LAS VEGAS – If the Pittsburgh Penguins’ weren’t paralyzed by the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ colorful and raucous pregame theatrics, they sure seemed like it in the first period.
Pittsburgh gave up three Vegas goals in the opening frame, including two in the first five minutes of action in Thursday night’s 5-2 loss at T-Mobile Arena, which was also the team’s sixth consecutive defeat.
Less than two minutes into the game, former Penguin Phil Kessel got the Golden Knights on the board first. Chad Ruhwedel couldn’t get to a dump-in pass from the blue line quick enough, which allowed William Karlsson to connect with Paul Cotter, who quickly dished off to Kessel to finish the night’s first goal off in tic-tac-toe fashion.
