In Chicago, the Vegas Golden Knights fell to the Blackhawks on Wednesday night, 4-, on skills. The loss officially eliminated the Knights from the playoff race. It is the first time Vegas has missed the post season.
Chicago’s Tyler Johnson was the only goal scorer in the skills competition. His strike came in the seventh round.
“I don’t know,” Vegas coach Pete DeBoer said. “I don’t know how to explain that. I feel bad for our goalie (Logan Thompson). “I thought ‘LT’ did a great job in the shootouts (three goals on 17 shots), giving us a chance, and how do you explain that many good players don’t find the net? I don’t have an explanation for it.”
Kevin Lankinen made 37 saves in the Chicago win.
“Well, we got the fans out of their seats,” Chicago coach Derek King said. “We gave them some entertainment. I’d like to hear what they’re saying when they’re walking to their cars. It was a good entertainment night. It was a good game for us. I know the other coaches. I know Pete and [assistant coach Steve Spott]. I feel for them, but our job is to win a hockey game, so I’m glad we did.”
Taylor Raddysh hit for a double for the Blackhawks.
“We’re hard on the puck,” Raddysh said. “I feel like [Lafferty], [Kurashev] and myself just kind of forced their ‘D’ to turn the pucks over and got our chances off of that. On both of my goals, ‘Laff’ and ‘Kursh’ had some big turnovers and just led to opportunities for us, and I just happened to find the back of the net.”
Vegas had reached the post season in the their first four years as a franchise.
“That’s why you play,” Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson said. “From the beginning of the year, [training] camp, you’re getting ready for the playoffs. It’s obviously disappointing. It’s not where we want to be but again, injuries and crazy injuries, too, throughout the year. Yeah, it’s tough, for sure.”
Michael Amadio and Alec Martinez had goals for the Golden Knights, they kept the scored tied, 2-2, with Raddysh scored the Chicago pair.
Caleb Jones struck for the Blackhawks for a 3-2 lead in the middle frame.
“It was fun,” Jones said. “Obviously everyone knows it’s been a long year, a lot of ups and downs. It’s been mostly down. It was to give the fans a big win there. We tried to come out and play hard and kind of try to play spoilers. … We wanted to beat those guys and kind of send them home, too. It was fun to get the win.”
Max Pacioretty tied it for Vegas late in the second period.
“You don’t hate your game in those games, but at the same time you didn’t do enough to win them in regulation or overtime to make sure that there’s no question marks,” Pacioretty said. “There’ll be a lot of regret this summer, a lot of reflection but … I never lost hope. Right now, it makes it even more difficult to digest.”
Thompson made 37 saves in the loss.
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