The Golden Knights are 0-3-1 in their last four games, and coach Bruce Cassidy wants goaltenders Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov to help turn things around.
Bruce Cassidy raised some eyebrows.
The Golden Knights don’t have many concrete answers as to why they’re 1-5-1 their last seven games, their worst slump of the season. One night they don’t have enough offense. Another night a few defensive lapses cause the game to slip away from them.
After the Knights’ 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday, the Knights coach turned the spotlight toward the crease.
“We need better play out of the goaltending position,” Cassidy said. “We can’t expect to give up four and win. We just need to be better there.”
Goaltender Adin Hill, typically calm and collected, didn’t seem deterred by Cassidy’s comments. He was short when asked if he could use Cassidy’s words as motivation.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Hill said.
Hill wasn’t trying to be condescending. He knows when he’s not playing well. He’s aware he isn’t right now after allowing 11 goals his last four starts.
But the 28-year-old also believes he and his teammates aren’t far away from turning things around. The Knights have been within a goal of their opponent in the third period in all four games of their recent 0-3-1 skid.
“I don’t feel like it’s as big as it’s made out to be,” Hill said. “We’ve lost some games. They’ve all been one-goal hockey games. We’ve been right in them. It’s just that extra save or that extra puck going in for us, either way.”
Cassidy wasn’t just singling out Hill, who took the loss Monday after allowing four goals on 28 shots.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov has also taken a step back. The 27-year-old has lost his last three starts and allowed 11 goals in that stretch.
Cassidy repeated his stance Tuesday, saying the Knights need to get more timely saves, especially at the end of periods.
Late goals doomed the team in its last two losses to the Blues and Chicago Blackhawks.
“You need big saves to pick you up,” Cassidy said. “It’s a game of mistakes. We’re not going to be clean every night. That’s where you really need to be bailed out sometimes, and that’s the timing of it, too.”
Hill said the last-minute goals are huge momentum shifts in games. The Knights found a way to rally from down 4-2 on Monday to force overtime, but that’s not a formula they can rely on every night.
Hill still said his confidence in his team hasn’t wavered. The Knights will try to snap out of their funk Thursday when they play the Blues again, this time at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
“Everyone in the room, we’re fine. We’re happy, we’re having fun. It’s a long season,” Hill said. “It’s an 82-game stretch, so for you to not have a slump at some point in the season is pretty rare. You go through a little adversity. We had a good practice today, put our work boots on, got to it. We’ll carry that momentum into St. Louis.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
The Knights are 0-3-1 their past four games and 1-5-1 their last seven. Their self-inflicted wounds are preventing them from righting the ship.
The Golden Knights extended their losing streak to four games Monday by falling to the St. Louis Blues in a shootout at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights have been close in several of their recent losses. They believe not being able to slow down their opponent’s momentum has cost them.
The Golden Knights finished an 0-3 road trip with a loss to the last-place Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, their fifth defeat in their past six games.
The Golden Knights lost a lead and couldn’t find the equalizer late in a road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Knights play again Saturday.
The Golden Knights, who have lost three of their last four games, will try to bounce back when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on the road Friday.
The Golden Knights have hit a slump after winning 17 of their previous 21 games, but they’re encouraged that the losses haven’t been bad ones — for the most part.
A Golden Knights forward scored three times, but they couldn’t climb out of a big deficit against Nashville and former Knight Jonathan Marchessault on Tuesday.
The Golden Knights will face Jonathan Marchessault for the first time as an opponent when they visit the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
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