3 takeaways from the Golden Knights’ loss to the Oilers
Three takeaways from the Golden Knights’ 8-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday:
1. Tough to stop.
The Knights sure could have used Luca Sbisa.
Jon Merrill filled in for the injured Sbisa and paired with Nate Schmidt on defense in most even-strength situations against the Oilers’ top line.
But the pair struggled — Merrill was benched for a brief time in the second period — against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon, as that unit combined for three goals and four assists.
“You can have off nights some nights,” defenseman Deryk Engelland said. “If it’s one or two guys, their linemates or partners are going to pick them up and get them going. But when you have four guys or more, it’s tough to pick everyone up.”
2. The Nooge.
Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has taken his fair share of criticism during his career, but he could be poised for a breakout season.
Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and three takeaways in 15:19 of ice time and showed glimpses of why he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft. He has eight goals and 14 points this season, tied for second on the team behind McDavid.
“They were skating, we gave them too many odd-man rushes and they’re a talented team and they take advantage of that,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said.
3. Bright spots.
There weren’t many positives for the Knights, but the fourth line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Tomas Nosek and William Carrier was solid and did its best to provide a spark.
Bellemare had a second-period goal and also won 10 of 14 faceoffs in his 12:12 of ice time. Nosek had an assist and two hits in 11:18 and Carrier was credited with three hits in 11:09.
Overall, the Knights won 40 of 63 draws. It’s a small detail, but, hey, at least it’s something.
“We’ve got to keep getting better, and we saw that (Tuesday),” forward David Perron said. “We should know that the type of team we have is to outwork teams. That’s the only way we’re going to have success, and we certainly didn’t do that.”
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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
