The Vegas Golden Knights did 99 percent of things right offensively Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
The 1 percent isn’t even that they didn’t find a way to score in the 2-0 loss to one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
“Hit the net, make the goalie make a save,” coach Bruce Cassidy said.
That’s not to deter from Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stealing the show with a 28-save shutout to hand the Knights (31-23-14) their seventh loss in 11 games since the Olympic break.
But of the 62 shot attempts the Knights had, 20 of them missed the net.
Defenseman Rasmus Andersson had one-fourth of those (five). Eleven players in total were credited with a missed chance.
“I thought we got lots of pucks there, some rebounds,” Cassidy said. “We just misfired on some.”
There was nothing wrong with the Knights’ approach offensively.
They forechecked well. They rolled four lines effectively. There was a clear directive to get the puck to the net. It wasn’t like Luukkonen made 28 of the easiest saves possible.
They had 51 percent of the expected goal shares, according to Natural Stat Trick. They deserved a better fate than what they got.
Luukkonen deserved every bit of his shutout. But say if Mitch Marner, for example, doesn’t hit the crossbar with 5:02 remaining, maybe that changes the fortune.
“I think one of the things we’ll look at tomorrow is finding a way to get pucks through from the top a little better,” Marner said. “Finding ways we can get screens and tips a little better. I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight.
“They did make some good blocks and sometimes the puck hits the goalie and they were good on the rebound chances getting pucks out of the zone.”
The Sabres benefited from the fortuitous bounce the Knights couldn’t get.
Goaltender Adin Hill’s lone gaffe was misplaying the puck near the edge of the trapezoid that led to Buffalo winger Josh Doan’s goal late in the first period.
Hill did more than he could in his fifth consecutive start with 23 saves. He’s given up eight goals total in this stretch.
It’s a different story if the Knights find a way to get one and at least earn a point in the process.
“Obviously, we have to bury more,” center Tomas Hertl said. “We played a good hockey game. We just couldn’t finish. It was a close game. You can’t win a game when you don’t score a goal, so it’s tough but I thought it was a good game from us.”
Good games should result in wins. All three of the Knights’ losses in Hill’s five starts were quality outings from him.
The bad news: They’ve scored only three goals combined in those losses.
It’s not ideal timing, given the Knights now find themselves back in third place in the always-teetering Pacific Division.
The wins over Pittsburgh and Chicago gave them necessary breathing room. One loss showed how quickly it can go away.
The Knights’ season ended last season because they couldn’t score in the final two games against the Edmonton Oilers. Tuesday wasn’t for a lack of trying.
But it does call for trying to put a few more shots on the net and see what happens.
“Offensively, the numbers are going to look great, yet it’s a goose egg,” Cassidy said. “There’s no consolation in that. We need to finish more.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
