LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone had a point-blank opportunity Thursday night, but when Winnipeg goalie Eric Comrie denied his shot, the Golden Knights' captain slammed his stick on the ice.
It was that kind of night — and week — for Stone and his Vegas teammates.
They entered the week seven points ahead of Los Angeles in the Pacific Division, but the seemingly comfortable lead is down to three after losses to Edmonton and Winnipeg and consecutive victories by the Kings.
The Golden Knights are still likely to win the division because only seven games remain, but getting outhit in both losses, scoring just two goals against a pair of backup goaltenders and just not being at the top of their game got coach Bruce Cassidy's attention.
“I'm concerned,” Cassidy said after the 4-0 loss to the Jets. “This isn't a one-off. We should be prepared to play with them.”
Cassidy even took the unusual step of making that point to his team shortly after the game ended.
“Rarely do I talk to the guys after the game,” Cassidy said. “It's just an emotional moment. This is just more of an honest assessment of where we are with the Western Conference lately. I thought we did very well against them early in the year. We've got to get that part of our game in order, the style of play we need to play to excel to get to where we want to go.”
The Golden Knights actually entered the week rolling, tying a season-high six-game winning streak that included a three-game road sweep.
But there have been warning signs. The Kings beat Vegas the past three meetings, and the Oilers won the past two matchups. Both are potential playoff opponents.
Then came the loss to the Jets, who took a 3-0 lead in the second period and were never seriously threatened.
“I feel like it's a step back,” center William Karlsson said. “They're a good team and we're in the hunt to catch them, so a performance like this is not good enough. We've got to learn from it.”
Cassidy didn't stand passively by, mixing up his lines to try to create a spark. He also benched goalie Adin Hill after the second period, putting in Henderson call-up Akira Schmid. Backup goalie Ilya Samsonov is injured, and Cassidy said Schmid will get to play this weekend because the Golden Knights have a back-to-back at Calgary and Vancouver.
The Jets went into defensive mode in the third period and sent only two shots Schmid's way. He saved both.
“Schmid's going to have to play for us at some point, so maybe this isn't a bad time to get his feet wet, get around the guys a little bit in a game where Winnipeg's probably not in a full-court press,” Cassidy said. “It's more trying to get the game to the finish line, and that's how it worked out. So, hopefully, that will benefit him when he does go into the net.”
The Golden Knights will continue to be without injured forward Tomas Hertl this weekend. He is second on the team with 31 goals and third with 59 points, but has returned to practice.
All seven remaining games are against Western Conference teams, including five in the Pacific Division. But only one, Tuesday at Colorado, is against a team that at this point would be in the playoffs.
“You feel sorry for yourselves or you pick yourself up off the mat and get back to work,” Stone said. “We're not going to roll over. We're going to learn from these games. I think our team will bounce back and get ourselves ready to go.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Mark Anderson, The Associated Press
