3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Special teams debacle extends skid

Perhaps never have the Golden Knights’ special teams struggles been more glaring than on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The result was a sixth loss in the last seven games, as the Knights fell 4-1 to the Florida Panthers in a Stanley Cup Final rematch.

A stretch early in the second period provided a snapshot of what has been going wrong for the defending champions over the last few weeks.

The Panthers were called for three penalties over the span of 2:01, giving the Knights a pair of five-on-three opportunities that generated just one shot on goal.

Zach Whitecloud went to the box less than a minute after the teams returned to full strength, and Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk put the Panthers ahead with a power-play goal 49 seconds later.

“The game completely changes when we get a five-on-three for a minute and a half, and I’m not sure we even had a good scoring chance,” captain Mark Stone said. “It completely changes the game. They get a power play and score on it to make it 2-1.

“I wish I could tell you (what went wrong). It’s pretty fresh in the mind. Maybe slow? You look at our first power play, and we were moving the puck well and taking our chances, then we just got stagnant.”

Coach Bruce Cassidy noticed the same thing.

“I think our power play sucked the life out of us,” he said. “Your top guys are on it. We even called timeout so they could stay on and we could talk about a play. Those are the guys that make it go. Our best players got outplayed on special teams by their best players. That’s who’s on special teams for the most part, and from there, we weren’t able to get our game back.”

Florida (24-12-2) finished 3-for-6, while the Knights (22-12-5) weren’t able to convert on any of their six opportunities.

“A lot,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said of what went wrong on the penalty kill. “They got three on us. We just have to do a better job at the end of the day.”

It was the fifth time in the last eight contests the Knights have allowed multiple power-play goals.

“What they did well was get pucks through toward the net, which is something we didn’t do at all on the power play except for the first one,” Cassidy said. “Give them credit for keeping it simple. We obviously did not. Tried to complicate it at times and didn’t take what was there.”

The Knights did get the start they wanted, recording 10 of the first 11 shots on goal and grabbing an early lead on Pavel Dorofeyev’s goal 3:59 into the opening period.

Not much went right after that, with momentum starting to swing when William Carrier was called for tripping at the 12:21 mark. Sam Bennett converted on the power play to tie the game, and the Panthers grabbed the lead for good on Tkachuk’s goal in the second period.

“We dominated the first 20 minutes of the game,” Stone said. “Until they scored that power play, our five-on-five play was awesome. I think the shots were 14-2 at one point. We were playing really good. I think it just took all the air out of our sails.”

Carter Verhaeghe added an insurance goal late in the second period, the Panthers’ only even-strength tally of the game.

Sam Reinhart capped it off with another power-play goal early in the third period as fans started heading to the exits.

Many of the few thousand that remained at the final whistle booed as the Knights left the ice in defeat, having been swept in the season series by the team they beat for the Stanley Cup in June.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. New guys

The Knights have added a few new faces as they continue to deal with injuries.

Forward Grigori Denisenko was called up from Henderson to make his Knights debut Thursday night with William Karlsson (lower-body injury) and Keegan Kolesar (illness) out of the lineup.

It was a pretty uneven performance by Denisenko, the leading scorer for the Silver Knights, whose previous 26 career games had all come as a member of the Panthers.

He made a few early mistakes, including a penalty, and had a team-low 8:37 of ice time as he skated with Michael Amadio and Brett Howden on the fourth line. It wasn’t quite what the Knights were hoping to see out of Denisenko.

“He’s good in space,” Cassidy said before the game. “He separates well, can skate and hang on to a puck. I think that will translate well to this level. Space is tougher to find here because guys are bigger, faster and stronger, so that’s a challenge. He has been their leading scorer.

“We just want to get him in the lineup, get him playing, make him feel like he’s part of the organization. He’s done a good job down there.”

Defenseman Lukas Cormier also was recalled from Henderson, but did not play Thursday. He was a scratch alongside Tobias Bjornfot, who was claimed off waivers from the Kings.

Bjornfot, a 2019 first-round pick, has a goal and 14 assists in 117 career games with the Kings, but has played mostly with Ontario in the AHL this season.

Cassidy said he’s not sure when Bjornfot could be in the lineup.

2. All-Star Eichel

Jack Eichel is headed to the NHL All-Star Game for the first time as a Golden Knight.

One player from each team was named among the first 32 players announced Thursday. The remaining 12 spots will be filled through fan voting.

It’s the fourth appearance overall for Eichel and first since 2020, when he was still a member of the Buffalo Sabres.

Eichel, the team’s leading scorer, has 16 goals and 24 assists this season. He also leads the league with 46 takeaways as he has emerged as one of the league’s best two-way centers in coach Bruce Cassidy’s system.

The All-Star Game is set for Feb. 3 in Toronto, with festivities set to begin on Feb. 1 and the skills competition Feb 2.

Four captains will draft the four teams that will compete in the All-Star Game.

3. Injury report

In addition to the absences of Karlsson and Kolesar, the Knights have several players working their way back toward the lineup.

The closest may be goaltender Adin Hill, who is back on the ice skating on his own even though he is not quite ready to join the group for a full practice.

Daniil Miromanov, who has not played this season, is also skating on his own.

“I don’t have a date for a return, but he’s progressing,” Cassidy said.

Fellow defenseman Shea Theodore has not taken that step and still appears a ways off from a return.

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