Shea Theodore had a night to forget in Game 3
It's safe to say Shea Theodore will have trouble sleeping tonight.
The Vegas Golden Knights' defenseman turned in a forgettable performance in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night, making a handful of costly gaffes, and looked completely disengaged at times.
Here he is (No. 27 in white) on the Capitals' second goal of the game, fanning on the shot, then making a poor decision to pinch at the blue line, leading to Evgeny Kuznetsov's goal on an odd-man rush.
We have a bird sighting... @Kuzya92 #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/oeNR1oLRqZ
- Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 3, 2018
Seven minutes after his poorly-timed pinch, Theodore submits his candidate for worst play of the night. He gets absolutely worked here by Matt Niskanen. Either he wasn't aware Niskanen was right on his tail, or just assumed Marc-Andre Fleury would've came out earlier to play the puck. Either way, this lack of hustle drives a coach crazy, and it forced Fleury to take a desperation tripping penalty to save a goal.
Matt Niskanen, you get an A for effort!
- NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) June 3, 2018
Stream #CapsKnights live: https://t.co/eVSyFueu2t pic.twitter.com/UGGIedFZa7
After Braden Holtby's awful giveaway put the Golden Knights within one, Theodore decides to channel his inner Betty Crocker and cooks up a nice hot batch of turnovers. This one comes as the last man back, and leads directly to Devante Smith-Pelly's dagger.
SO. MUCH. SWAG. @smithpelly23!! #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/DdU2hJj67b
- Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 3, 2018
Games such as this aren't uncommon for 22-year-old defensemen, but in the Stanley Cup Final, a performance such as this is magnified.
Theodore is one of the game's best young D-men and has a very bright future ahead. However, Vegas relies on him to play big minutes, so he'll need to be much better if the Golden Knights are going to come back in this series.
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