Vegas Golden Knights have track record of coming out strong after losses.
After letting the chance to take a command 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals slip away, the Vegas Golden Knights took a “reset” day to avoid talking hockey and just regroup.
"We’re not practicing today. We’ll have a team meeting. Guys will stretch a little bit. Get the necessary assistance from the medical team whoever needs it. We’re not doing video today. We’ll attack that stuff tomorrow morning," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Basically, get away from the rink a little bit. It's hard. You're in the Stanley Cup Final. You're not going to be able to completely get away from it. But we're not going to talk Florida Panthers today with the guys.”
Stepping away from the game has been a thing that the Golden Knights have done periodically to refresh and rest.
It’s worked before after wins and losses.
It must work on now if the Golden Knights want to leave South Florida with a commanding 3-1 series lead. If it doesn't, Vegas is looking at a best-of-three series to decide who will be the Stanley Cup Champions.
The Golden Knights played well in stretches in their 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday. The problem is they couldn’t seem to get the breakthrough goal to seal the deal.
“We'd like our game honestly last night. It worked out for us because it could have gone either way. We’re right there to the end,” Cassidy said. “We played smart, shut down hockey in the third period and try to extend the lead. … In Game 2, the pucks did go in. Yesterday we had some similar opportunity that didn’t go in. So it’s going to happen. We playing against a really good goaltender and good hockey team. We're not going to beat ourselves over yesterday's game.”
The Golden Knights have proven to have a short-term memory in games after defeat.
Coming off their first loss in previous series, the Golden Knights are 3-1 and have outscored the opposition 24-10 following losses.
But that doesn’t mean they expect it to be easy to win the game and ultimately the series.
“You're never expected to go super easy. To win, it’s a grind,” Vegas forward William Karlsson said. “You know sometimes you lose, but all that matters is the next game. Focus on that. I think you've done a great job throughout the playoffs after a loss. Just want to stay composed.”