It is the existential question worming into the minds of Vegas Golden Knights fans following a late-season loss to a non-playoff team.
If you can’t have both, would you rather your team play its best against league leaders or bottom feeders?
The answer, which resulted in the Golden Knights having their names etched upon the Stanley Cup last summer is obvious - if not a bit frustrating at times.
The Vegas Golden Knights are big game hunters. They get up for games with obvious competitive juice. It doesn’t guarantee victory but when the opponent represents a challenge the Golden Knights bring their best game. They are physical, relentless and focused.
Over their last 13 games, Vegas has been mostly excellent putting together a 9-3-1 mark. While they have yet to clinch a playoff berth, the team ranks 11th in the NHL in points percentage.
Vegas is 14-8-1 this season vs. the 10 teams above them in the standings for a .630 points percentage against the league elite. Only the Boston Bruins are better in this category.
NHL, Top 11 Teams by Pts Pct
Highest Combined Pts Pct against Top-11 Opponents – 2023-24
(Pts Pct Ranks thru 4/6/2024)
TEAM
DIFF_TMS
W
L
T
OTL
PCT
Boston Bruins
10
16
4
0
5
.740
Vegas Golden Knights
10
14
8
0
1
.630
Vancouver Canucks
10
13
8
0
3
.604
New York Rangers
10
13
10
0
1
.563
Florida Panthers
10
12
9
0
4
.560
Colorado Avalanche
10
11
9
0
2
.545
Toronto Maple Leafs
10
12
10
0
3
.540
Dallas Stars
10
10
10
0
5
.500
Winnipeg Jets
10
10
10
0
3
.500
Carolina Hurricanes
10
11
12
0
0
.478
Edmonton Oilers
10
9
11
0
3
.457
The Golden Knights are also a combined 4-5-1 against Arizona, Columbus, Anaheim and Chicago, who will all miss the playoffs by a long shot this season. For the fly-in-the-ointment folks in the crowd, Vegas is 4-0 against league worst San Jose. Go figure.
“It’s human nature,” said Jonathan Marchessault. “When you’re playing against good players and good teams, it’s always a good challenge. It’s a good measuring stick for where you’re at as a team, I think. I enjoy it way more. At the same time, we haven’t clinched. We need the points. So we have to take care of what’s in front of us. No matter who we’re playing. We know that but sometimes the results still haven’t been there. The mind works in mysterious ways.”
The Golden Knights downed division leading Vancouver 6-3 last week and followed that win with a 7-4 loss to the perennially playoffs-absent Arizona Coyotes. Beat the best, produce an inferior performance against the lesser. Not exactly one step up and two steps back but you get the picture.
Was Friday’s loss, which saw the Coyotes erase a three-goal deficit in the third period, troubling? Sure. Was it maddening? The gentlewoman at the grocery store who wanted to discuss it on Saturday afternoon was still fuming.
But it isn’t season defining. Vegas hasn’t secured a playoff berth just yet but the odds are heavily in favor of that happening.
VGK coach Bruce Cassidy bristled at the notion the loss could be used as a lesson. “It’s April,” stated Cassidy, intimating class is out and it’s now time to be applying one’s education.
As always, Bruce is on the money. But something positive must be culled from Friday’s defeat. Think of it as a sharp stick in the eye. A reminder. Fool around and find out.
“I feel at times we’ve played up to the level of competition and down to the level, unfortunately,” said Cassidy. “Last year, we did a better job of taking care of business. Is that a product of the way our season has shaken out, when we play these teams? Is that a product of we won the Cup last year so we feel like we can take our foot off the gas against lesser teams? And then, as you find out when you play in the NHL, anything can happen? I think it’s a little bit of that, for sure. We are just not as excited to play those teams and it shows in our play and they are excited to play us. We are a measuring stick game. That’s why we end up on the wrong side it.”
Cassidy pointed to some poor play in third periods in games he thinks his team should have won.
“We know we have to close games out. We just didn’t do what we were supposed to. For us to be learning a lesson in April in Arizona, when we are fighting for a playoff spot, I don’t think there’s a lesson there,” he said. “I just think we didn’t execute well enough. We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t manage the puck, we had a bad line change. I don’t think that’s stuff that will fix itself the next night if you don’t take care of it. I guess you could look at it as a lesson, but I don’t. We have to do the right things, that’s it. End of story.”
The positive for the Golden Knights this week is their next two games come against division rivals ahead of them in the standings. On Monday it’s Vancouver and Wednesday it’s Edmonton.
Easy motivation for the Golden Knights.
