'It hurt': Utah drops 2-goal lead in 4-2 loss to Vegas

SALT LAKE CITY — One thing became clear Friday night: Not all hockey fans in Utah have converted to the state's newest team.

The Las Vegas Golden Knights won over a lot of Utah fans when they entered the league in 2017. A new squad in town hasn't changed those loyalties.

That left at least some fans happy on Friday.

Vegas forward William Carlson scored on a deflection with 1:18 left and then closed the door with an empty netter, and Las Vegas overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Utah 4-2 on Friday at the Delta Center.

It was a stark contrast from two nights ago when Utah was aggressive late in the game. That was not lost on the team's more experienced players.

“We kind of stayed behind,” said Mikhail Sergachev. “We should have done like we did to Carolina; just stay on them and play hard.”

As it was, a promising start quickly evaporated into defeat.

Logan Cooley scored his fourth goal of the season on a one-timer in the first period. The goal came after sustained pressure in the offensive zone where Utah consistently created dangerous opportunities. Sergachev doubled the hockey club's advantage for the second time on the power play; It was his second goal in two games and his fourth of the season.

Everything was fine for Utah, but then Vegas came back.

Tomas Hertl scored on the power play in the second period to tie the game midway through the third.

“They didn't have their A-game in the first period,” Andre Turigny said of the Knights. “They just hang in there. They hold us there and then slowly but surely move away from there.”

That's the difference between an experienced team like Las Vegas and an inexperienced team like Utah. When the knights were down there was no fear; And when the comeback came, Utah had no answer.

Of course, youth played a part in this – young defender Maverick Lamoureux scored the penalty that led to Vegas' first goal. But so did the older players — Clayton Keller's turnover led to that penalty.

And not drafting more experienced players has been a worrying trend in the first month-plus of the season.

Nick Schmaltz is looking for his first goal of the year, despite an early clean look. Lawson Cross has not registered a point and has not scored a goal since October. Keller has also found himself in a drought.

That makes it difficult for Utah to extend — and ultimately keep — leads.

And it reached the hockey club against Vegas.

“It's the best league in the world, it's hard to win,” said Keller, who added an assist Friday. “I'm learning, our team is learning. We've got a lot of great guys that have won — and they've been great and shared their knowledge of what it takes to be a winning team and get to that next level. … We've got a long way to go, I think. And we want to learn fast.”

One of those former Stanley Cup winners said Utah has a lot of respect for its rival.

“We give them the ice and give them the puck to play with,” Sergachev said. “Instead, we should be playing the puck.”

Utah did just that against Carolina, leading to a surprising win. By doing the reverse, the lead was lost.

“It hurts,” Keller said. “We were right there and everyone was feeling good, and we just made a couple mistakes and it cost us.”

It cost Utah the game and maybe even some future fans.

The late cheers as the score became official showed how some fans were sticking with the Knights.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Keller said. “It's always fun to play in those games. When they're crowded, you know both teams have fans so it's definitely a great atmosphere.”