The only thing the Golden Knights have left to play for is momentum heading into the postseason.
Even that might not be of huge importance.
Still, the Knights are trying to win their final two games of the regular season, even if the results won’t mean much. They finish things out with consecutive road games against the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
“We’re going to prepare to win,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We always do.”
The Knights (49-22-9) have done about all they can do at this point. They clinched the Pacific Division with a 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday and are guaranteed home-ice advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs, if they advance.
The Winnipeg Jets also clinched the Presidents’ Trophy on Sunday, so the Knights are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
That means their focus the next three days is getting healthy. The Knights took a step in the right direction Monday, as everyone skated in the team’s practice at City National Arena except for goaltender Adin Hill, who started the last two games.
Center Jack Eichel was a full participant, though he remains day to day after missing three straight games with an upper-body injury.
Left wing Victor Olofsson and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Nic Hague also skated Monday. Olofsson has missed the last two games with an illness, while Pietrangelo and Hague have sat out three straight with an illness.
Cassidy said the bug going around the team has subsided.
How much is too much?
The Knights still have time to get everyone up to speed. Game 1 of their first-round series at T-Mobile Arena isn’t expected to be until Sunday.
Cassidy will talk with his players about whether they feel fit to play or would benefit from some rest. The group that could need a breather the most is the participants in February’s 4 Nations Face-Off: Eichel, Hill, captain Mark Stone and defenseman Noah Hanifin.
“There’s less at stake and that’s real. Guys know that,” Cassidy said. “We had discussed the importance of trying to get this done at home last week so we can use this week however we felt was best for us.”
Still in play
The Knights know they’re hosting Game 1 of the playoffs, but there’s a chance they won’t learn who their opponent is until Thursday.
They’ll face the top wild-card team in the Western Conference. The Minnesota Wild (44-30-7) own that spot as of Monday, with the St. Louis Blues (43-30-8) one point behind with one game to play.
The Wild play the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and would clinch a date with the Knights with a win. A Minnesota loss would make things more interesting.
The Wild can still get passed by the Blues or the Flames (39-27-14). Calgary is two points behind St. Louis and three points behind Minnesota with two games remaining. That means the Flames, depending on how they do their final two games against the Knights on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, can still jump into the first wild-card spot or miss the playoffs.
“We got a real hungry, desperate, pick your word for it, (team) in Calgary,” Cassidy said. “They’re right there. We’re going to get their best game. We better be ready to go, so we understand that.”
The Knights would remove the Flames from their list of potential playoff opponents with a win Tuesday. That gives them at least something to play for, though they also have their eye on the bigger picture.
“These last couple weeks, the last 10 days have been a bit of a grind,” Stone said. “It’s good to get the division locked down. You want to start at home as much as you can. You play 82 games to do that. Fortunate for us, we played 80 to do it. We can kind of relax and rest a little bit.”
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