It wasn’t that long ago — OK, two games ago — when Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said his team’s third-period performance against the Kings on Feb. 24 was “losing hockey.”
That if you want to make a deep playoff run, you couldn’t perform in the manner the Knights did in a 5-2 loss.
If they want to win another Stanley Cup, they need more efforts like Sunday’s.
Boring hockey is great when you’re on the right side of things, which the Knights were in a 2-0 win against New Jersey at T-Mobile Arena.
“There wasn’t a lot going on,” Cassidy said. “Both teams were pretty conscientious away from the puck. Didn’t see a lot of odd-man rushes. No penalties until the third period. There wasn’t a lot of room out there.
“(The Devils) played (Saturday night), so hopefully you wear them down. We were dialed in.”
Rock solid
It’s this sort of defensive structure and goaltending that can make the Knights a special side.
They have enough scoring in the room, but when they’re boxing out and blocking shots and making saves like they did Sunday, they’ll be an extremely tough out against anyone.
Especially with Adin Hill locked in.
He has been on more than a nice run of late, interrupted only by him not starting the Kings game due to an illness. But he beat this same New Jersey team before the 4 Nations Face-Off break Feb. 6. Hill then returned with a 33-save effort in a win over Vancouver on Feb. 22.
Then came Sunday, when Hill saved 25 shots. It wasn’t his busiest night, but when a key save was needed, he was there.
It was also his 36th start of the season, a new career high.
“He was opportunistic for us,” captain Mark Stone said. “Sometimes, the offense can be opportunistic, but today it was the goaltending. They had some chances in the second period, but he was there to smother it and calmed us down. Made a huge save on a 2-on-1 to settle things.
“Those are important saves. He’s been playing really well going into the break and coming out of it. He has been rock solid.”
Sports are weird. The Knights allowed 10 goals their previous two games and none Sunday. Shows you what can happen when the defense is sound and the power play is opportunistic with two goals.
The Knights need this sort of play from Hill. Ilya Samsonov has struggled mightily as his backup. Samsonov’s numbers since January are dreadful. So it goes that even more pressure to perform will likely land on Hill’s pads. He certainly seems to accept the challenge.
“We had a good 60-minute performance,” Hill said. “Power play was clutch when we needed it to be. Good, tight checking both ways.
“Lower event games are nice. We kept them to the outside and blocked shots and cleared rebounds when we had to. It was a good performance.”
Win both ways
Crazy. Two of the Knights’ best games this season — by far two of their best defensively — have come against New Jersey.
Cassidy’s team, however, can win both ways. High scoring or what we saw Sunday. It would prefer the latter, is all.
The Knights didn’t manage the puck all that well their last time out against Chicago and won 7-5. They did a much better job in this one and allowed nothing.
“This is the time of year when it’s important you don’t give up many second chances and win these low-scoring games,” defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “That’s how you win in the playoffs when it matters. We just have to keep building off that.”
Two games ago, it was exactly the opposite
But that team Sunday can make a deep run. That team Sunday had the perfect recipe for how you want to play.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [email protected]. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.
