It’s the time of year when games are overanalyzed, and every result hinders on how teams fare heading into the playoffs.
With that in mind, it wasn’t the best time for the Golden Knights to drop both games of a back-to-back over the weekend.
The Knights finished their four-game trip by claiming four of eight points. Three games were against teams below the playoff cutline in the Eastern Conference.
They lost all three.
The Knights lost out on, at least, two more points. Instead, they start a three-game homestand Thursday against the Boston Bruins with a four-point lead on the Edmonton Oilers for first place in the Pacific Division.
The Los Angeles Kings, winners of five straight, are five points back with two games in hand.
The, sort of, good news
These things can be true about that trip:
They played well for more than half of it and should have had better fortune than four points.
They ran into a hot goaltender in Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh. They commanded the final 40 minutes in Columbus. They had a 2-0 lead in Buffalo despite being outplayed in the first period.
As coach Bruce Cassidy said Sunday, “that’s hockey some nights.”
The final 30-plus minutes in Buffalo was their most disappointing finish this season in terms of on-ice production and decision-making. Following that with being shut out 3-0 in Detroit 24 hours later didn’t help.
“It’s almost one of those scheduled losses when you look at the start of the year,” Cassidy said. “Make sure you bank them when you can. It’s a good lesson to be learned. The next time we’re in that situation, let’s make sure we bear down and get the job done.”
The bad news
This also can be true: They played their worst games at the worst time.
The Knights combined for 37 shots in the final two games of the trip and scored three goals. They scored nine in the four games.
“There’s things we can get better at,” left wing Reilly Smith said. “Obviously, not getting enough shots the last two games is something we have to get better at. Sometimes that comes by playing a little bit faster, working for each other and working away from the puck.”
The Knights are also tired. Defenseman Nic Hague doubled down Sunday saying they won’t use that as an excuse.
There won’t be time for that to be an excuse. The Knights have four back-to-backs left in their final 15 games. Fatigue and attrition will be tested.
Some players have hit a wall. Mark Stone might be one of them.
The impact from the captain hasn’t been there. He has nine points in 11 games since the break, but five-on-five play has taken a hit.
With Stone and center Jack Eichel together on the ice since Feb. 22, the Knights have been outshot 58-51 and outscored 8-4 at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick. Six of those goals were high-danger tallies.
It’s not as simple to sit someone such as Stone for a game because of salary cap reasons. Rest becomes paramount for Stone, who is the healthiest he’s been in three seasons after two back surgeries and a lacerated spleen.
Where that comes from, outside of allotted days off, is a difficult question to answer.
Help on the horizon?
One question that might have an answer soon is the availability of center William Karlsson.
Karlsson, out since Jan. 20 with a lower-body injury, traveled on the trip and skated with the team. He had a chance to return to the lineup during the trip, but that never materialized.
Four games in six days with little practice time might have been a difficult timeline to get him into a game. Karlsson’s return could come this week, perhaps Thursday.
His return will create another question: Who comes out of the lineup?
Bringing back Smith makes it a given that Karlsson and Smith will reunite as linemates. The Original Misfits lined up together for the six years they played together.
That opens the door for another winger on that line. Could Stone fit the bill? He and Karlsson were supposed to play together before Karlsson got hurt in training camp and missed the first nine games of the season.
Does Ivan Barbashev move back to the top line with Eichel? And if Stone moves off that line, does Victor Olofsson get one more crack at a top-line spot before the playoffs?
That leaves Tanner Pearson and Cole Schwindt as the likely ones out, with Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar returning to the fourth line with Nicolas Roy.
There are a lot of moving pieces and not a lot of time to figure it out.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
