Mark Stone leads all players with 10 points since Dec. 17.

The Vegas Golden Knights were shut out for the fifth time this season with their 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday in Denver.

It’s trails only behind the seven times it happened in the 2021-22 season, when the Golden Knights didn’t make the playoffs.

“It’s hard to win when you don’t score,” Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “You got to find a way to score goals in every possible way. As a group collectively find a way to score more goals in front of the net.”

Let’s look at the offense and how it’s been doing since Dec. 17 – the last win that capped of a stretch where they won four of five and was the last time Adin Hill saw the net.

The star players haven’t been producing consistently on the offensive end of the ice. Put the 5-2 victory against the New York Islanders aside, Vegas hasn’t been great on offense.

On Dec. 17, the Golden Knights were averaging 3.30 goals per game. Since then, the Golden Knights have scored 20 goals after Dec. 17 (2-7-0).

That’s an average of 2.22 goals per game, and if you take away anomaly of five goals in a single game, they’re averaging 1.89 goals per game.

That’s not going to get it done, especially while the defense is recalibrating, dealing with the consistent shuffling, and working through its issues.

Chandler Stephenson has two points since Dec. 17. Jack Eichel has eight points. Jonathan Marchessault has five points in that stretch. Mark Stone has 10 points, only failing to tally a point in the two shutout losses to Seattle and Colorado.

Combine that with the loss of William Karlsson, who was having a great season, and lack of offense from the blue line, it’s a recipe for inconsistent play on offense when the drivers of lines aren’t producing.

That’s not to put all the blame on the top players. The role players have to step up offensively as well.

Last season, the Golden Knights got timely goals from Brett Howden and Michael Amadio, and a career-year from William Carrier. Carrier is out for a little while, and Howden and Amadio have been hot swapping roles during this recent injury run.

Both Amadio and Howden got off to strong starts and should each finish the season close to their career best once they find their footing again. But during this stretch, they have a combined five points.

Ivan Barbashev came in and complemented the team well in his early days with the Golden Knights. He needs to find that chemistry again with Eichel and Marchessault and start making an impact as a top-six forward. Barbashev, since Dec. 17, has five points.

It’s a collective effort that is plaguing the Golden Knights and is the cause lack of offensive production.

Sure, injuries have been piling up, but that’s not an excuse that the team will use for its lack of urgency and lack of consistent play. Neither will the idea that the Golden Knights are tired from a short offseason and have seemingly adrenaline dumped from the strong start.

They won’t make excuses, so nobody should do it for them. This is the highest form of hockey and at the end of the day results are what matter.

The Golden Knights need their drivers to drive and lead the line, and the rest have to do their job and follow with their best games.

It’s the formula that worked so well for Vegas last season.

It’s the formula that will bring the swagger back.

It’s the formula that could lead to breaking out of this slump.

“We need to be better. We haven’t been on top of our game. That’s why we’ve lost so many games,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s not like we’re outplaying teams and losing. Couple times, it happens. We’re just not on top of our game from top to bottom. It’s on me to fix it. That’s the plan right now.”

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