It was such a promising start to the homestand. The Vegas Golden Knights scored 10 goals in their first two games, breathing new life into the organization. Well, that goodwill was short-lived with Vegas going ice-cold in the next two games.
Getting shut out in back-to-back games didn't sit well with Bruce Cassidy. He had some telling comments about the team's lack of offensive output, highlighting how they're not making plays.
"We're a team that can make plays, but right now we're not. Some of that is our schedule. We haven't practiced a lot, so your hands aren't there all the time."Cassidy after Thursday's loss
Of course, resting would be nice. However, Cassidy understands that you can never rest in the NHL. That's especially true when you're in the midst of a playoff chase.
"This is a veteran group. They need to understand, you can't rest. Then you got a medical team and a science team coming out saying, 'This time of year, you need to rest,' and then expect to go out and make all the plays if you're practicing every day. There has to be a certain level of comprehension from the players that, 'I'm not on the ice every day, I'm resting, so we're going to dummy it down a little and just put pucks to the net."Cassidy
Doctors be d*mned, the Golden Knights better turn it up. The head coach knows this and the team knows this. They know the consequences of what happens if they don't turn things around.
Cassidy knows the Golden Knights must start catching up, but it's on the players to do so
When you have a swath of talent on your team, you expect to win Stanley Cups and dominate the NHL. That's especially true with the Golden Knights benig in the Pacific Division, which has been... terrible.
However, a slew of issues have hit the team extremely hard. That has ranged from a lack of depth scoring to bad goaltending to injuries devastating the team. In fact, it has come in a rotation, leaving Vegas in a perpetual funk.
In turn, Vegas is currently outside of first place in the Pacific Division. Sure, they're in a playoff spot. But does it matter when your offensive group struggles to score any goals? It has put the team in a precarious position for the playoff stretch, putting them on the cusp of falling out altogether.
There was one last part of Thursday's press conference that was extremely telling of the team's current state. It summarizes the team's overwhelming set of problems, whether it involves the goaltending or falling into an early deficit. In this case, it involves the offense not waking up at the right time when you're down.
"That's a little disappointing to me that a group like ours is not catching up to that when we're not scoring that much."Cassidy
Well, let's hope that the Golden Knights figure it out before it's too late.