The Vegas Golden Knights will try to snap a four-game home losing streak on Tuesday night when they host one of the NHL’s top road teams, the New York Rangers, in Las Vegas.
Vegas, in fourth place in a tightly bunched Pacific Division, won just four of its first 10 home games (4-3-3) and is 1-3-2 in its last six outings at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights will be facing a New York team that entered Monday’s action tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the most road wins (nine) in the league. The Rangers have won six straight road games and possess an impressive plus-16 road goal differential.
Vegas picked up three of a possible four points in a weekend road back-to-back that started with a 4-1 victory at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
The Golden Knights rallied to tie the Wild in the third period on a power-play goal by Reilly Smith but couldn’t earn the extra point in overtime. Kirill Kaprizov scored the game-winner on a power play with just 10 seconds remaining.
“It was a tight game,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The way it ended for us leaves a sour taste in your mouth but there’s parts of the game we played really well … and there’s parts where we needed to find more offense. Five-on-five, we weren’t able to do it, so we’ll look at that.”
Both Vegas goals came on power plays. The first, by Pavel Dorofeyev late in the first period, tied the game 1-1 and was assisted by Mitch Marner. It was the 20th point of the season (four goals, 16 assists) in just 18 games for Marner, the fastest player in franchise history to accomplish that feat.
Like Vegas, New York has struggled on its home ice, going 1-7-1, including a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Mika Zibanejad scored a power-play goal — the Rangers’ fourth in a four-game span — to tie it, but Detroit’s Lucas Raymond, alone in the slot, scored the game-winner with 3:47 remaining in the third period.
The loss, which snapped a three-game win streak for New York, overshadowed a brilliant performance by goaltender Jonathan Quick, who stopped 40 of 42 shots.
“Obviously, Quickie was unbelievable tonight,” Rangers assistant coach David Quinn said. “It looked like he might be able to steal a point there as the game was evolving, and we just weren’t able to get it done.”
Quinn and fellow assistant Joe Sacco split head coaching duties after it was announced head coach Mike Sullivan would miss the game for personal reasons. It is not known when Sullivan will rejoin the team.
Quick, who went 5-2-2 in 10 appearances during the Golden Knights’ 2022-23 Stanley Cup season, went after Detroit center Mason Appleton after the game ended, causing a minor fracas between both teams at center ice. Quick was upset that Appleton fired a puck into the Rangers’ empty net shortly after the final horn.
“The horn goes, a couple seconds (pass), (Appleton) shoots it in the net,” Quick said. “I don’t know why they were surprised.”
New York is 6-6-2 all-time against the Golden Knights and won the last two meetings.
–Field Level Media
