3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Blanked after Hill’s return delayed

The Golden Knights knew they were in for a challenge trying to contain all the stars the Avalanche can put on the ice on the power play.

They were right.

Valeri Nichushkin scored twice on the power play, and Colorado defeated the Knights 3-0 at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday night.

“Special teams were a problem again,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Got outplayed on those.”

Jiri Patera, a late replacement in net after Adin Hill was unable to make the start, made 32 saves for the Knights (23-13-5).

He played well enough to keep the Knights in the game for much of the night.

“Jiri’s been awesome for us,” forward Chandler Stephenson said. “He’s the hardest worker in practice every day and wanting to stick around. To see him have the game he did and for us to give him that performance is upsetting. He played great. He gave us a chance and we didn’t do much for him, but it would be nice to give him a good game here next time he’s in.”

The talented Avalanche forwards just proved too much with the man-advantage.

Mikko Rantanen assisted on both of Nichushkin’s goals for Colorado (27-12-3), including a between-the-legs backhanded pass after the puck bounced off the backboards.

Rantanen’s other assist also came from behind the net, as he threaded a pass to the front right on Nichushkin’s stick.

Logan O’Connor added a third-period tally for the Avalanche, who got 25 saves from Alexandar Georgiev.

“It’s hard to win when you don’t score,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “They had two power-play goals and we didn’t score on the power play, so special teams kind of let us down. It’s kind of been theme lately. We have to find a way to get the kill and power play on the same page.”

The Knights have now been shut out five times this season and have lost eight of their last 11 games overall.

“We need to be better,” Cassidy said. “We haven’t been on top of our game, and that’s why we’ve lost so many games. It’s not like we’re outplaying teams every night and losing. We’re just not on top of our game from top to bottom, so obviously, it’s on me to fix it. That’s the plan right now.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Late scratches

Wednesday night was supposed to mark the return of Hill, the goaltender who has not played since Dec. 17. In that game, he made it through just 6:25 before aggravating a lower-body injury that had kept him out of the lineup since Nov. 30.

The return didn’t happen.

Cassidy confirmed Wednesday morning that Hill would start, but the team announced just before the start of the game that Hill would be unable to play and Patera would be in net. Isaiah Saville was recalled from the Knights’ American Hockey League affiliate in Henderson to serve as Patera’s backup.

Logan Thompson did not make the trip because of an illness.

The Knights also announced before the game that forward Michael Amadio was a late scratch due to illness and forward William Carrier underwent successful surgery for a lower-body injury and would be week-to-week.

There is no timeline for when Hill will be ready to play. Cassidy expressed optimism before the game that Thompson may be ready to return Thursday against Boston.

2. Extra defender

There was some question about whether rookie Lukas Cormier or the recently acquired Tobias Bjornfot would be in the lineup when Zach Whitecloud was ready to return from his brief absence.

The answer on Wednesday night was both of them.

Cormier and Bjornfot both played, as did Whitecloud, as the Knights employed an unorthodox lineup with seven defensemen and just 11 forwards with Amadio scratched shortly before the game.

Another defenseman, Kaeden Korczak, is once again healthy and was sent down to Henderson. With several extra defenders on the NHL roster, Korczak was one of the few who was waviers-exempt, so he could be sent down without the risk of losing him to another team.

3. Up next

The Knights won’t have to wait long to get back in action as they return home to host the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

“That’s the beauty of our industry, right?” Pietrangelo said. “It’s that you’ve got to take a few minutes here, digest what happened and get ready for tomorrow because you have another shot. So you can’t sit around and dwell on what’s happening, you just have to wake up and get ready.”

Boston (24-8-8) had a day to rest Wednesday while the Knights were playing, but the Bruins have had a tough start to their road trip.

They lost 4-3 in a shootout at Colorado on Monday before falling by the same score in overtime on Tuesday at Arizona.

The Bruins, however, still lead the Eastern Conference with 56 points. They are led by David Pastrnak, who is tied for third in the league with 57 points.

Boston has been alternating goaltenders throughout the season, with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark each making 21 appearances.

It appears Swayman may be on the verge of seeing his playing time go up, however, as Ullmark left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body suffered during overtime.

Swayman allowed the game-winner on the first shot he saw, but his overall numbers this year are very good. He is top 10 in the league in goals-against average (2.50) and save percentage (.920).

However, he has a .906 save percentage in nine games since the start of December.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.