LAS VEGAS — Another overtime. Another loss for the Golden Knights.
Vegas blew a pair of two-goal leads against the league’s top team Saturday night, and the Colorado Avalanche made the Knights pay with a 6-5 shootout win.
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Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas scored in the shootout, while Mitch Marner was the only one to score for Vegas, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
It marked Vegas’ 15th time it played past regulation, while it dropped to 4-11 in overtime and shootout games. The Golden Knights are now 1-5 in shootouts this season.
Five different skaters scored for the Knights, while 12 collected points.
Alexander Holtz, Ivan Barbashev, Ben Hutton, Brett Howden and Colton Sissons scored in regulation for Vegas. Carter Hart made 33 saves and dropped to 4-1-3 since making his debut on Dec. 2.
“We should have been able to close the game out, recognizing, okay, now it’s 5-4 (and) the goalie is out,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re usually pretty good in those scenarios. There’s a simple breakdown. They got the puck in the middle. That should never happen. So we’ll address that.
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“After that, overtime, we never got control. We try to challenge people one-on-one in overtime, and unless you’re flying, that’s a tough way to go, because if you lose possession, now you’re chasing it again. So I think a bit of our overtime mentality has to change a little too, when to attack, when not to.
“The shootout is the shootout. I don’t know what to say there. We just haven’t been able to finish in that.”
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MacKinnon’s game-tying goal at the 8:21 mark of the third period was Colorado’s first that didn’t deflect off a Golden Knight, and a statement that the Avalanche weren’t going away that easily. After Hart stopped Sam Malinski’s shot from the blue line, the puck squirted free and MacKinnon was there to punch it home and tie the game, giving Colorado life in the third period with the game tied at 4-all.
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5 – All five of the Golden Knights’ goals were at even strength. While Vegas had its six-game streak with at least one power-play goal come to an end, Cassidy was pleased with the fact his troops were able to put five in the net during 5-on-5 against the league’s top team, which arrived in Vegas leading the league in goals against per game (2.11).
“They’re clearly a better team than we are right now, you can see that with their record and their push,” Cassidy said. “But I also feel like we’re walking out of here tonight, and couple of things change, and where we get the two points, right?”
“No one feels good when you lose, I don’t. We’ll take the positives. We got to fix some things.”
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Holtz scored his first goal of the season and also had an assist. Playing in just his ninth game this season, Holtz made his presence felt early with the game’s first goal 2:43 into the opening period. Holtz had two shots and also blocked two shots, in what was arguably his best performance of the season.
“Yeah, he was feeling it, I think,” Hutton said about Holtz. “He scored early, he got his confidence and he was flying out there. Confidence goes a long way, especially with a guy like that. And I was happy for him tonight.”
The Golden Knights continue their four-game homestand by hosting the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.
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PHOTO CAPTION: Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas (88) collides with Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) after scoring a goal during a shoot out at T-Mobile Arena.
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