Ahead of the Golden Knights’ first road game in a week and a half against the Los Angeles Kings, coach Bruce Cassidy said the same game they play at home can win on the road.
In a four-game home stand, Vegas outscored its opposition 24-8 and rallied off four straight wins. The team needed a boost in confidence after a disastrous 0-2-1 road trip earlier this month.
Dreams of ending the road skid quickly became a nightmare for the Golden Knights as they fell to the Kings, 6-3, still looking for a win.
Similar to its previous three road losses, the Golden Knights allowed quick, consecutive goals. Twice, Los Angeles scored back-to-back goals less than 45 seconds apart, putting Vegas in a 4-0 hole halfway through the game.
“We gave them (Kings) life early. Give them credit after that,” Cassidy said. “I thought the last 10 minutes of the first period was on us. We need to be better.”
Vegas got going in the third period off an icebreaking goal by Tanner Pearson and two goals from Pavel Dorofeyev, but it was too late. In three of the four road losses, the Golden Knights have had a meltdown that cost them the game.
Against the Washington Capitals, they allowed three goals in three minutes after the game had been tied 1-1.
Tampa Bay had a 3-2 lead in the third period, but it didn’t record a shot on net for the last 13 minutes of the game, and it allowed the Lightning to score two goals in the final two and a half minutes. Nikita Kucherov netted the game-winner with 55 seconds left.
It was four goals scored over a combined 86 seconds that cost them another win Wednesday night. Cassidy said the line combinations resulted in losses during the road trip, but after Wednesday’s loss, struggles away from home must be addressed.
“You definitely want to be a good road team as well,” captain Mark Stone said. “You can’t just rely on winning 41 home games. It’s something that we need to get better at. We’re giving up far too much on the road.”
“It’s weird because we’re playing a pretty simple game on home ice… then we get on the road and we lose it. I don’t know what to tell you right now. We’ve got to address it.””It’s weird because we’re playing a pretty simple game on home ice… then we get on the road and we lose it. I don’t know what to tell you right now. We’ve got to address it.
When asked if Cassidy agreed with Stone’s comment on road play needing to be improved, he said that Stone was stating the obvious and agreed with him.
The Golden Knights could be in worse shape than other teams around the league and are still sitting on top of the Pacific Division. However, if the road slump isn’t addressed, Vegas could be in for a long November.
They play on the road nine times in November, including a five-game, week-long road trip. Vegas had just four road games in October but still has one of its better records in franchise history through the first month of the season.
“We need to play on the road more,” Cassidy said. “We’re going home Saturday, so hopefully, whoever we play at home continues. I know we’ve got a lot of road games in November, so we’ll need to figure it out in a hurry. We need to get on the road and take care of the details.”
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