The Vegas Golden Knights are still fighting for their playoff lives. However, the defending champions are likely to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again. However, they aren’t exactly healthy. For head coach Bruce Cassidy, though, that is no excuse. They still must play to the best of their ability as the season draws to a close.
Cassidy spoke with the media before an optional skate on Tuesday. The Vegas bench boss maintained that his team is remaining focused on the task at hand. They cannot afford to wonder about absences or health statuses at this point in the year.
“We’re still grinding here and that was a bit of the message this morning,” Cassidy said Tuesday, via NHL.com. “Teams don’t care, Vancouver is not worried about who’s in our lineup and who’s not, they’re missing (goalie Thatcher) Demko too and (forward Elias) Lindholm, people have guys out of their lineup. We’ve dealt with it all year, basically after the first month on, so basically for us it’s nothing new.”
Who’s out for the Golden Knights
The Golden Knights enter their Wednesday night showdown with the Edmonton Oilers missing five players. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is out with an illness and did not travel with Vegas on their recent road trip. Other sidelined players include goalie Adin Hill and forwards Nicolas Roy and William Carrier.
Hill has not played since March 23rd with a lower-body injury. It’s the second time this year he has missed multiple games. Roy hasn’t played since April 2nd, though his injury has not been disclosed. Carrier went on long-term injured reserve on Monday so Vegas could activate Tomas Hertl.
Of course, fans are also aware that the team is without captain Mark Stone. Stone suffered a lacerated spleen around the NHL Trade Deadline in early March. He is currently out for the rest of the regular season. And the team has some concerns that the veteran forward may not return for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Familiar territory
The Golden Knights are used to a less-than-ideal injury situation. In fact, Bruce Cassidy and his team went through this last season. Vegas was without Stone and others heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But they were able to get healthy and went on to win the Stanley Cup over the Florida Panthers.
“Last year we went through it,” Cassidy mentioned, via NHL.com. “We’re not using it as an excuse, it does affect certain areas of your performance. Those one-goal games are probably the most affected because there are guys out of your lineup that can make a difference in the game at a key time.”
It isn’t a one-to-one comparison. For instance, the Golden Knights struggled with goaltending injuries last year. In 2023-24, at least one of Hill or Logan Thompson has been available to Vegas. Still, injuries can be overcome. For Cassidy, it’s about protecting your goalie with your style of play.
“To me, it’s about how your team is playing in front of your goalie, then it won’t matter, because you can put different guys in there that are capable in this league and you’ll get your share of wins. If you’re not playing as well as a team, then your goalie does become more of a factor and he’s going to have to win you some games, so I guess it would depend on that,” he said, via NHL.com.
The Golden Knights only have a handful of games remaining before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the team is a bit banged up heading into the tournament. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the team navigates these injuries once the tournament begins next week.
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