Shaky Golden Knights eye bounce-back win at Sabres
Clinging to a one-point lead for second-place in the Pacific Division over red-hot Edmonton, the Vegas Golden Knights continue what has been a bumpy five-game eastern road trip Saturday at the Buffalo Sabres.
The defending Stanley Cup champions, who shot out of the gate with a 11-0-1 record, find themselves in a battle for first-round home ice and sit just three points ahead of wild-card teams Los Angeles and Nashville.
The Golden Knights have lost six of their past eight games (2-5-1) after dropping a 5-4 contest at Boston on Thursday. Also concerning is the fact that Edmonton has three games in hand while the Kings have played one fewer game.
Vegas opened its road trip with a 4-3 shootout loss at Atlantic Division cellar-dweller Ottawa but bounced back for an impressive 6-2 win at Toronto.
However, that momentum didn’t carry over into Thursday’s loss to the Bruins as the Golden Knights fell behind 3-0 after one period and trailed 4-2 late in the second period.
Vegas did rally to tie it at 4 on a shorthanded goal by Chandler Stephenson early in the third period before Mason Lohrei scored the game winner for the Bruins on the power-play with 4:37 remaining.
Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said he didn’t take any consolation from the fact his team came back from the 3-0 deficit to tie it.
“I’m not into moral victories to be honest with you,” Cassidy said. “I think our team is way too far along for that stuff.”
The Golden Knights still can make it a winning road trip if they can finish up with victories over the Sabres and Monday at Columbus, which is last in the Eastern Conference with 48 points.
“This one’s behind us,” Stephenson said. “We’re on to Buffalo. We still have two more games to make it a good road trip. I think that’s our focus, for sure, is Buffalo.”
The Sabres, who are just 13-16-1 at home this season, have won four of their past five games, including a come-from-behind, 3-2 overtime win at Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Buffalo is sixth in the Atlantic Division and is 10 points behind the Lightning for the final wild-card spot in the East.
Rasmus Dahlin tapped in Casey Mittelstadt’s crossing pass from the right circle inside the far post during a 4-on-3 power play for the overtime game-winner at Tampa Bay.
It was the 15th goal of the season for Dahlin who moved into a tie for the league goal-scoring lead for defensemen with Calgary’s MacKenzie Weegar, Nashville’s Roman Josi and Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard.
Dahlin also became the second defenseman in Sabres history to have consecutive 15-goal seasons, joining Hall of Famer Phil Housley who did it eight straight seasons (1982-90).
“He’s an amazing, competitive player and person,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said of Dahlin, who leads the team with 46 points. “He’s the full, complete package. Willing to play defensive.
“And I don’t think he gets credit for how good he’s become defensively. … He’s been dialed in for us.”
This is the second of two regular-season meetings between the teams. The Sabres, behind two goals by Mittelstadt and 33 saves by Devon Levi, scored four third-period goals to win the first one, 5-2, in Las Vegas on Dec. 15.
