3 takeaways: Knights fall to Kraken in OT; captain out with injury
The Golden Knights nearly pulled off another late-game miracle.
This time, it was one turnover too many.
Seattle Kraken left wing Jared McCann scored on a breakaway 29 seconds into overtime off a turnover from center Jack Eichel, and the Knights lost for the first time at Climate Pledge Arena 4-3 on Friday.
The loss ended a comeback chance for the Knights after getting the game-tying goal from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with 1:22 to go after pulling goaltender Adin Hill for an extra attacker.
But the Knights (9-3-2) couldn’t get over the hump, unlike they did Wednesday after scoring three goals in the final 10 minutes in a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
“At the end of the day, we got a point,” left wing Tanner Pearson said. “We got three out of four on the road trip. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s some things to clean up, too.”
Eichel had three assists, and right wing Pavel Dorofeyev scored his team-leading eighth goal for the Knights, who are now 5-0-1 in the Kraken’s arena. Hill finished with 28 saves.
The Knights were without the services of captain Mark Stone, who was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day.
“I don’t have much (of an update),” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’ll see our doctors, and we’ll get a much better read on that. I have no idea how he’ll look by the time we reconvene on Sunday.”
Dorofeyev opened the scoring at 10:13 of the first period with a five-on-three power-play goal to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. Dorofeyev received a pass by Nicolas Roy from below the goal line — where Stone normally resides on the power play — and Dorofeyev buried his team-leading fourth power-play goal of the season.
Roy, also playing in Stone’s place at first-line right wing, got in on the scoring three minutes later to make it 2-0. He received a touch pass from left wing Ivan Barbashev and buried his chance in front of Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord.
But the Kraken (6-8-1) answered by way of two goals from left wing Brandon Tanev. More notably, both came off turnovers from Knights defensemen.
The first was forcing a turnover from Brayden McNabb at the offensive blue line and scoring on a breakaway at 17:21 of the first to make it 2-1.
Tanev tied it 2-2 at 7:12 of the second when Pietrangelo lost the puck following a defensive-zone faceoff.
That goal summed up the second period, with the Kraken outshooting the Knights 13-5.
Seattle took the lead 2:58 into the third when Hill’s poke-check attempt deflected off the shin of Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and into the back of the net.
“We put ourselves in bad situations many times today,” Roy said.
The Knights found their footing offensively after the goal, though it took until the final minutes for them to be rewarded.
They got the point and end a quick two-game road trip with three of four points, but the Knights dropped to 1-3-2 on the road this season.
“We wanted four. Three is pretty good,” Cassidy said. “Tonight, I just felt it was certainly an opportunity to get all four. We let that get away.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Top line does its part
Friday was the first time this season the Knights went without their captain.
This time, it wasn’t just being without Stone — the Knights’ heartbeat and supplier of expressive moments. Stone entered Friday as the Knights’ leading scorer with 21 points.
The Knights managed to get by without him by converting on the power play and with his line scoring at five-on-five.
Eichel more than made up for his winger’s absence with his seventh multipoint game of the season, giving him the team lead with 22 points.
2. Daccord dazzles
The last time the Knights faced Daccord was in the 2024 NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners. He recorded the first shutout in the event’s history in a 3-0 win on Jan. 1.
He did his part to frustrate the Knights again with the game in the balance. Two of his biggest saves came in the third period — one on Dorofeyev’s backhand in close, and another on Eichel’s deflection with the extra attacker.
Daccord, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract on Oct. 10, made 21 saves.
3. Stephenson’s revenge
Friday marked the first time center Chandler Stephenson faced the Knights since signing a seven-year, $43.75 million contract with the Kraken on July 1.
Stephenson, who has nine points in 15 games, was held off the score sheet but led all Seattle forwards with 23:09 of ice time. He went 13-of-28 in the faceoff circle.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
