The New Jersey Devils are tasked with another big challenge as they face the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon.
A seemingly frustrated Curtis Lazar met with the media after the New Jersey Devils' 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday evening.
"It doesn't matter what time the game is. We have to be ready to go," he said. "This whole season, we had a hard time building momentum and putting wins together, and tonight was another prime example of that."
The Devils entered the first intermission against the Coyotes down 3-0.
New Jersey found itself in a hole it could not get out of, and the result was a disappointing 4-1 loss that the club couldn't afford with the regular season winding down.
During his post-game press conference, interim head coach Travis Green spoke about his team's start.
"Our start was disappointing tonight. I did not like the first 10 to 12 minutes of our game," Green said. "One of the keys for us tonight was being ready to go. It's a quick team over there. (The Coyotes) play fast, and I did not think we had our skating legs early enough."
He followed that up by speaking about consistency and his team's immaturity.
"It's a tough league to win in," he said. "You have to be ready to go every night, and if you don't start on time, it is a hard league to win consistently in."
It is a quick turnaround for New Jersey as they play the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon.
During his pre-game media availability, Green was asked about what his message was to his team about getting off to a better start against Vegas.
"Everyone says they want to start well," he said. "When I talked about the maturity of our group last night, I think that's what I meant. It is not an uncommon theme for coaches to say we need to start well. For me, playing with urgency is starting well and not waiting until we are down."
"When I talked about maturity in our group, we have a young team," he continued. "We've got a lot of young (defensemen) on our group right now and relatively young forwards, a lot of our top-end guys. Honesty is a big part of coaching, and I thought last night that cost us."
Against the Coyotes, the Devils surrendered the game's opening goal for the 49th time this season. It has been a theme that has proved costly as the Devils sit in the sixth wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
On Sunday afternoon, the club will face the defending Stanley Cup champions. It is another tall order, as the Golden Knights hold a record of 14-1-1 when leading after the first period.
The Devils are playing the second half of a back-to-back, which has also been a struggle as they hold a record of 2-9-1.
In Vegas, the house always wins, and entering this afternoon's game, the cards are stacked against New Jersey.
Only time will tell if the Devils can get a little luck on their side. Puck drop between the Devils and Golden Knights is scheduled for 3:30 P.M.