3 Takeaways: Golden Knights Blow 3-2 Lead After Hertl Bypasses Empty Net Goal

The Golden Knights squandered the 3-2 lead they got with a little more than two minutes left in the game, and then lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3, in a shootout on Saturday afternoon.

With the heated game tied at 2-all, former Sabre Jack Eichel shoveled a loose puck in the crease past Buffalo netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead at the 17:27 mark of the third period.

DO THIS AGAIN PLEASE JACK pic.twitter.com/4IIuHMPsqa

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 15, 2025

With Luukkonen pulled, Tomas Hertl raced in toward the empty net but rather than ice the game and give the Knights a two-goal lead, he tried dropping the puck off to get Eichel a second goal. The unexpected forced pass missed Eichel, and moments later Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin sent a rocket past Vegas goalie Adin Hill to tie the game with 14 seconds remaining and force overtime.

Tomas Hertl tried to make this pass at the end of the game when the Sabres net was empty. The Sabres came back and won in a shootout🔥😳

pic.twitter.com/oZqDV0ff6b

— Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) March 15, 2025

“I’m still trying to digest what just happened to be honest with you,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.

Victor Olofsson gave the Knights a 1-0 lead in the shootout, but Jack Quinn made it 1-1 in the second round, which saw Eichel miss his attempt.

Former Knight Alex Tuch beat Hill in the third round while Luukkonen stuffed Pavel Dorofeyev to secure the improbable win.

Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for Vegas while Hill made 34 saves. Howden’s hard hit that dropped Jiri Kulich got tempers flaring in the second period.

“We weren’t very good most of the day,” Cassidy added. “We checked pretty well at the start of the third I thought, for a game we weren’t that engaged in playing a puck possession game, a hard game. You allow Buffalo’s defense to get going, that’s where you gotta wear them down. And we didn’t do a lot of that. I mean, we’re ahead late, so we did some things right.”

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s loss:

BE SELFISH: Clearly, Hertl was trying to get Eichel his second goal during what’s been a record-breaking season, not to mention get a bit more satisfaction against his former team in a game the boo birds emerged just as they have since he landed in Vegas 3 1/2 years ago. Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t mince words over how he felt about the play.

“I’d like to see him shoot the puck in the net and end the game, that’s what I’d like to see, I think the whole team would like to see that,” Cassidy said.

QUIT TRIPPIN’: Three games into the four-game road trip, the Golden Knights were whistled for tripping, a play Cassidy said must stop. In their 3-2 overtime loss in Pittsburgh, Nic Roy was called for tripping Evgeni Malkin, during the 4-0 win in Columbus it was Ivan Barbashev getting sent to the box after tripping Dante Fabbro, and in Buffalo it was Pavel Dorofeyev’s tripping penalty against Connor Clifton that allowed the Sabres’ Jason Zucker to score his 19th of the season, and tie the game 2-all.

“It just felt like, again, the penalties we took,” Cassidy said. “We’re not under pressure, a delay a game, an offensive zone penalty again three games in a row over the same play and a stick foul. They’re going to happen periodically, but I mean they’re going to cost you, and they have. They have in this trip.”

UP NEXT: The Golden Knights will have to do their best to put the nightmarish loss behind them, as they head to Detroit for the second leg of a back-to-back on Sunday. After Saturday’s loss, Vegas is 4-4-1 in game one and 5-3-0 in game two of back-to-back games this season.

They’ll face a Red Wings team that is in a battle for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. As of the end of Vegas’ game in Buffalo, the Wings were in fifth place in the wild-card standings with 68 points, two points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have the second spot. The Ottawa Senators currently hold the first wild-card position with 75 points. Detroit is 11 points behind the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.

“Obviously (Hertl) probably wants it back, I think our game overall was not good enough,” Golden Knights wing Victor Olofsson said. “I think we should have just played a better game for 60 minutes. Just don’t worry about it, what happened happens. You just have to put that behind you and move forward we’re looking forward to our game tomorrow.”