Three takeaways from the Golden Knights loss to Hurricanes

Right from the get-go, the Golden Knights were under siege from the Hurricanes’ pressure.

The full-ice, man-to-man press combined with shots going to the net is what Carolina aims to do. The Hurricanes wanted to overwhelm the opposition, and it worked to T against Vegas.

“It’s how we love to start and finish games,” Carolina forward Jordan Staal said. “We obviously might have went off the gas a little bit towards the end, but for the most part, that’s exactly how we want to do things. The boys jumped on it, and we were fortunate enough to get a couple of goals in once.”

Cassidy wasn’t surprised by anything Carolina. Instead, his team didn’t execute until it was too late, when the Hurricanes had already secured a 4-0 lead.

“Then we got going halfway through the game, but it’s too late. It’s too late then on most nights. Maybe we could have come back, but most nights against a good team, it’s too late then,” Cassidy said. “I liked our push after [giving up four goals]. I thought we played better against how they play, but it took us too long to get there.”

Necas Good As Advertised

Carolina forward Maritn Necas entered the game with a nine-game point streak, scoring 20 points in that time frame (seven goals, 13 assist). He had an assist during that span.

Necas extended his streak to 10 games with an assist on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s goal, and would have been the tertiary assist on Eric Robinson’s opening goal.

“He’s been dynamite. Just making great decisions,” Staal said. “He’s always had great speed and great skill, but I think just the way he’s been making decisions with the puck and not turning pucks over in the wrong areas. Now it’s really starting to pay off. He’s got some great confidence, and it’s good to see.”

The Czech was a problem for the Golden Knights on the forecheck and forced countless turnovers and controlled the pace of play with his smooth skating.

None of this comes to a surprise though to Necas’s teammates. They’re seeing him become one of the top forwards in the NHL right before their eyes.

“It’s really fun to watch,” Robinson siad. “I’m on the front row seat of that. Just the way he holds on the pucks, his skill, it’s really impressive.”

Golden Knights Goalie Not To Blame

The stat line won’t look pretty for Adin Hill. He allowed four goals on 21 shots and was pulled in favor of Akira Schmid partway through the second period.

But the goals Hill gave up were all difficult saves to make. The first and third were tip-in goals that could have been prevented by a harder box out by his defensemen. He made the initial save on the second goal, but the rebound returned to Kotkaniemi’s stick. The third goal was shorthanded but resulted from a bad defensive zone turnover.

“He didn’t play poorly,” Cassidy said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t give much run support tonight early.”

Paul Delos Santos is the Las Vegas sports insider for Dice City Sports. Follow him on X at @PaulDelos_.