In the second half of the season, Golden Knights are attempting to overcome multiple critical injuries.
LAS VEGAS (AP) – The most recent of the Golden Knights’ numerous health setbacks this season was the announcement on Tuesday that Jack Eichel would be “week-to-week” following surgery for a lower-body injury.
However, Las Vegas, the reigning champion, manages to hold a solid playoff position.
The Knights are seven points behind Vancouver going into Tuesday’s play in the Pacific Division, and they will host the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Captain Mark Stone advised, “You’ve got to have that no-excuse mentality.” “Everyone’s got to play a little bit better version of their game.”
To emphasize that point, Stone mentioned that late in Monday’s game, when Nashville went to a 6-on-5 down two goals, Brendan Brisson, a rookie making his NHL debut, was on the ice with the third line. In addition to preventing the Predators from scoring, the Knights sealed the 4-1 victory with an empty-net goal from Jonathan Marchessault.
“They’ve got to step up when that opportunity comes,” Stone stated. “They gave them nothing and kept the puck on the outside. And we roll another line after ours ends.”
Though they haven’t exactly been cruising, the Knights appear to be reviving. After a run of six losses in seven games, they have won two of the last three and three of the last five.
Vegas is still in need of a reliable offensive source. A three-game run in which the Knights failed to score in the first two periods was snapped with the victory over Nashville. The Knights were blanked just twice in the entire previous season; Vegas has been shut out five times.
The four goals against the Predators surpassed the total number of goals scored by the Knights in their preceding three games.
Defenseman Nic Hague stated, “Everything comes down to breaking the puck out and winning wall battles.” “All five of the guys uniting. I felt that Monday was a lot better. It somewhat restored our sense of self and what we know and expect from ourselves.”
Whether this season will be more like two years ago or a year ago is a big question. For the first time in their brief franchise history, the Knights missed out on a postseason appearance in 2021–2022 due to injuries, which cost them more than 500 man games.
The Knights had a terrible record going into the All-Star break of the previous season, but they bounced back to win the Western Conference’s best record and home-ice advantage in the postseason.
f they are to make another such run this season, the Knights will have to find a way to overcome these injuries:
– Eichel was injured Thursday against the Boston Bruins. He managed to reenter that game and help the Knights win 2-1 in overtime, but the longer he is out of the lineup the more it could become a major problem. Eichel leads the team with 19 goals and is tied with Stone with 44 points.
– William Karlsson hasn’t played since the Winter Classic at Seattle on New Year’s Day because of a lower-body injury. Like Eichel, Karlsson is listed as week to week. He was having his best season since his first in Vegas when Karlsson scored 43 goals and had 78 points in 2017-18. Karlsson is third on the team this season with 32 points.
– Shea Theodore underwent surgery in late November for an upper-body injury and still hasn’t been in the lineup. He led the Knights at the time with 14 assists and also had 18 points, the club’s most offensive-minded defenseman.
– Goalie Adin Hill has had trouble getting back in the lineup since suffering a lower-body injury in November, and was due to return to the ice Wednesday at Colorado. Coach Bruce Cassidy said Hill informed him that day he didn’t feel physically ready to return and still hasn’t been back in the net. Hill came off the bench last postseason to help carry the the Knights to the Stanley Cup title.
Injuries haven’t been the only issue. Illnesses also have kept players out of games, and one nearly prevented Chandler Stephenson from playing Monday. He wound up playing and delivered assists on two of Stone’s three goals.
“Sometimes you play better when you’re not feeling 100% because you don’t overextend yourself,” Cassidy said. “But nice to have him.
