It normally wouldn’t matter how a team loses if the losses keep piling up.
The Golden Knights are 3-8-3 their last 14 games. They’ve lost four in a row two times in that stretch and haven’t won consecutive games in almost a month.
Their latest setback came Tuesday in a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders, a team that previously shut them down Jan. 9 at T-Mobile Arena to kick the whole skid off.
Still, the Knights’ 4-0 loss to the Islanders that night remains the only time in 2025 they’ve been blown out. They’ve been within a goal of their opponent in the third period in 10 of their last 11 losses.
“We had a ton of chances,” said defenseman Shea Theodore after the Knights outshot the Islanders 34-14 on Tuesday but still lost. “It seems like if one or two of those go in, it changes the momentum, changes the feeling on the bench.”
All kinds of losses
The Knights have still had plenty of disappointing performances during their slump.
They fell behind 4-0 to the Nashville Predators on Jan. 14 and needed a natural hat trick from right wing Pavel Dorofeyev to even have a chance at the end. They lost 5-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks — the team with the second-fewest points in the NHL — four days later.
The Knights appeared on their way to a signature win Jan. 28 against the Dallas Stars when they went up 3-1 in the second period. Then 21-year-old Wyatt Johnston recorded a natural hat trick to lead his team to a 4-3 overtime victory.
So two things can be true. The Knights haven’t played well over the last month, but a few bounces could have also turned some of their losses into wins. They’ve only been outscored 41-35 in regulation their last 14 games.
“I just feel like all these games are pretty close,” center Nicolas Roy said. “We’re always missing a little something. Those momentum swings, (we’ve) got to try and avoid that.”
Scoring droughts
One of the Knights’ problems has been a lack of depth scoring. They’ve scored 2.5 goals per game in this stretch and been held to two goals or fewer in six of their losses.
Coach Bruce Cassidy has been calling on players to step up. He hasn’t mentioned specific names, but it’s easy to see who is contributing and who isn’t.
Center Tomas Hertl (nine goals), Dorofeyev (eight) and center Jack Eichel (seven) have done a lot of the heavy lifting for the Knights the last 14 games. Captain Mark Stone has one goal and 10 assists his last 12 appearances.
Left wing Victor Olofsson, on the other hand, doesn’t have a point his last six games. Left wing Ivan Barbashev doesn’t have a goal his last 14 appearances. Center Brett Howden has one goal his last 17 games.
“You’re going to win games if you play well defensively,” Cassidy said. “Right now, it’s cumulative because we’re not scoring, but we have to stick with it.”
Cassidy said the Knights either have to try to make a play to get on the board, or their goaltender has to make a save when they need one. That’s what it will take to stop their losing streak from hitting five games against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
“We have two games left before the (4 Nations Face-Off) break,” Theodore said. “We have to be better.”
Contact Danny Webster at [email protected]. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
