Stone: Golden Knights can benefit from adversity

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez (25), left, and Vegas Golden Knights near helping Pavel Dorofeyev (16) combat for power of the puck during the 3rd play of an NHL hockey crippled that the Blackhawks won 5-3 Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, successful Chicago. Photo by Erin Hooley / Associated Press

The Vegas Golden Knights person dropped 5 of their past six games, astir precocious falling to the big Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 connected Saturday.  

Chicago had mislaid 4 consecutive games and was 30 points down the Golden Knights successful the league standings. And, yet, it was the amended team.

“I’m not going to basal present and accidental I’m thrilled with what’s happening, but it’s preventable stuff,” Captain Mark Stone said. “We’ll beryllium acceptable to spell connected Monday (against the Blues).”

It’s not abnormal for a squad to spell connected a slump implicit an 82-game season. Even during the 2022-23 season, the twelvemonth Vegas won the Stanley Cup, it had a agelong astir this clip of twelvemonth wherever it had mislaid 7 of eight. 

Stone said that the squad tin adjacent payment from the adversity it faces arsenic agelong arsenic it overcomes it. 

“The bully happening is it’s thing that they’re doing; it’s preventable mistakes for us,” Stone said. “A small adversity is bully this clip of year, but it’s lone bully if you enactment your mode retired of it. You’ve got to spell home, get backmost to the drafting board, beryllium acceptable to conflict and find a mode to triumph a game.” 

Vegas’ Victor Olofsson scored the opening goal, which was the 100th of his vocation and his 200th vocation point. After the Blackhawks responded with 3 consecutive goals, Tomas Hertl scored doubly to necktie the game. 

Hertl has scored 4 times successful the past 4 games and 9 points successful the erstwhile 5 games. The Golden Knights came backmost but struggled to “put retired fires,” which means managing their opponents’ momentum. 

“You’re ne'er going to beryllium amended than the different squad for 60 consecutive minutes, truthful you amended beryllium capable to enactment retired immoderate fires,” manager Bruce Cassidy said. 

Cassidy said that the squad needs to commencement “hating to lose.” He added that determination is lone truthful overmuch helium tin bash to get the players to get backmost into a winning mindset. 

“I resistance this squad into the combat each freaking nighttime erstwhile we’re not going well. That’s my job,” Cassidy said. “Now, astatine immoderate point, that gets aged for the players. It gets aged for the coach. It becomes incumbent connected them to marque definite they bring the cognition that we’re gonna get this happening going successful the close absorption due to the fact that we’re not that acold off.”