Sluggish At Start, Golden Knights Lose, 3-2, In OT To Red Wings Before 18,437 At T-Mobile Arena
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
They came off a spirited 5-0 shutout over Stanley Cup contender Winnipeg Jets and were favorites to come away with two points from Saturday’s game with the Detroit (26-38-10) Red Wings.
But the Vegas Golden Knights got off to a sluggish start against the Red Wings. And yet the VGK held a 2-1 lead in the third period on a spectacular short-handed goal by VGK forward Reilly Smith.
But then Detroit responded with the equalizer to knot the score at two in the third period — and then eventually won the game in OT, taking a 3-2 win from the Knights before a robust crowd of 18,437 fans at T-Mobile Arena.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, forward Max Pacioretty and centerman Pierre-Edouard Bellemare all missed the game for the Knights as forwards William Carrier and Valentin Zykov returned to action and Malcolm Subban played his fourth consecutive game in goal.
The Golden Knights did snare one point, and now have reached 90 points, trailing the San Jose Sharks by five points in the race for second place in the Pacific Division. After the game, VGK coach Gerard Gallant said the Red Wings came out hungry and played fast.
It was a rough night all-around for the Golden Knights. At the VGK’s training center in Summerlin, there was a kitchen fire in the MacKenzie River pizzeria kitchen.
The City National Arena facility was evacuated Saturday evening and then was deemed safe by Clark County Fire and reopened. A kitchen worker was injured and treated while the pizzeria remained closed. The facility’s two ice rinks in the building off South Pavilion Center Drive are now open. Activities for the ice rinks that were scheduled are good to go, according to VGK communications.
The Golden Knights hit the road for away games in St. Louis Monday and Denver Wednesday before returning for the next home game Friday when the Minnesota Wild come to the Big Ice House on the Strip.
LVSB photographer J. Tyge O’Donnell had a puck come next to him during the game and gave it to this young tyke.
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