3 takeaways from Knights loss: Hurricanes strike in second period

One of the Golden Knights’ secrets to success this season has been their second-period dominance.

The Hurricanes turned the tables on the Knights on Tuesday. Carolina scored three times in the middle frame in a 6-3 victory at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak and a six-game point streak for the Knights (21-7-5) on the road.

“You’re not going to win every game, first of all,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’re a good team and they were just better than us tonight in pretty much every area. It just seemed mentally we were off a little with our processing as well.”

That was particularly true for the Knights in the middle 20 minutes.

They were first in the NHL with a plus-19 goal differential in the second period entering Tuesday. The Knights have scored 40 of their 112 goals in the middle frame.

Carolina (17-12-3) didn’t care about those numbers. The Hurricanes jumped all over the Knights after the two teams came out of the first intermission tied 1-1.

Carolina captain Jordan Staal broke the tie 4:36 into the second. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi added on 5:35 later. Left wing Michael Bunting, who also had two assists, capped off the onslaught with a power-play goal with 7:21 remaining in the period to put the Hurricanes up 4-1.

Carolina didn’t stop there. Right wing Seth Jarvis and defenseman Brady Skjei scored to put the Hurricanes up 6-1 less than five minutes into the third. It was the Knights’ largest deficit of the season, which led to goaltender Logan Thompson getting pulled after allowing a career-high six goals.

Backup Jiri Patera finished the game.

“Games like that happen,” right wing Jonathan Marchessault said. “We were sloppy. It’s not about X’s and O’s tonight. It’s just that our effort was miserable, I thought, to be honest.”

Center Jack Eichel scored a goal to extend his franchise-record point streak to 11 games with 1:24 remaining. That cut the Knights’ deficit to 6-2. Left wing William Carrier added one more goal for the team, his second of the game, with 31 seconds left.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Penalty kill struggling

The Knights’ penalty kill struggled for the second consecutive game Tuesday.

Carolina went 3-for-3 on the power play in the win. It was the most goals the Knights have allowed on the penalty kill this season. The last time they gave up three power-play goals was March 28 against Edmonton.

The Knights’ penalty kill also conceded twice against Ottawa on Sunday. Before that, they had allowed just two power-play goals their previous 13 games.

The Knights didn’t take advantage of their own opportunities against the Hurricanes, either. They finished 0-for-4 on the power play .

“You’re not winning games getting outscored 3-0 on special teams, so that was obviously an issue as well,” Cassidy said.

2. Injury report

Patera served as Thompson’s backup with goaltender Adin Hill out.

Hill started Sunday for the first time since Nov. 19 because of a lower-body injury. He lasted less than seven minutes before appearing to aggravate the injury.

“Hill, the best I can give him is day-to-day,” Cassidy said. “He was getting re-evaluated when we left yesterday. I have not heard any news. I don’t anticipate he’ll join us on this road trip, but if he did that would be great because that would mean he’s close to playing. But that’s where we’re at right now.”

The Knights also played without right wing Keegan Kolesar on Tuesday for undisclosed reasons. Left wing Pavel Dorofeyev entered the lineup with Kolesar out.

3. Elite offensive threat

Defenseman Brayden McNabb, in addition to posting a plus-1 rating Tuesday, had an assist for the second straight game.

The 32-year-old has five points his last seven appearances.

McNabb’s 13 points this season are the most he’s ever had through 33 games in his career. He finished with 17 last year.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.