The Vegas Golden Knights were shut out by the Edmonton Oilers in Games 4 and 5 as their season ended disappointingly.
Offence was hard to come by against the Oilers despite the high-scoring opening-round series they played against the Los Angeles Kings. In five games, the Golden Knights scored just 10 goals and gave up 16. In back-to-back must-win games, the Golden Knights managed just 47 shots.
“Discipline. We only had one power play, that can usually get you going,” said HC Bruce Cassidy about what made the Oilers so difficult to score on. “Both teams checked well, not easy to get the the front of the net, so second chances were at a premium. We’re not a team that shoots first anyways. I think that cost us a little bit last year as well in lack of production. We’ll have to look at changing our mindset.”
Although the final results were far from what Cassidy and the Golden Knights were expecting, he felt the team played well and liked their game yesterday.
“I liked our game,” said Cassidy. “I thought we competed hard physically, we wanted to win puck battles, we wanted to take care of the puck, and we knew we couldn’t give up any easy goals. That’s going to take away some of your offence in the risk part, but it’s getting inside, getting second chances that was tough for both teams, and they got one in the end."
It's hard to avoid facts, and the most obvious one is that the Golden Knights roster has multiple key players over the age of 30. Outside of Jack Eichel, Pavel Dorofeyev, Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore, many of their players showed fatigue or signs of aging.
William Karlsson and Mark Stone are both effective players, but have dealt with numerous injury issues that have hampered them at important times of the season. Alex Pietrangelo took another step back, dealing with injuries, but also looked a step too slow, creating several turnovers.
Other contributors over the age of 30 include Tomas Hertl, Brayden McNabb, Brandon Saad, Reilly Smith and soon, Ivan Barbashev. The Golden Knights have maintained their stance that they can continue to add talent to their roster, but the fear was always that they could run into this problem.
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"Show up and put your best foot forward"; Golden Knights Head Into A Must Win Game 5 With A Clear MindsetIt's been a poor display by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs, and now they find themselves on the brink of elimination, trailing the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in the series.