Vegas needs a bounce-back game

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2023 (873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS — The heat is suddenly on here in Vegas. The No. 1 team in the Western Conference knows it can’t afford to drop a second straight game on home ice following Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

Concern? Sure. Panic? Not yet, anyways.

“I think everybody knows it’s not lost after one game, but you have to get better,” coach Bruce Cassidy said following Wednesday’s practice.

“For us. It’s obviously got to get a lot better, but we had 111 points this year. We did talk about that we’re not going to define ourselves by one hockey game.”

Vegas beat Winnipeg in all three regular-season meetings, but the Golden Knights saw a much deeper and certainly more determined Jets team in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.

“To be honest, I just think it was a poor performance from us,” said forward Jonathan Marchessault. “We didn’t have 20 guys that wanted to compete, and it showed in our game. To beat a good team in the playoffs, you need everybody.”

Game 2 goes Thursday in Las Vegas, with puck drop set for just after 9 p.m. CT.

“Just need a bounce-back game. It wasn’t the performance any of us wanted,” said forward Reilly Smith. “But it’s one game. It’s a long series. Kind of wipe the slate clean and make sure we bring our best effort next game.”

Cassidy said puck management and creating more traffic and opportunity around Connor Hellebucyk are major areas in need of improvement.

“The adjustment against Winnipeg is you got to get inside. Get some opportunities there,” he said. “Hellebuyck is a good goaltender but once rebounds start happening everyone kind of averages out. Obviously, our power play needs to give us some life, not only score but be a threat.”

Vegas went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, and could only muster 17 shots against Hellebuyck.

It would appear there will be no lineup changes for the Golden Knights, with Laurent Brossoit (30 shots, 26 saves) making a second straight start.

“There’s some loyalty to the players that got you this far and I think we owe them as much to sort of correct here,” said Cassidy.

There was a big spotlight on two key players for Vegas, with forward Jack Eichel making his playoff debut and Mark Stone coming back from back surgery and playing for the first time in three months.

Neither were very impactful, although Cassidy isn’t concerned.

“Jack generated some stuff, he drew a penalty skating through the middle of the ice. I think he was trying to play good hockey and play the right way,” he said.

“Mark looked like his timing was off which we expected. He has practised a little bit but not at a high level for a long period of time. So we have to work through with Mark because he’s just got to get his touches get a feel for people around him. Jack I suspect will get better as the series goes on.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg