Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill’s exit from Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes was a surprise to almost everyone in the building.
He had allowed four goals on 21 shots, allowing the Hurricanes to build a 4-0, but it could be debated just how much of it was his fault.
Two goals were scored on deflections. Another goal was scored off a Zach Whitecloud turnover behind the net that left Hill all alone against Jordan Staal in front of the net. Lastly, another goal was scored off a shot that Hill initially saved, but Jesperi Kotkaniemi got his rebound and scored in traffic.
He was also the only thing standing in the way of the Hurricanes blowing open the game in the first period, as the Golden Knights were outshot 16-4.
Six minutes into the second period, Hill was yanked for Akira Schmid, who has been called up from Henderson for the past four games due to an undisclosed Ilya Samsonov injury.
While Cassidy said the move was made to change the momentum, the Golden Knights dropped their first home game of the season to Carolina, 5-2.
“I’m not putting any of the game on Hilly,” Cassidy said. “It was just more about changing the momentum and I thought he still did a good job.”
Hill has been the busiest out of all the Golden Knights this past week. Monday was his fourth straight start, and he would’ve likely gotten some relief if Samsonov was still healthy.
With four more games coming up over the next week, Cassidy said it would be a lot to ask for Hill to play all four, but Samsonov could make a return. He has been practicing with the team but has yet to suit up.
“Sammy’s (Samsonov) has been suffering more injuries, so (Hill’s) gonna get more looks.”
Cassidy said it was a split-second decision to pull Hill and throw in the inexperienced Schmid. However, some players were frustrated for Hill, saying the Golden Knights could’ve done more for him.
“That’s our guy (Hill) back there,” Whitecloud said. “He’s been our rock for many years now. In our group, there’s never one guy that was responsible. He deserved better tonight. He deserves better from us.”
The Golden Knights’ defense in front of Hill faulted throughout the night, struggling to support Hill in front of the net and play strong on the puck. Vegas gave away the puck 17 times and was outshot 34-32.
Cassidy said that while the defense wasn’t strong on the puck when Carolina was on the attack, the offense struggled to support it until halfway through the game.
“They’re getting stretched out high. They’re circling. You’ve got to have short, crisp passes,” Cassidy said. Support until you get a little time and space. They could have been better. We needed to be better tonight.”
At the losing end of their worst home result since losing to the Anaheim Ducks, 4-1, on April 18, the Golden Knights aren’t taking anything lightly.
“We’re not going to sit here and say the things we did well,” Whitecloud said. “It’s more so the things we didn’t do…We’ll take a look at them, learn from them and be the veteran group we are.”
There’s still a lot of faith in Hill. Cassidy said that he knows what he’s going to get out of him and Hill’s earned this starting job. However, moving forward into the next batch of games, it’s still up in the air for how much the Golden Knights want to use him.
“He’ll (Hill) put it behind him and move on to his next start, which could be as soon as Wednesday,” Cassidy said.