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NHL: Vancouver Canucks at Vegas Golden Knights - Source: Imagn

3 least impressive Vancouver Canucks players from 3-1 loss to Vegas Golden Knights feat. Kevin Lankinen

The Vancouver Canucks rolled the dice in Sin City on Thursday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, hoping to rebound from their frustrating 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club earlier in the week. Conversely, the Golden Knights hoped to earn their fourth win in their last five.

By the time the night was over, Vegas had emerged victorious with a 3-1 victory, improving its record to an impressive 21-8-3, while Vancouver dropped to 16-10-6.

The game started well for the Canucks, as Teddy Bluguer lit the lamp midway through the first period; Vancouver took its 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Neither team managed to score until late in the second period when veteran Alex Pietrangelo broke Kevin Lankinen's shutout bid, knotting the score at 1-1.

In the final frame, the Golden Knights pulled away thanks to original misfit William Karlsson's sixth goal of the year. And while the Canucks pressed for the tying marker, it wasn't meant to be.

Brett Howden notched his 12th goal of the season, scoring into the open net with Lankinen on the bench for an extra attacker. Lankinen finished with 18 saves, while Adin Hill made 19 saves on the 20 shots he faced in a winning effort.

3 least impressive Canucks players from their 3-1 loss to Golden Knights

#1. Kevin Lankinen

The Canucks goaltender has hardly been a problem this season, as he's actually mostly served as a savior for Vancouver, thanks to the struggles of Arturs Silovs and the absence of Thatcher Demko.

But while his performance against Vegas wasn't subpar, he should have stopped Pietrangelo's manageable shot from the point that somehow found its way past him, tying the score and setting the stage for a Golden Knights comeback.

#2. Elias Pettersson

A lightning rod for the Canucks this season, Pettersson has experienced both hot and cold bouts of play. His first several games of the year were subpar by his standards, while he also experienced an upturn in production.

Unfortunately for Vancouver, his performance against the Golden Knights was anything but ideal. He registered exactly zero shots and finished a -1, being largely invisible.

#3. Jake DeBrusk

Having cooled off after a hot streak, DeBrusk didn't generate anything offensively against the Golden Knights and, like Pettersson, finished with a -2 rating. He only had one shot, which was not the kind of performance he had demonstrated in the last several weeks.

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