Knights lose to Canadiens in final game of road trip
MONTREAL — Eleven days ago, the Golden Knights were flying high as they left Las Vegas with a gaudy 8-1 record, the darlings of the NHL.
Tuesday, they limped home a tired hockey team, one that picked up three points out of a possible 12 on their arduous six-game East Coast road trip.
The Knights were a half-step off the first 20 minutes at the Bell Centre as the Montreal Canadiens pretty much had their way with Gerard Gallant’s club in holding a 3-1 lead. But they did catch a second wind, nearly tying it in the final seconds before falling 3-2 in front of 21,302.
“We kept battling and competing,” Gallant said. “Montreal came out playing hard, and they were aggressive on the forecheck and they were beating us in the neutral zone with speed. But I thought in the second period we started to forecheck better and turned their defensemen a little more and the game changed for us.”
Center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who scored the first goal for the Knights Tuesday with a nifty move to get loose and beat Charlie Lindgren from close range, said it was a matter of picking up the pace to get back in it.
“It was a pretty easy solution for us,” Bellemare said. “We skated better and worked harder.”
Maxime Lagace, who was starting his fifth straight game for the Knights, didn’t play badly in defeat. He had virtually no help in the first 20 minutes as the Canadiens built an early 2-0 lead on goals from Brendan Gallagher and Jordie Benn.
“We knew what we had to do,” said Lagace, who made 25 saves. “We had to refocus after the first and that helped us get back in it.”
Erik Haula cut it to 3-2 with 1:37 remaining, converting from the left side for his fifth goal. Cody Eakin nearly got it to overtime with 34 seconds left as Lindgren couldn’t cleanly handle the shot from the slot. But with the puck lying at the doorstep, the Canadiens were able to clear before the Knights could put home the rebound.
“We had a couple of really good chances there at the end,” Gallant said. “It just didn’t go in for us.”
Despite garnering just three points on the trip, the Knights come home to face Winnipeg Friday at T-Mobile Arena with a 9-5-1 record, good for second place in the Pacific Division with 19 points.
“I think you look at the positives and try and build on those,” said defenseman Brad Hunt. “Sure, we would have liked to have picked up a few more points. But we played fairly well, and I think we learned a lot about each other and it was a good bonding experience.”
The trip did have one casualty — goaltender Oscar Dansk sustained a lower-body injury Oct. 30 against the Islanders, which opened the door for Lagace to play and gain experience.
“I got to show what I could do,” Lagace said. “It didn’t go our way all the time. But I learned a lot and I’ll take the experience with me wherever I go.”
The Knights have Wednesday off, then regroup Thursday at City National Arena and prepare for Friday’s home game versus Winnipeg at T-Mobile Arena. Then it’s back on the road next Tuesday and Thursday for games at Edmonton and Vancouver.
Gallant said when he looks back on the trip, he sees the same thing as his players.
“It was a great trip,” Gallant said. “They way we played, the way we competed. I’m very proud of our guys.”
Three takeaways
1. The road wore them out. The Knights were a tired team Tuesday, no doubt about it. They had no jump in the first period, and it ultimately cost them. Playing back-to-back games at the end of a six-game road trip and trying to beat the Canadiens in their home rink was too difficult a task.
2. Don’t blame Max. Goaltender Maxime Lagace had little help for a good portion of Tuesday’s game and made some big saves to keep it competitive. The three goals he allowed early were not his fault. Brendan Gallagher was alone in front of the net on the first one, and Lagace was screened on Jordie Benn’s slap shot from the point on the second. Max Pacioretty had a pretty redirect of Jeff Petry’s shot for the third goal.
3. Fourth-line heroics. Looking for a bright spot? The play of the so-called fourth line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Tomas Nosek and Will Carrier was solid. Bellemare got the first goal on a pretty move, while Nosek and Carrier both had quality chances but couldn’t cash in.
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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.