Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy wants more from goalies Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov as Vegas' winless streak hit four games Monday against the St. Louis Blues.
"We need better play out of the goaltending position right now," Cassidy said after his team's 5-4 shootout loss. "We can't expect to give up four and win - well, we're not. We're not winning, right? ... We need to outplay their guy a little more often here, and hopefully that changes."
The bench boss added, "I'm not blaming, but you need big saves to pick you up. It's a game of mistakes. We're not gonna be clean every night, and that's where you need to be bailed out sometimes. ... That hasn't happened as much as it did two weeks ago. We'll get that corrected, and then, I think when things start to go better, everyone relaxes a little more, too, and then you don't need that save. They kind of go hand-in-hand when you're not winning."
The Golden Knights have lost six of their previous seven games. Their netminders have surrendered at least four goals in three of their last four defeats:
| Opponent | Goalie | Result | SA | GA | xGA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islanders (Jan. 9) | Hill | 4-0 | 20 | 3 | 1.73 | .850 |
| Rangers (Jan. 11) | Samsonov | 2-1 | 26 | 2 | 3.33 | .923 |
| Predators (Jan. 14) | Samsonov | 5-3 | 22 | 4 | 1.98 | .818 |
| Hurricanes (Jan. 17) | Hill | 3-2 | 28 | 3 | 2.88 | .893 |
| Blackhawks (Jan. 18) | Samsonov | 5-3 | 23 | 5 | 2.40 | .783 |
| Blues (Jan. 20) | Hill | 5-4 (SO) | 28 | 4 | 1.91 | .857 |
Vegas entered the third period against St. Louis down 4-2, but Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev both scored with the goalie pulled to force overtime. However, Eichel missed a wide-open net in the extra frame, and St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn ended up scoring the shootout winner.
Cassidy acknowledged that the missed chances were also a driving force behind the Golden Knights' latest loss.
"There's a lot of different areas of our game that are self-inflicted, " he said. "I thought tonight we left some plays on the table that were there. I don't know if we're going through it a little bit here or if it just wasn't cooperating. There were a lot of plays, including overtime. Jack, right? These are plays we're gonna make. I know we're going to make them."
Vegas still occupies the first spot in the Pacific Division with a 29-14-4 record, but the Edmonton Oilers are just one point back with one game in hand.
"Nobody's panicking, I'll say that," Cassidy said. "We're not in the room tearing the walls down. ... This is a month we've got to push through."
He continued, "Every team goes through it, we just can't go through it much longer. I think we're all kinda like, 'Let's go.'"
Vegas faces the Blues again Thursday in St. Louis.
