pass pass then gather the puck and shoot. Mean while goalie moves and makes the save. The PP is already really really predicable, but even when they get the defense to shift, by the time the puck is gathered the d has recovered.
THE hockey GOD
yep blitz, a lot of missing the wide open holes
THE hockey GOD
and coach unable to get proper match ups , on the road
Blitz
I guess if I had to characterize it in terms of strengths and weaknesses of a roaster I would say the knights are a poor stick handling team. I don’t see crispness in this team’s passes and I don’t see smoothness/flow in accepting passes. I think this causes alot of issues, especially offensively and on the PP. That’s not to say they can’t have a good pass here or there, but collectively thru the game it causes them alot of problems.
THE hockey GOD
@blitz, yes, no flow to the game, very hard to watch. Team chemistry missing in action due to revolving door on the bench. I don’t see a fix until they play ten more games with healthy lineup. Desperately need 23 back in line up, Roy needs to go down to 4C, or somehow pick up his game. Decent wins on face offs though.
VGK last in league in faceoffs. Last year VGK was first in league in Pk, this year near the bottom of league. Those are real stats, not made up goalie stats. Team is not firing anywhere near to where it needs to be. But plenty of time to fix it.
Alex
Don’t forget the “bad ice”
rick schoen
If anybody has watched a Silver Knights game in the last two year, be happy that we have a great goalie in waiting in, Logan Thompson. He is the real deal! How long the Knights keep him on the farm is the big question. I would hate to see management use him as trade bait.
Alex
Not sure who all caps TS is, but she seems pretty dumb
knights fan in minny
dont forget the old english thug punk
The " real" TS
So NOW you’ re posting ” dumb fanbase comments” in MY NAME?? JESUS, DUDE, DON’T YOU HAVE A ” REAL” JOB?? OR IS YOUR ONLY JOB TO TROLL PEOPLE FOR NO REASON??? JUST HOW OLD ARE YOU, ANYWAY?? STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF AND GROW UP!#!
BIG BAD vlad
Week after week the losses were because no stone and no pac. Well they’re back! And still a piss poor performance. Just like in the playoffs. Stone and pac invisible
Eichel better be able to do some heavy lifting only weeks after major surgery cuz he’s got about 20 others to carry.
TS
WAIT BUT WE HAVE NICE UNIFORMS AND SMALL DOGS IN CUTE SWEATERS AND HOCKEY IS SO MUCH FUN
The " real" TS
So “someone” we know and despise is using MY name ” TS” to post ” dumb fan base “comments— hey, pauly/ alex: do you have a REAL job? Or is your only job to TROLL ???STOP USING MY NAME. AND STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF. JUST HOW OLD ARE YOU, BOY??
knights fan in minny
another bitter fool returns are you related to alex aka pauly the thug maybe you 2 are the same people or brothers from different mothers just asking
TS
STONE AND PAC ARE SOOOOO CUTE
knights fan in minny
hey pauly aka alex now ts guess what crt is dead white man rules like aLways that was funny when the blm lady took the money and ran and duped ypur people when will you people ever learn
TS
SOMEONE IS USING MY NAME TO POST ” DUMB FANBASE” COMMENTS. TRYING TO SMEAR ME SOME MORE, ALEX?? HOW OLD ARE YOU, ANYWAY??
ALEX/ PAULY: STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF AND GROW UP!!
knights fan in minny
ass holes dont grow up
TS
Your “name” is TS? You own those letters?
I just think these little plastic flamingos they throw on the ice are soooooo adorable!