3 takeaways from the Golden Knights’ loss to the Avalanche

Three takeaways from the Knights’ 4-2 preseason loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday:

1. Powerless on power play.

The Knights’ power play entered the game fourth in the NHL on the power play at 25.8 percent (8-for-31) — a plethora of 5-on-3s early in the preseason helped those numbers — but it’s gone dry the past two games.

The Knights finished 0-for-7 with the man advantage against the Avalanche and haven’t scored in their past 16 power plays, dating to Sunday’s game in Anaheim.

“We tried to make the fancy plays, the cross-seam play, and we weren’t shooting the puck,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “Like I told you, the last two or three power plays we started getting some point shots through, getting some rebounds. And then when you do that and establish a point shot, then some of those seams open up later on.

“We sort of reversed that thing tonight. The puck was bouncing a lot, and we didn’t get good looks early on. And I thought the last couple were much better. But it was slow, we weren’t attacking a lot on the power play.”

Defensemen accounted for both Knights goals, as Colin Miller and Shea Theodore scored at even strength.

Theodore (6:15), Brad Hunt (4:06) and Nate Schmidt (3:39) logged the majority of ice time quarterbacking the power play. Schmidt tied for the team lead with five shots on goal, while Theodore had three shots.

Theodore also was at fault in the first period when J.T. Compher danced around him at the Knights blueline before being stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury on the breakaway.

“I don’t know who had him on the bubble, but I think he’s played really well,” Gallant said of Theodore. “He’s been a good player. Shea’s played really well and he’s a good, solid player. He’s a young player, he’s a talented player. He’s got to get better every game.

“Again, he made some mistakes tonight, and he made some mistakes the other night. But you’re going to see that from young players, especially young defenseman. We’ll live with that. We just want to keep growing our game offensively and defensively. But I like him, he’s got a lot of upside going for him, for sure.”

2. Ship shot.

Vadim Shipachyov can shoot the puck, after all.

The Russian playmaker didn’t record a shot on goal in his first two preseason games and got some heat after passing up a scoring opportunity in the first period Tuesday against Los Angeles.

Against Colorado, Shipachyov notched his first shot 1:35 into the second period when his backhander from close range was stopped by Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov. He finished with three shots on goal and also had the primary assist on Miller’s second-period goal.

“I wouldn’t say he’s the best player on the ice, for sure. I thought he was OK,” Gallant said. “He made a couple good plays and he showed some skilled play. But, he’s still adjusting to the games over here. So, you know, we had some guys that I thought played real hard and played well, but he played fine. But he wasn’t the best player on the ice.”

3. Bed Head.

Reilly Smith was turned aside by Varlamov on a breakaway in the second period.

The Knights forward had another scoring chance with about 5:40 remaining in the third when he cut in from the left wing, but his backhand also was stopped.

Usually, getting stuffed on one breakaway keeps a player up at night. But having it happen twice? “It puts you right to sleep,” Smith said.

Smith again played on the top line with Shipachyov and wing Jonathan Marchessault and picked up an assist on Miller’s goal. He finished with three shots on goal after logging one shot in his first two preseason games and had more ice time on special teams (9:11) than at even strength (7:56).

“He plays a complete game and we use him in all different situations,” said Gallant, who coached Smith in Florida. “I thought he had two great opportunities on those breakaways shorthanded. He really read the play well and took advantage of it.

“It’s too bad he couldn’t get one of those to go in because it would have been a different hockey game. But he played well and works hard. That’s the Reilly Smith that I’ve known for a couple of years.”

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.