LAS VEGAS — Games like Saturday’s at T-Mobile Arena can leave you with mixed feelings as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights or if you’re one of their fans.

Yes, the Knights squandered two two-goal leads to the Colorado Avalanche. They also were unable to protect a one-goal lead down the stretch after Colton Sissons’ pretty backhand goal gave them a 5-4 lead with four minutes remaining.

So losing 6-5 in a shootout to the NHL’s best team isn’t an embarrassment by any means. Getting a point is always something to be pleased about. And while the second point would’ve been nice, there’s a reason the Avs are at the top of the overall standings. They are a talented, relentless group. And when they need a big play or a big goal, their best players deliver more often than not.

Saturday, it was Nathan MacKinnon, who got the fourth goal to tie the game 8:21 into the third period, then scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout against Carter Hart. Martin Necas had a pair of goals for the Avs and has 18 on the season.

Together, they led a third-period push the Knights nearly overcame, but ultimate succumbed to. Colorado had Hart under duress for most of the period and outshot the Knights 20-6 in the last 20 minutes, ultimately forcing overtime when Artturi Lehkonen scored from the slot with Scott Wedgewood off for a sixth attacker to tie the game 5-5 with 1: 57 remaining in regulation.

“They‘ve got some firepower over there,” said Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton, who showed a little firepower himself with his second-period goal, his fifth of the season which tied his career high. “Obviously, you want to try and limit their grade-A chances and keep them to the outside. But that was two good teams going at it.”

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy couldn’t be overly disappointed with the outcome.

“We should’ve been able to close it out,” he said. “We gave up a look in the middle (to Lehkonen) and that should never happen.

“Maybe a measuring stick isn’t the right word. But I said it so let’s use it. To me, they’re clearly a better team than we are right now. You look at their record (28-2-7) and their (third-period) push. But it’s not like we’re going home and thinking ‘We can’t compete with the Colorado Avalanche.’ I felt the goals we scored we earned. They were good goals.

“The third period has been our best period all year but they pushed hard and their team is running on all cylinders right now with their health. We’re little behind in that regard. But I liked that we were right there until the end.”

Cassidy was referring to the fact that the Knights remain without center Jack Eichel and defenseman Shea Theodore, each who missed their fifth consecutive game. Their return to the lineup remains unknown.

But one of the bright spots for the Knights Saturday was the play of forward Alexander Holtz, who came into the game point-less for the season but scored 2:43 into the contest and later picked up an assist on Hutton’s goal for a two-point evening.

“Holtzy hasn’t played a lot but he has come in and done a good job the last two games,” Cassidy said. “The message to him is impact the game with your skillset. He wasn’t as consistent winning battles last year. His goal tonight wasn’t a skill play, it was a determination play. He won some board battles against San Jose the other night and he was just being hard on pucks.

“He’s working hard on his game and he’s earning his minutes.”

Hart was strong in net for the most part. He had a couple of fluky goals get past him but he made several series of stops in the first and second periods when the Avs were dominating play. And while he was unable to stem the tide in the third, he was able to force the game to a shootout with a nice stop on Brock Nelson late in OT after Nelson had hit the post moments before.

Despite the loss, the Knights remain in first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of Anaheim, which got drilled by the Kings, 6-1 Saturday, and Edmonton, which lost to Calgary, 3-2. The Knights have two more games on this holiday homestand, Monday against Minnesota, then Wednesday against Nashville in a New Year’s Eve matinee.

And while two points would have been nice, getting one feels like an accomplishment given who the opponent was Saturday.