Monday, Nov. 18, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Scoring hasn’t been an issue for the Vegas Golden Knights this season.
Vegas is the second-best scoring team in the league at 4.12 goals per game and is in the top 10 for most shots on goal. However, on Sunday against the Washington Capitals, the Golden Knights couldn’t produce many scoring chances.
That’s because indecisiveness about whether to pass or shoot led the Golden Knights to 29 giveaways and just six shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick for the Capitals in inching closer to surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record in leading Washington to a 5-2 win.
“If you’re not going to shoot it, then hang on to it and make a play that’s not too risky or isn’t a whole play,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Tonight, there was a little more of that in our game.”
Cassidy pointed out that not all of the Golden Knights’ 29 giveaways occurred in the Capital’s zone, but a handful came in the neutral zone, which was a product of mismanagement.
That was the case late in the second period when careless play by Vegas led to a giveaway, and a rush on the Golden Knights’ net for Washington. Ovechkin scored his second goal on an assist from Matt Roy for a 4-2 advantage after two periods.
“Some of them (giveaways) weren’t shooting situations and were just mismanaging (the puck),” Cassidy said. “They (Washington) do it well. Their transition (game) is one of the best in the league.”
For the first time this season, the Golden Knights’ power play struggled and was a product of indecisiveness. Vegas had just one power play on the night and only three one-shots on goal.
Vegas trailed 2-0 eight minutes into the game and couldn’t erase the deficit. Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar had the Golden Knights’ goals.
“We have to do a better job around the net and put more pucks on,” center Tomas Hertl said. “It was the same with the power play. We had the puck for two minutes, but we didn’t have a lot of shots on goal. Every time we score goals, we put more pucks to the net.”
Vegas will need to clean up its game before Wednesday when it plays Toronto to start a five-game road swing. They also play Ottawa, Montreal, Philadelphia and Colorado before returning to T-Mobile Arena Nov. 29.
Ovechkin’s three goals gave him 866 for his career, 29 from surpassing Gretzky as the NHL career leader. It also was his 176th career multigoal game, behind only Gretzky’s 189. It was the 31st hat trick of his career, the sixth most in NHL history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.