Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 | 12:01 a.m.
The Golden Knights dropped their second straight game with a 2-1 defeat Saturday to the visiting New York Rangers, but coach Bruce Cassidy isn’t panicking.
“I’m not concerned about the big picture,” Cassidy said. “I think teams go through this where the puck doesn’t bounce their way. There’s a reason why teams fight it. It’s usually because several guys aren’t clicking offensively at the same time. That’s what typically happens.”
Cassidy said the Golden Knights’ offensive lapses are temporary, citing the play of Pavel Dorofeyev and William Karlsson.
After scoring 12 goals in the first two months of the season, Dorofeyev has just two goals and two assists since the beginning of December. And Karlsson, who had 16 points before the Christmas break, has two points in the Golden Knights’ last seven games.
“Will it be tomorrow or Tuesday on the road? I’m not sure, but I believe we’ll pull ourselves out,” Cassidy said on players finding their game.
Vegas had plenty of chances to pull even with New York.
It went on the power play late and pulled goalie Ilya Samsonov for a 6-on-4 opportunity. The Golden Knights got a handful of good looks, but it couldn’t beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
“There were some looks, but we just couldn’t get it by them,” captain Mark Stone said.
It was a similar narrative most of the night, as the Golden Knights had eight high-danger chances but couldn’t convert. Shesterkin had 28 saves.
“It’s just one of those times every team goes through to fight your way out. You could’ve easily scored three, four (goals) tonight and you’re seeing a different story,” Stone said. “There’s some chances to be had, but we just didn’t capitalize.”
Stone scored his 12th goal of the season in the second period on the power play to give the Golden Knights a brief 1-0 advantage. Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl had the assist, marking Eichel’s 43rd assist of the season.
The Rangers scored about three minutes later to even the score. They tallied the game winner at 5:57 of the third period when Adam Edstrom tipped in Jonny Brodzinski’s shot off the rush.
Vegas has a quick turnaround: It will host the Minnesota Wild 5 p.m. Sunday. After blowing out the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, the Wild responded with a 3-1 win over the Sharks on Saturday.
“We don’t have time to sit around and dwell on it,” Cassidy said. “Let’s just keep grinding away and find a way to find our offense.”