Golden Knights falter in final period for 4-2 loss at Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The puck has bounced the Golden Knights’ way on several occasions this season.

But their “puck luck” ran out on Thursday.

The Knights were on the wrong side of two unfortunate bounces in the third period and hit the post three times in a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center before a sellout crowd of 19,084.

Eric Staal scored the go-ahead goal with 7:55 remaining and added an empty-netter for Minnesota, as the Knights (15-8-1) dropped their second straight game and fell two points behind first-place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division.

“They hit one post that went in, and we hit three that didn’t go in,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “(Minnesota) played a good game. It was two teams I thought competed real hard, and they got some bounces and I thought that’s why they won the game.”

Brayden McNabb and Jonathan Marchessault scored 1:57 apart early in the third period to put the Knights up 2-1, but the lead vanished less than a minute later.

Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin drove a shot from the point, and the puck deflected off McNabb’s stick while he was tied up with Nino Niederreiter to even the score at the 5:27 mark.

“We had a good start (in the third period) and the one goes off my stick and in,” McNabb said. “It’s tough. I thought we played well.”

Staal then gave Minnesota (12-10-3) the lead when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot.

Wild defenseman Matt Dumba was able to hold the zone and ripped a shot from the right wing. But the puck hit Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland in the hand and fell right to Staal, leaving goalie Malcolm Subban stranded.

“It’s tough. You want to reward guys for blocking shots,” Subban said. “I love the fact that these guys are willing to block shots for me. Obviously, it’s a tough balance.

“I thought I could have stayed up and been a little more patient on it when it got to the net. I think I went down too early, and I think it cost us the game. It’s tough to lose like that.”

Subban finished with 28 saves, including a sprawling stop on Niederreiter to keep the game tied at 1 early in the third period.

“Nothing he could do on those goals,” Gallant said. “He made some great saves and kept us in that hockey game. I thought he played a great game.”

Reilly Smith had a golden chance with four minutes left for the Knights, but Wild defenseman Ryan Murphy poked the puck away before Smith could get his shot away.

Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk also robbed Marchessault from a steep angle in the final minute with a sprawling stick save.

“It was a game of inches, honestly,” Knights forward Alex Tuch said. “It just kind of went their way. I thought that overall we played a pretty strong game, especially defensively.”

McNabb, who signed a four-year, $10 million contract extension on Wednesday, broke a 102:44 scoring drought for the Knights when he stepped into a drop pass from Stefan Matteau and ripped a shot past Dubnyk (29 saves) early in the third.

Marchessault then put the Knights ahead at the 4:39 mark with his ninth goal, beating Dubnyk high to the glove side.

The bad luck for the Knights began early as Brendan Leipsic hit the post less than two minutes in. James Neal and Matteau hit the post in the second period for the Knights, who finish their two-game road trip Friday at Winnipeg.

“Luckily, we don’t have too much time to think about it,” defenseman Luca Sbisa said. “I think we played a really smart road game. We just didn’t get the results.”

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