Every team, no matter the sport, goes through a lull in their season.
The Vegas Golden Knights seem to have found their lull.
On Friday night, the visiting Ottawa Senators handed the Knights their third straight defeat, 5-4.
Vegas lead the San Jose Sharks by eight points for the top spot in the Pacific Division, a margin that is likely safe but after the season they have had thus far, the Knights are looking to take that crown.
“I think we got out-competed tonight. We didn’t work hard enough and we had one line going. You’re not going to win many games like that,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. “The compete level wasn’t there. You can look at one thing, but it wasn’t one thing, it was a lot of things. We weren’t ready to compete and that’s why we lost.”
Craig Anderson made 25 stops to hold off the Knights as Ottawa improved to 22-31-10 on the season.
Alexandre Burrows scored the game-winner early in the third period.
“They are a team that competes really hard. They are top of the league right now and they feed off that crowd,” Burrows said. “It was a great experience for us. That crowd was really loud and got us going. I thought for the most part, we did a lot of good things. We made it interesting in the third, but we found a way to get it done. It feels good to win in this building.”
Mark Stone, Bobby Ryan, Matt Duchene, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Senators.
“I thought we came out real strong. I thought our first period was great,” Senators head coach Guy Boucher said. “It’s too bad that we were trailing, and to only give up three shots to an opponent that is amazing at home, they don’t have a lot of losses here. I thought we played great. I thought it was a follow-up of our last game in Washington [3-2 loss] where we only gave up 22 shots.”
Reilly Smith, William Karlsson and Colin Miller and Ryan Carpenter scored for Vegas.
“You hope it’s a pivotal [win] for us and we can finish as strong as we played tonight. We gave up a few too many goals, there was some breakdowns, but it was a very good win against a very good hockey team,” Ryan said after the Sens’ win.
[WATCH:Â All Senators vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Marc-Andre Fleurymade 33 saves in the loss.
“I think we’re better than this as a team. I think we’ve shown that we can be a solid team for 60 minutes and play a full 200 feet,” Fleury said. “We showed some character in the third. We battled back and it was unfortunate they got their goal at the end there.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.