Golden Knights Takeaways: Thompson’s Assist, McDavid Magic, & More

The Vegas Golden Knights lost their Saturday night game against the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime.

The new format for game stories, which I’m calling “Golden Game Gists,” allows me, the only writer for Vegas Hockey Now, to spend more time focusing on the game itself rather the writing during periods.

Let me know on Twitter or in the comments what you think about the new format. With that being said, here are our takeaways from the Golden Knight’s fifth loss of the season.

Golden Knights Takeaways

Thanks, LT!

Who says backup goaltenders don’t affect the game?

In the second period, Golden Knight’s captain Mark Stone was hooked by Ryan Murray on his way to the net, which resulted in a penalty shot for Stone. With statistically low shootout numbers, Stone consulted goaltender Logan Thompson who was sitting on the team bench as the backup.

Thompson informed Stone to go five-hole on Oiler’s goaltender Stuart Skinner, which Stone did to a tee and scored his first-ever penalty shot goal in his career. Thompson can’t statistically get an assist on the play, but Stone made sure to thank him by pointing directly to the goaltender after he scored.

look at this instead of the score pic.twitter.com/A9J4r6lk6v

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 20, 2022

Hows Howden?

With Nicolas Roy out of the lineup due to a lower-body injury, Brett Howden was given the role of the team’s fourth-line center. It seems no matter who the personnel is on the VGK’s fourth line, they still continue to have success, and this continued with Howden on the line.

He factored in on the team’s first goal of the game, a deflection off the back of Keegan Kolesar, for his first point in 11 games. Perhaps the VGK have something here with Howden as their fourth-line center?

One Step Behind

The Golden Knights have five losses this season. Three of them are against top-notch, Stanley Cup-contending Western Conference teams; the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, and Edmonton Oilers.

It’s very likely that the VGK will meet one, if not all, of these teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They play their final first game against a Pacific Division opponent Monday against the Vancouver Canucks.

For the Golden Knights, who lead the division in points, they still need to find that extra gear against top teams in the Pacific Division and overall Western Conference.

Additional Knights Nuggets

Hockey Fights Cancer

• Saturday night was Hockey Fights Cancer night at Rogers Place. It is with humble hearts that we remember Ben Stelter, who was an avid fan of the Oilers before he lost his battle with cancer. The Golden Knights will host their Hockey Fights Cancer game on Wednesday, Nov. 23, v Ottawa.

McDavid v Eichel

• In their second matchup against each other in the same division, Connor McDavid outclassed Jack Eichel. The overtime winner wasn’t McDavid’s only point of the night, as he had a primary assist on Zach Hyman’s third-period powerplay goal. Eichel had an assist and five shots on goal.

Janmark Revenge Game

• In his first matchup against the Golden Knights since leaving in free agency, Mattias Janmark played on the Oilers’ first line with McDavid. He had zero points and one shot on goal. The Oilers signed Janmark to a one-year $1.250 million deal in the 2022 offseason.