Golden Knights Fall 4-3 to Kraken in Shootout, Suffer First Loss Under Tortorella

The Vegas Golden Knights had their sights set on two crucial points Thursday night, aiming to maintain their momentum in the Pacific Division race. After establishing a multi-goal lead early in the third period, they seemed poised for victory. However, the Seattle Kraken had other plans, rallying to tie the game and eventually winning 4-3 in a shootout.

It was Mark Stone who opened the scoring for the Golden Knights at 10:04 in the first period, tapping in a centering pass from Rasmus Anderson after finding himself wide open in the slot. Stone made no mistake, beating Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord glove-side to put Vegas ahead.

The Golden Knights quickly doubled their lead just 55 seconds into the second period. Jack Eichel delivered a precise pass to Stone, who scored again from the right side of the net, solidifying his impact on the game.

Seattle, however, responded with vigor. Both teams had only one power play opportunity each, but the Kraken capitalized at 17:54 of the second period. Jared McCann unleashed a powerful one-timer from the right circle, cutting the Golden Knights’ lead to 2-1.

Vegas restored their two-goal advantage early in the third period, with Brayden McNabb executing a slick no-look pass to Mitch Marner, who then found Brett Howden waiting back-door for the goal. Just as it appeared the Golden Knights were in control, the game took a dramatic turn.

At 6:11, disaster struck when Adin Hill ventured out of the net to play a routine dump-in, only for the puck to take an unexpected bounce off the boards. Berkly Catton seized the opportunity, scoring into an open net to bring the Kraken within one.

Head coach John Tortorella reflected on the pivotal moment postgame, noting, “They get a bounce, and it gives them some life. It just set you back a little bit, because we had some momentum after scoring early in the period.”

Three minutes later, Seattle leveled the game at 3-3. Bobby McMann outworked Noah Hanifin to corral a loose puck and found Jordan Eberle, who set up McMann for a wicked wrister from the right dot, stunning the Golden Knights.

Overtime saw the Golden Knights pressing hard, generating four scoring chances but failing to convert. “We had good opportunities,” Marner lamented. “We just didn’t capitalize.” In the shootout, Marner did score for Vegas, but Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton found the net for Seattle, sealing the 4-3 victory.

Despite the loss, Mark Stone has been a bright spot for the Golden Knights, tallying five goals and seven points in his last seven games. However, the team faces challenges, as Jack Eichel has only one goal in his last 13 outings, while Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomáš Hertl are also struggling to find the back of the net. The Golden Knights will need to revitalize their scoring if they hope to make a deep playoff run. On a positive note, Brett Howden has stepped up, netting three goals in his last four games, including a game-winner against the Calgary Flames last week.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.