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Golden Knights close road trip with 4-1 loss to Bruins

Updated November 11, 2018 - 9:45 pm

BOSTON — The notion of breaking up the Golden Knights’ first line would have been inconceivable not too long ago.

No matter how much the team struggled for offense, the trio of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith were the one constant.

But with the Knights desperately in need of a jolt, coach Gerard Gallant did the unimaginable Sunday, to little avail.

Despite the changes, the Knights were unable to dig out of an early hole and lost 4-1 to the Boston Bruins in front of an announced crowd of 17,565 at TD Garden.

“I just tried something different tonight, that’s all,” Gallant said. “Things weren’t going good, so we just wanted to try something different and see how it works.

“When you’re not winning you’ve got to try things. That’s what a coach’s job is supposed to be so you try and get a little spark.”

The Karlsson-Marchessault-Smith line was one of the best in the NHL last season at 5-on-5 with a plus-23 goal differential.

But they haven’t been able to replicate that magic despite dominating possession with a Corsi for percentage approaching 60 percent.

Max Pacioretty joined Karlsson and Smith on one line beginning early in the second period, while Marchessault skated with Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch.

“We’re not happy right now,” Gallant said. “It’s a group effort. It’s not like it’s one player or one line. It’s the whole bunch of us, so we’ve got to get better.”

Eakin produced the Knights’ lone goal with 9:05 remaining in the second to cut Boston’s lead to 3-1.

Tuch, who played at Boston College, drove hard to the net and sent a one-hand pass toward the crease. Eakin converted for his fifth goal, which ranks second on the team behind Marchessault’s eight.

But the Knights took three of their season-high seven minor penalties in the third period to thwart any comeback hopes and finished their four-game road trip through the Atlantic Division at 1-3.

“We had enough chances in the last few games to make it a positive road trip and we kind of just found a way to give them away,” Eakin said. “It’s got to come internally, and there’s some work to be done.”

Goaltender Malcolm Subban started the second game of the back-to-back and finished with 33 saves against the team that waived him prior to the start of last season.

However, he also made a costly gaffe with 2:09 to go in the first period that allowed the Bruins to go ahead 2-0.

Sean Kuraly’s hard dump-in from center ice caromed straight off the boards and Subban ventured out of his crease to try to poke away the puck. But he couldn’t get his stick on it, and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon pounced on the loose puck for his first career NHL goal in his fifth game.

“I just thought it was going to come back closer to the net,” Subban said. “Obviously, it didn’t, so I misread that.”

David Pastrnak tallied his league-leading 16th goal late in the third period on a 5-on-3 power play for Boston.

Danton Heinen converted at the back post after a feed from Anders Bjork 2:54 into the game for the Bruins.

Brad Marchand added a goal 58 seconds into the second period moments after a power play expired to put the Bruins on top 3-0.

“Adversity is something you meet during the season, during your career,” center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. “It’s really the small things, the small bounces that cost us big-time. A little bit of luck at times but just keep battling, create your own luck and we’re going to turn it around.”

More Golden Knights: Follow online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

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

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