The game itself was one the team would want back. They fell 4-2 to the Sharks and did not play particularly well through a majority of the game.
The most important thing to take away from last night’s game, however, is the health of captain Mark Stone. Stone took a puck to the side of the head early in the first period and went down on the ice in significant pain. He skated off the ice under his own power and went straight back to the locker room. Head coach Pete DeBoer said after the game that the team kept him out for precautionary reasons, but it was too early to tell if there was any significant damage.
Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb also did not finish the game, and questions have risen as to what happened to them.
Since this is preseason, the overall result is not the most important thing. What is important, however, is for the team to see how the prospects have developed and how fringe roster players are playing. In these situations, winners and losers always exist.
Winners
The biggest “winner” from the game was Logan Thompson. Despite allowing four goals in the game, Thompson played a very solid game in net. Two of the four goals he allowed came off terrible turnovers in front of the net. The other two came on the power play where the team in front of him either failed to clear the puck effectively, or clear the front of the net. While his overall stats from the game were nothing to write home about, he made clutch saves in the game to keep the Golden Knights in it. He made a couple big saves off turnovers and a couple more off breakaways. He was the sole reason this game did not get out of hand. If Thompson can keep up that level of play, he has an outside chance at beating out Laurent Brossoit for the backup job.
Jack Dugan could be considered another “winner” from Sunday night’s game. Dugan collected an assist on the team’s first goal, placing a back-hand pass over the stick of the Sharks defender and right on the tape of Paul Cotter. Dugan’s vision was on display all night. He set up multiple high danger scoring chances in the game that the VGK were just unable to capitalize on. One of these plays was a tic-tac-toe passing play where he found Shea Theodore in the high slot, who then passed the puck to Peyton Krebs for the shot. Even though the shot did not go in, Dugan’s vision to find Theodore behind him set up the entire play. Dugan, barring multiple injuries, is unlikely to make the team this year. However, he is showing progress and potential that he might be able to make it in the near future.
Losers
The Golden Knight’s team as a whole played awful for a grand majority of the game. They lost, so they are obviously one of the “losers” from Sunday night’s game. The team struggled keeping possession of the puck, finishing with fifteen giveaways. The passes just did not look crisp, and they were getting bullied off the puck by the Sharks.
Peyton Krebs also falls into the “losers” category. Krebs led the team with four giveaways, including one where he blindly threw the puck into the slot which led to the Sharks second goal of the game. When he was not blindly giving away the puck, it felt like he was just kind of there. He showed flashes of his vision and offensive ability, but nothing really stood out. For someone that has a good chance of making the opening night roster, he will need to be significantly better in the coming preseason games.
Lukas Cormier, another highly touted prospect, also had a rough game. After making a good impression at rookie camp, the game just seemed a little too fast for the young prospect. He finished tied in giveaways at four and, like Krebs, handed a goal to the Sharks. Monday morning, the team reassigned him to juniors, effectively ending his time at camp with the VGK. The good news for Cormier is that he is only 19. Defensemen also tend to take longer to develop in the NHL, so he has plenty of time to hone his skills.
The Golden Knights second unit will have a chance “right the ship” on Sept. 28 against the Colorado Avalanche. Puck drop for the game is at 7:00 P.M.
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