Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Logan Thompson (36) blocks a shot as Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene (95) watches during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series at T-Mobile arena Monday, April 29, 2024.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | 1:48 p.m.
The Golden Knights have taken shots from all over the ice in their playoff series against the Stars.
The Stars have taken a different approach in winning the last two games to even the best-of-7 game series at 2-2 entering Game 5 Wednesday in Dallas.
Crashing the net has become the biggest game-changer for the Stars, who in the last two games have scored five goals off 56 shots from below the faceoff dots. By comparison, Vegas has just 28 shots below the face-off dots and two goals.
Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said his team needs to be more aggressive around the net — whether it is shooting on goal or defending it.
“We want to play off the shot mentality a little bit more,” Cassidy said.
He pointed to Jack Eichel’s goal in the second period of Monday’s 4-2 loss in Game 4. On the play, Eichel scored off a rebound shot from Jonathan Marchessault.
The mentality of going to the net to score goes the same way when it comes to defending in front of Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson, Cassidy said.
Dallas has set up camp in front of Thompson, and while he’s fended off the Stars as best as he can, Cassidy wants Vegas to provide more defensive support in the paint.
“I want to make them work in front of the net. I want to make them expend energy in front of the net and make them take penalties in front of the net,” Cassidy said.
Golden Knights stress power play
Penalties have hampered the Golden Knights through the series, who have played a man down seven times in the last four games. While they’ve allowed only two short-handed goals, Cassidy wants to see Vegas up on the man advantage going forward.
The Golden Knights have been on the power play six times, but have only scored twice. In their last two games, they’ve gone 0-for-3 on the power play.
“At the end of the day we didn’t draw any penalties going to the net,” Cassidy said. “I thought there were a few opportunities, but we’ve got to stick with it. That’s what you’ve got to do to neutralize.”
While giving up a 2-0 lead in the series isn’t ideal, Cassidy said he has no expectations for the length of the series outside of winning.
“We go into every game expecting to win. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s going to go seven. I’m not the guy,” Cassidy said. “We went into Game 3 prepared to win and we weren’t prepared.”
“The games have been fairly even, they could’ve gone either way.”