Despite the absence of some key players, the Golden Knights pushed Colorado to the brink. Sadly, it was not enough as the Avs knocked off the Golden Knights 2-1.
“I’m really proud of our group,” Golden Knight’s head coach Pete DeBoer said. “They battled their [expletives] off.”
Alex Pietrangelo opened the scoring for the Golden Knights in the first period. After a shot from Nicolas Hague bounced to the high slot, Pietrangelo skated in and rifled the lone goal for the VGK past Phillip Grubauer.
Later in the period, Alex Tuch broke into the offensive zone with William Carrier two-on-one, but his shot went straight through the crease and out. Vegas had ample opportunities in the period to extend the lead, but Grubauer stood on his head to keep the deficit to just one.
The potent Avalanche offense was held in check for the first period. They had a few good opportunities on Robin Lehner early, but were unable to find the back of the net. Despite being short-handed, the Golden Knights defense managed to keep the Avalanche to the outside and not allow many high danger chances in tight.
Entering the second period, the Golden Knights made another heavy push. They heavily outshot the Avs in the second period, especially in the first seven minutes. Sadly, their one-goal lead would not last.
It took a perfect shot by Andre Burakovsky to beat Lehner and even up the score. After a misplay in the neutral zone by the Golden Knights, Burakovsky skated in and rifled a shot past the glove of Lehner to make it 1-1.
Heading into the third period, both teams played a fast, open style game. Colorado looked like they had gotten their legs back a little bit and were pushing the pace. The Golden Knights made a push back as well, but both goalies did their best to keep the score the same.
Eventually however, having 15 skaters caught up to the Golden Knights. With about nine minutes remaining in the game, a horrendous line change allowed Colorado to gain a clean entry into the zone. JT Compher scored to give the Avalanche their first lead of the night.
Fatigue began to set in heading into the third period for the Golden Knights. In the final 10 minutes of play, Vegas recorded just one shot on net. They failed to make up the deficit, falling 2-1 in regulation. The loss also prevented the VGK from clinching the division.
Despite the loss, the Golden Knight’s played one of their best games against Colorado. For a majority of the game, they were able to dictate the style of play and held Colorado’s best players to virtually nothing. All of this was done minus their best goal-scorer and (arguably) their best defenseman.
There is still an avenue for the Golden Knights to clinch the Honda West Division, however they do not control their own destiny. In order to clinch, they must win Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks and need the Los Angeles Kings to take at least one point off of Colorado. The can also clinch if they lose against San Jose and Colorado loses out, but that will most likely not happen.
The final game of the season for the Golden Knights is May 13 in San Jose. Puck drop is at 6 P.M.
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