Man, that was a tough one last night for our Vegas Golden Knights. You wake up after a game like that, a 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at home, and it just feels like the house edge was against us from the start. We went into the first intermission down 3-1, with Sebastian Aho and Seth Gostisbehere just carving us up on that power play goal from Jordan Staal. Even though Mark Stone got us on the board early, and William Karlsson and Brett Howden rallied us back to tie it in the second, it felt like we were playing catch-up all night. Shots were 28 to 21, and honestly, it felt like Carolina just had more jump in their skates.
Our boys really tried to claw their way back, though. The way William Karlsson connected with Roman Josi and Mitch Marner to get that second goal, that's the kind of grit we expect from this team. And then Brett Howden, off a beautiful feed from Colton Sissons and Karlsson again, tied it up. For a minute there, the Fortress was absolutely rocking, like those early playoff runs back in 2017 when the entire Strip would shut down for watch parties. But then Jordan Staal got his second of the night in the third, and Nikolaj Ehlers just put the final nail in the coffin with that empty-netter. It was a gut punch, for sure.
So, what does this mean? We're still sitting pretty at 39-26-17, leading the Pacific Division, and that 7-0-3 run in our last ten is still something to be proud of. This loss just snaps that winning streak we had going. It's a reminder that even when you're playing well, you can't take any shifts off. We've got to regroup, maybe hit up that spot in the Arts District for some good food and clear our heads. The standings are tight, and we need to stay all in. This team knows how to bounce back, though. They've been proving people wrong since day one.
Vegas Born, Vegas Raised — Let's Go Knights.
Our guys at MiTL are breaking down every angle of this one this morning. Catch 'em live at mornings.live.