Vegas Golden Knights can’t afford to get complacent against Chicago

It isn’t over yet for the Vegas Golden Knights who still have lots of work left to do.

Heading into Game 4 on Sunday knowing that a win would complete a series sweep, the Vegas Golden Knights were instead frustrated by the Chicago Blackhawks who lived to fight another day.

Corey Crawford came to play after making an incredible 48 saves from 49 shots to stave off elimination and force a Game 5 with the Golden Knights.

Game 5 is set for Tuesday with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. PT.

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It was a disappointing night for Vegas who just came up against a hot goalie who saved his team’s bacon.

It is one of the most overused cliches when it comes to Playoff hockey but you need hot goaltending in order to stand a chance, and Chicago got that on Sunday.

Whether Crawford can roll back the clock again in Game 5 remains to be seen but, being brutally honest, the Hawks were probably due a game in this series.

They hung with the Golden Knights pretty well in Games 2 & 3 and could have won either of those contests were it for a bit of puck luck here and there.

As a result, Vegas can’t afford to get complacent.

While they played very well in Game 4 and probably would have come out on top on any other night, there are some areas of concern that suggests the Blackhawks could steal another game at least.

For one, the power play has been awful in this series and the Golden Knights are now 0/9 after failing on at least three attempts on the man advantage for the second straight game.

That can’t happen in the postseason, especially when you have the plethora of potent weapons that the Knights do.

Secondly, the Golden Knights have lost some of their discipline in the last two outings, going in the box on four occasions in Game 3 followed by three in Game 4.

While the Blackhawks have hardly been stellar on the power play themselves, you are eventually going to get burnt if you keep playing with fire like that.

And, finally, Vegas needs more offense from their potent and explosive top-six forward unit after lighting the lamp just three times in the last two games.

The likes of Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault need to find twine and the top line of Pacioretty, Karlsson and Mark Stone has not produced at 5-on-5.

Granted, the Golden Knights have been the dominant team in this series and they remind me (and a lot of other people) of the 2014 LA Kings team that won the Stanley Cup in how they can play any style be it fast or big and hard.

They can do it all.

Vegas also boasts the depth, although it is being tested right now with both Paul Stastny and Tomas Nosek out, and the star power to be able to overmatch most teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

However, the Chicago Blackhawks proved their worth in Game 4 and they will be a desperate hockey team again in Game 5, so the Vegas Golden Knights will need to guard against complacency and iron out a few kinks if they are to close out this series at the second time of asking.