Golden Knights road trip: No time to fix offense in Nashville

The Vegas Golden Knights do not have much time to fix this.

Vegas opens a three-game road trip Saturday afternoon in Nashville, and the timing could hardly be tighter. The Golden Knights have dropped back-to-back shutout losses, slipped to third place in the Pacific Division at 76 points, and now trail Anaheim by four points and Edmonton by one entering the day. With only 13 games left, the margin for error is shrinking fast.

That makes this matchup against the Predators feel bigger than a typical March stop. It is the third and final regular-season meeting between the teams, and the season series is tied 1-1 after Nashville won 4-2 on Dec. 31 and Vegas answered with a 7-2 win on Jan. 17.

No time to tinker

The problem for Vegas is that this stretch does not leave much room to reset.

After Thursday’s 4-0 home loss to Utah, coach Bruce Cassidy made it clear the Knights will not have much practice time to work through their offensive issues on the fly. Vegas plays three games in four days on this trip, starting with Nashville before road stops in Dallas and Winnipeg.

“They won’t practice,” Cassidy said after the Utah loss. “That opportunity is lost.”

So, instead, the correction has to come inside the game. Cassidy said the biggest issue is not a total lack of chances. It is what the Knights are doing with them.

“I’m concerned that we’re turning down opportunities to shoot,” Cassidy said. “There comes a time you’ve got to shoot the puck in those situations.”

That has become the theme of the week. Vegas was shut out 2-0 by Buffalo on Tuesday, then blanked again by Utah on Thursday. The Knights are generating looks, but they are not finishing them. They are also missing too many nets and overpassing in spots where a simpler play would do.

Chasing the standings

That is a dangerous habit this time of year, especially in the Pacific.

Anaheim sits first with 80 points. Edmonton is second with 77. Vegas is right behind at 76, while Los Angeles remains within range at 72. Seattle and San Jose are also hanging around. In other words, the Knights still have a path to the division crown, but it gets thinner with every missed chance and every slow start.

Noah Hanifin said the club knows the standings are impossible to ignore now.

“When you get to this time of year, you’re starting to pay attention for sure,” Hanifin said. “We’ve got to get on a bit of a run here and gain ourselves some ground.”

That urgency is why Saturday matters. Vegas has gone 3-7-0 in its last 10, while Nashville is 4-4-2 over the same stretch. The Predators are 31-28-9 and still dangerous enough to make this a problem if the Knights drift early again.

Numbers still favor Vegas

On paper, there are still reasons to believe Vegas can steady itself.

The Golden Knights own the better power play at 24.9 percent, compared to Nashville’s 22.7. Vegas also has the stronger penalty kill at 82.7 percent, compared to 80.7 for the Predators. The Knights average 3.17 goals per game, while Nashville sits at 2.91. Defensively, Vegas has also been better over the full season, allowing 3.03 goals per game to Nashville’s 3.35.

The bigger issue right now is whether Vegas can get back to playing with a lead instead of reacting from behind.

“You just don’t want to be chasing games all the time,” Hanifin said. “Our identity in years past has just been to overwhelm teams and control the game and keep it simple and hard and just wear teams down.”

That is the template the Knights need to rediscover, and fast.