LAS VEGAS—The Golden Knight’s turnaround was short lived. Plagued by injuries, the Golden Knights suffered their 8th loss in 11 games by a score of 3-0 in Denver on Wednesday night.
Goalie Logan Thompson was sick and didn’t travel with the team. The initial plan was for Adin Hill to make his return to the crease for the game but he was also a late scratch as he continues to work his way back to 100% health. In turn, Henderson call up Jiri Patera got the nod in the net. In addition, Michael Amadio was ruled out for the contest with an illness as well. That’s not to mention the list of injuries that already plague the team, namely the losses of William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, and William Carrier.
Needless to say, the Knights were far from full strength on Wednesday night. They made that part obvious. The 3-0 score was not a reflection of Patera’s performance in net, as he was solid throughout. The injuries were felt throughout the rest of the lineup, especially the PK unit who gave up two of Colorado’s three goals.
Valeri Nicuskin opened the scoring at the tail end of the first, sneaking the puck past Patera to send the Avalanche into the intermission with a 1-0 lead following a tripping cloud on Zach Whitecloud.
After Brayden McNabb was called for a tripping penalty near the midway point of the second period, Nichuskin converted on the power play for the second time of the night to put the Avalanche ahead of the defending champions 2-0.
Colorado added insurance midway through the third period on a Logan O’Connor goal that came courtesy of a primary assist from Caleb Jones to set the final score at 3-0.
Alexander Georgiev was the anchor for the Avalanche in the win, registering his
To complicate matters for the Knights, Wednesday’s game was only the first of a back-to-back that swings back around to T-Mobile Arena on Thursday when the Bruins come to town. It goes without saying how formidable of an opponent the Bruins are, and the Knights health situation doesn’t appear to be clearing itself up anytime soon.
