Cassidy was at it again, going at refs after a loss to the Islanders.
ELMONT, NY -- Following the New York Islanders' 2-1 game, Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about what happened on Brock Nelson's go-ahead goal:
Before the face-off, which Nelson lost, Cassidy was not pleased that the linesmen awarded the Islanders an icing.
"We ice the puck there. We weren't strong on the walls. I didn't know if it was icing or not," Cassidy said postgame. "Listen, I thought the linesmen tonight...there were a lot of calls that did not go our way against a good face-off team. That's where you are gonna have to win the draw and make sure you get it out. We weren't able to do it on the winning goal, so that led up to it.
Actually, Vegas won the draw. They just turned the puck over. Here's the video:
"But we look at the play, it's a low to high. We're there. Maybe we don't get a block one out to the point, but the shot is probably two feet off the net, and they tip it out of the air, three feet in the air, and our D was under their sticks. Listen, sometimes teams get puck luck. We didn't have any tonight."
It was a subtle jab at the refs by Cassidy, who has known to do that in games against the Islanders.
As the head coach of the Boston Bruins back in 2021, Cassidy coined the nickname "New York Saints" for the Islanders as he thought they could do no harm in the referees' eyes in Game 5, a 5-4 win on T.D. Garden Ice.
“It's a very well-respected management and coach staff over there,” Cassidy said after Game 5. "But they sell a narrative over there that they’re the New York Saints rather than the New York Islanders.”
Cassidy had no idea what he had just done as his words riled up an already energized, rambunctious fan base:
"Yeah, it happened, and then the next day, I remember he got to the rink, and I'm pretty sure the news had just come out mid-morning," former Bruins defenseman and current injured Islanders defenseman Reilly recalled. "We were at the rink, and then I remember the coach addressed it. I think he was saying, "I can't do that," and I'm not saying we didn't get a little chuckle out of it, but it started to blow up.
"We figured the fans here were gonna let us and the coach know as soon as we stepped on the ice, so yeah, we had a little bit of fun with that, for sure. It's just because it blew up on social media, and it was the talk of the playoffs for the day or two there a little bit.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFygfKbTVeY[/embed]
Here's that full story from our interview with Reilly back when he first was claimed off waivers in November of 2023:
To get back to Tuesday's win, the Islanders did have to be lucky, at times, to keep the puck out of their own net.
They had 14 shots on goal, the fewest Vegas has ever allowed in a game in franchise history. However, the two goals the Islanders scored were high-skill plays, and luck did not really play a part in either.
And Ilya Sorokin was brilliant between the pipes.
The Islanders are now 8-1-0 in their last nine games, while the Golden Knights have lost four straight (0-2-2).
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