There were about 10 minutes or so of this game where it looked like this game might be a tight, playoff-ish level hockey game. Then, the air drained out of the room, Morgan Schiefle scored, and that was it. The Golden Knights were shut out for the fifth time this season, 4-0, by the Winnipeg Jets. It was a tough groaner of a night on what was a tough groaner of a mini homestand. Here are my three takeaways on a jet lag-ish evening at T-Mobile Arena.
— x-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 4, 2025
Adin Hill runs out of gas, gets pulled in the third
You could kind of sense during Tuesday night’s loss that Adin Hill was starting to hit the bottom of the gas tank. Thursday against Winnipeg, he did just that, giving up three goals on 19 shots before getting pulled before the third period. It was the first time he was pulled from a game since Nov. 11, 2024, against the Carolina Hurricanes.
On the plus side, Akira Schmid looked fine for someone with his first game action since that November, albeit as busy as the Cheesecake Factory at noon. It's a good thing, though. Bruce Cassidy threw a start to prepare him this weekend, especially given Hill’s performance through these past couple of games.
“Too Little, Too Late”
Both a nearly 20-year-old pop song by JoJo, and a perfect summation of Vegas offensively. Of the 26 shots they were able to put on Eric Comrie, 14 of those came solely in the third period. When the game was as close to done as it could get. The previous two periods, they looked lifeless, missing a pass or getting clogged in the slot by the type of tight, strangling defense. That defense spelled trouble many times this season for the Golden Knights.
Was there some bad luck here and there? Sure. But this is the kind of performance that cannot show up too many more times going down the stretch if they want to avoid the 2-3 buzzsaw.
Back-to-back home losses for Vegas for the first time since January 9-11
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a homestand end as limply as this one has. The difference in opponents between now and nearly three months ago makes this one a little easier to swallow. There is a sense of foreboding that I wouldn’t blame anyone reading this for having, given that they went 1-4 in their next five games after that homestand. But I think we’re in a better place as a team than we were then.
Alex Pietrangelo is back in the lineup. Tomas Hertl is back in practice, albeit in a No Contact jersey. Get a little more luck and a bit more flow offensively. If this happens, this team should be back to where we ended March. It may be overly optimistic, but this is the kind of night where an optimistic stretch is warranted.
Next on the Marquee:
The last big road trip of the season begins with a jaunt to Calgary on Saturday at 7 P.M. After what the Kings did in Utah and Edmonton did in San Jose against the Sharks on Thursday, it’s fair to say this trip will go a long way to determining whether this team wins its fourth Pacific division title in franchise history. It was a great start against a sneakily good team like the Flames, with a Calder contender in net will do wonders in that department. Until then…