Golden Knights just want anything to go their way against Predators
Derek Hegna
Host · Writer
The good news for the Vegas Golden Knights about dropping an absolute dud last game? There truly is nowhere to go but up.
On Saturday, the Golden Knights need to wake up bright and early to turn their season around when they face the Nashville Predators.
Venue: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 11:00 am PST
How To Watch: SCRIPPS, ESPN+
Radio: 1340 AM, 94.7 FM
The tape from the last game against the Utah Mammoth has almost certainly been burned. From being shut out for the second straight game to three goals on the first three shots, the Golden Knights now find themselves in the home stretch with questions basically everywhere. With limited time and options to address the issues, Vegas needs to show genuine desperation quickly to get back to any semblance of a Stanley Cup contender.
Here is how getting back on the road against a Predators team desperate to enter the playoff picture can get things back.
No Golden Goose
Going back to the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks on Mar. 14, the Golden Knights have been shutout for seven straight periods and change.
The lack of offense has frustrated head coach Bruce Cassidy, who all but demanded better execution from his players on offense. The strategy the Golden Knights have seemed to implement over the past few games is simply not functioning, so the impetus is on the team to make dramatic changes. Regardless of how or who the job gets done, the Golden Knights need to emulate the weather of their home city and heat up quickly.
Do your job
Just when things looked to be turning around for Adin Hill, the Mammoth game destroyed any and all goodwill within ten minutes.
No matter what way you slice it, sporting a triple zero save percentage by the end of the game is simply unacceptable. Hill is going to be desperate to get his net back and show his performance was just a blip on the radar, while Akira Schmid is hoping to keep his momentum after shutting the Mammoth out the rest of the way. With a back-to-back including the Dallas Stars on Sunday, both goalies have the chance to restart the controversy in net.
Train wreck
The only silver lining for the Golden Knights in their recent struggles is that no one seems keen to take the Pacific Division.
For context of how poor the division is, the current leaders in the Anaheim Ducks would be outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference with their 80 points. It is basically just a game of preservation for the Golden Knights, who could very well still earn a playoff spot simply through the struggle of the teams below them. That said, any positive run of momentum could be all it takes to punch a ticket to the Western Conference Final, and there are more than a few people in Vegas who would take that as a victory given the current situation.
