But then there is another option, which they do not consider realistic in Nevada. Minnesota, which is nine points behind them, and St. Louis – minus five…
Vegas faced the Canucks at home on April 2 and extended their winning streak to seven games with a 6-3 result. Then, of course, the Golden Knights flew to Arizona and experienced the worst third of the season there. They turned a 4:1 lead after 40 minutes into a scary 4:7 after conceding six goals.
“In this competition, you can’t expect to play just two periods and beat anybody. However, we demonstrated it. It’s even worse that it’s already April, but we still don’t have a certain playoff. We can’t say we’re looking forward to the Stanley Cup games yet. It doesn’t pay off,” raged Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy.
Even in Vancouver, the Golden Knights didn’t get close to the certainty of elimination fights, where they scored the first two goals and still led 3:2 in the 54th minute. “In the third period, you have to watch what’s going on around you. Taking care of the puck, paying attention to details, whether it’s substitutions or discipline. It’s that simple,” the coach criticized the approach of his players.
Vegas vs. Potential Playoff OpponentsDallas 3-0 (3-2 home, 2-1 overtime, 6-1)Edmonton 1-1 (4-5 home, 3-1)Los Angeles 2-1 (4: 3 runs, 1:4, 3:2) Vancouver 2:2 (4:1, 1:3, 6:3, 3:4)
The results from the basic part are in parentheses.
Vegas has a ton of experience from last year’s playoffs. The inflated line-up was further depleted before the transfer deadline by a trio of notable reinforcements: Hertl (San Jose), Noah Hanifin (Calgary), Anthony Mantha (Washington). And he believes it will show in the Stanley Cup games. But it wasn’t against Vancouver yet.
“I think that in some parts of the match we were in control, in others they were on top. It wasn’t one-sided,” claimed Vegas’ two-goal scorer Jack Eichel. “But it’s frustrating when you build up a lead and don’t get any points here. Now we have to go to Edmonton and find a way to win.”
However, Hertl’s debut in a new jersey is leading Golden Knights fans to be optimistic. After surgery in January, he played 20:20 minutes during his renewed premiership. And thanks to the face-off he scored an assist on Hanifin’s goal.
“I didn’t play bad, but I know it will be even better,” claimed Hertl, who started on the left wing of the second line and won six of nine balls. Including three when goalkeeper Logan Thompson was pulled from the game late in the game.
“I think he was amazing,” praised Eichel. “Obviously he’s feeling good,” praised Hertl, who jumped in after knee surgery.
It would be a shame for Vegas not to use the Czech striker’s passion in the playoffs.
