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Vegas never found its footing in Pittsburgh, and the hole got deeper fast.
Arturs Silovs made 22 saves and the Penguins scored three times in the second period on the way to a 5-0 win Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. Mark Stone left with an upper-body injury late in the first and did not return.
Bruce Cassidy kept it blunt afterward.
“Five goals against, I guess, right? We didn’t score,” Cassidy said. “Not good enough in those areas.”
A manageable 1-0, then trouble
Vegas had a few looks early, including chances around the crease. Still, Pittsburgh landed the first punch.
Ben Kindel scored at 5:04 of the first period, and the Penguins took a 1-0 lead into intermission. Vegas stayed close on the scoreboard, but the game already felt like it was being played at Pittsburgh’s pace.
Stone played 6:06 before exiting. His absence changed Vegas’ bench, but it didn’t explain what happened next.
Second period tilts the night
The second period decided it, and it happened in chunks.
Egor Chinakhov made it 2-0 at 5:47, and Vegas never stabilized after that. Pittsburgh’s power play then stretched the lead with goals from Bryan Rust at 9:34 and Rickard Rakell at 15:06.
Brayden McNabb pointed to that middle frame as the separator.
“Obviously second period,” McNabb said. “They got one on us. We had chances to score two, we didn’t… second period, took it to us and we’re out of it basically.”
Special teams swung it
Vegas went 0-for-2 on the power play. Pittsburgh went 2-for-4, and those swings turned a tight game into a runaway.
Reilly Smith said the issues started with execution and confidence with the puck.
“I think we just had poor execution, all game long,” Smith said. “It seemed like we were… playing on our heels a little bit.”
Smith also didn’t dodge the bigger trend since the break.
“We’re trailing too much, and it’s hard to come back in games in the third period every night,” he said.
Stone update: still pending
Cassidy said Stone was still being evaluated after the game.
“I don’t have much to say there,” Cassidy said. “Upper body is all I was told.”
Cassidy also made it clear Vegas wasn’t using that as cover.
“Certainly not going to use that as an excuse for how we played,” he said. “We just weren’t good enough.”
One more seals the shutout
Justin Brazeau scored at 14:59 of the third to finish the 5-0 final. The teams ended even in shots at 22-22, but Pittsburgh controlled the special teams and the second period.
Up next
Vegas continues the trip looking for a cleaner start and a reset after back-to-back losses. The Golden Knights visit the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT and the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at 4 p.m. PT before returning home Friday to face the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m. PT.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
