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The Golden Knights were shut out for the first time this season on Thursday.
Vegas held steady with the Ducks until late in the third period, but Anaheim broke through and scored the game's only goal to send the Golden Knights to a 1-0 defeat at T-Mobile Arena.
It was the second regulation loss of the season, and just the third all-time to the Ducks in 16 meetings.
It took 52:18 of game action for the scoring lamp to go on, and it was the Ducks that did it. Max Comtois scored his fourth goal in four games against the Golden Knights this season and gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
It was Anaheim's 26th shot of the night, finally beating Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was spectacular. When Comtois scored Anaheim had nine high-danger scoring chances on the night, according to Natural Stat Trick and had scored on none of them. Fleury even had the save of the night, a sprawling effort to deny Isac Lundestrom a goal on an open net.
Anaheim was the better team Thursday, and it was a credit to Fleury that Vegas was not behind by more.
In the third period, the Ducks had a stretch of about a minute when they nearly had two breakaway opportunities. On the first, Dylan Coghlan managed to break up the play to prevent a 1-on-1 shot, and on the second Ryan Getzlaf did get a breakaway, but bobbled the puck at the end and didn't get his full force behind it. Fleury made the save and it remained 0-0.
The second and first periods weren't much better for the Golden Knights, who managed a season-low four shots on goal in the first.
The Ducks led in final shots on goal 28-21.
Golden Knights, Ducks tied 0-0 after 2 periods
The Golden Knights and Ducks played a more entertaining second period than the first, but the result was the same. After two periods at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, Vegas and Anaheim were tied 0-0.
It was the second time this season the Golden Knights played two periods without a goal. The last time, on Jan. 24 in Arizona, they scored with 43 seconds left in regulation to win.
The second period started better for the Golden Knights. They spent more time in the Anaheim zone, and drew an early power play. Unfortunately they also took a power play, wiping the last 12 seconds and putting Vegas on the kill. Neither team scored with the man advantage.
The Ducks almost scored with Max Comtois and Isac Lundestrom on a 2-on-1. Comtois fluttered the puck over a sprawling Alex Pietrangelo, and Lundestrom dodged the puck choke only to find the reaching arm of Marc-Andre Fleury deny him while on his back.
Moments later at the other end Vegas' Nicolas Hague blasted a puck off the post, and it bounced behind Ducks goalie John Gibson. The in-arena staff pumped in the cheering crowd noise, but it never crossed the line and it remained scoreless.
And there it remained for the rest of the period. The Golden Knights didn't manage another dangerous attempt in the frame and finished the second trailing 21-11 in shots on goal.
Golden Knights muster 4 shots on goal in 1st period, tied with Ducks
The Golden Knights were fortunate to get out of the first period in a tie game.
Vegas had its worst period of the season in the first against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, but escaped in a 0-0 tie at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights did not register a shot on goal until nearly seven minutes into the game. They also three high-danger chances in that time, and were lucky not be facing a big, early deficit. The slow play continued late into the frame, too. At the TV timeout with 5:38 remaining in the first period, Vegas trailed 9-2 in shots on goal and 6-2 in scoring chances.
Zach Whitecloud had the best play of the period with just under five minutes to go, diving onto his belly to knock the puck away from Anaheim's Derek Grant to prevent a breakaway chance.
The Golden Knights trailed in shots on goal 13-4 in the first period, their fewest shots on goal in a period this season. Their all-time low is two, set in the first period on Nov. 7, 2017 in a game against the Canadiens.
The Golden Knights also announced right before the game that goalie Robin Lehner, who was expected to start and was a late scratch, sustained an upper-body injury and is day-to-day.
Robin Lehner a late scratch
Vegas goalie Robin Lehner, who was expected to start Thursday's game against the Ducks, was a late scratch. Marc-Andre Fleury is starting for the Golden Knights, with Oscar Dansk serving as the backup.
Lehner practiced this morning and showed no signs of missing the game. He was not listed on the NHL's "COVID Protocol Related Absences" list. More information should be available after the game.
Pregame
The Golden Knights found out during the second intermission of Tuesday’s game that forward Tomas Nosek tested positive for COVID-19. They played the rest of the game, beating the Ducks 5-4.
On Wednesday, the NHL announced what happened with Nosek, and he was placed on the league’s COVID protocol-related absences list. He was the only one, meaning no other players were deemed “high-risk close contacts” that would have forced their inclusion on the list.
The Golden Knights are prepping for today's 7 p.m. game against the Ducks at T-Mobile Arena like an otherwise normal game. One player acknowledged this is their “new normal,” and coach Pete DeBoer said Nosek’s situation was out of his control.
“I’ll be honest with you, we’ve kind of become numb to it,” DeBoer said. "It’s another day in the COVID world we live in, and hopefully the end is in sight.”
DeBoer said it wasn't up to the Golden Knights whether the game should be played or who would go on the league's COVID list. When he found out Nosek's test came back positive, the next steps were out of his control, he said.
“That immediately gets taken out of our hands at that point and is in the medical team’s hands of the NHL and both teams,” DeBoer said. “What happens from there, we just follow instruction."
Vegas shut down its facility Wednesday and returned to practice today. Other than Nosek, almost everyone else was accounted for. Defenseman Shea Theodore did not skate, but he was injured Tuesday and is not expected to play tonight.
Vegas players found out about Nosek the same time as DeBoer, and the coach believes the rattling nature of learning what happened to a teammate affected them in the third period. The Golden Knights allowed Anaheim to tie the game with three goals in the period, though they did score late to win it.
"This is kind of the new normal, unfortunately," captain Mark Stone said. "Obviously (the league) is going to try and buckle down a little bit more and try to find ways to improve it, and we've got to respect it."
As a result of Tuesday’s incident, the NHL announced all players and staff with the Golden Knights and Ducks would undergo rapid testing for COVID-19, in addition to their daily lab-based PCR testing, the results of which come back later in the day. Defenseman Zach Whitecloud said he did not know the result of his rapid test before practice this morning.
As for the on-ice narratives, the Golden Knights will have some lineup changes today. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who missed three games in COVID protocols, will return to his spot on the right side of the top pair. He in essence replaces Theodore, who DeBoer labeled as "day-to-day."
With Nosek out, forward Nicolas Roy dropped from the third line to his natural spot at center on the fourth line. Keegan Kolesar will enter the lineup in Roy's old spot on the left wing.
Goalie Robin Lehner is expected to start his sixth game of the season as part of an every-other-game rotation with Marc-Andre Fleury.
Vegas is 13-2-0 all-time against Anaheim, its most wins against any franchise.
TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-230, Ducks plus-200; over/under: 5.5 (minus-120, EVEN)
Golden Knights (8-1-1, 17 points; 1st place, West Division)
Coach: Peter DeBoer (second season)
Points leader: Mark Stone (15)
Goals leader: Max Pacioretty (6)
Assists leader: Mark Stone (12)
Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.96 GAA, .890 save percentage)
Ducks (5-6-3, 13 points; t-4th place, West Division)
Coach: Dallas Eakins (second season)
Points leader: Max Comtois (7)
Goals leader: Max Comtois (5)
Assists leader: Carter Rowney (6)
Expected goalie: John Gibson (2.48 GAA, .918 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith
Keegan Kolesar—Cody Glass—Alex Tuch
William Carrier—Nicolas Roy—Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Alec Martinez—Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague—Zach Whitecloud
Nick Holden—Dylan Coghlan
Goalies
Robin Lehner, Marc-Andre Fleury
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