The Vegas Golden Knights are an absolute mess right now. They're like the drunkard coming home from the bar after eight pints of whiskey, stumbling along and colliding with people. I mean, he could be a bit more courteous. But maybe he doesn't understand that his team has lost six of its last seven games heading into Sunday.
But that's where the Golden Knights are right now. Bruce Cassidy might have a perfect explanation behind all this, giving his postgame comments after a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
"We need to be a hell of a lot more competitive in front of our own net. It's a bit of what our identity was and we changed a few pieces back there but we can't lose that and we have a little."Bruce Cassidy
Here's the funny thing. There's truth to this statement, especially when you're committing costly turnovers or making unsuccessful exits. That's been the common trope with Vegas in the past couple of weeks, leaving them in compromised positions. In turn, the opponent pounces on the mistake and cashes in.
Why Bruce Cassidy isn't to blame for the Golden Knights' recent woes
When you're subjected to an endless array of injuries, it hampers what you can do with the lineup. That's especially true when you lose key defensive players like Brayden McNabb, William Karlsson, and Colton Sissons. These players serve a variety of purposes defensively, whether it's on the back end or taking on the league's best forwards.
For McNabb, his absence has hurt the Golden Knights the hardest. He's one of the last remaining stay-at-home defensemen for Vegas, with key names like Alex Pietrangelo and Alec Martinez departing. Without his 1,619 career blocked shots and 1,987 career hits, that's a ton of production that could take away big shooting lanes.
But another big problem exists with the faceoffs. Both Karlsson and Sissons are proficient here, giving Vegas key possessions in many facets, whether it's offensively or in late-game situations. We're talking about Karlsson with a career percentage of 51.3% and Sisson's career percentage of 53.8%.
Without these key centers, how will Vegas keep the play in the offensive zone? How will they make key exits when trying to close out the game? That's something that even Cassidy can't figure out, leaving his hands tied.
The Golden Knights can still figure it out on the defensive end, even without key defensive figures
While the Golden Knights need help on the faceoff front (it would help with keeping them fresh throughout the game, that's for sure), they also need to seal off any good scoring chances. The Golden Knights have enough players to alleviate the pressure while McNabb and Sissons are out, including Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel.
Still, it's much easier when you have back-end players to ease the pain. Once players like McNabb and Sissons come back, that should make life better from a shooting lane perspective. Teams won't dare to attack the Golden Knights from the high danger zone, leaving them to look elsewhere.
So, what's the solution, you ask? Well, I hate to say this. But you're better off waiting until the Olympic break rolls around. While you're hoping that your Olympians stay healthy, you're getting those key players back. That could surprise Golden Knights fans in more ways than one by improving the play.