What must improve for Golden Knights to get back to playoffs?

The Golden Knights could only watch as the Stanley Cup playoffs started Monday.

They’re not participants for the first time in franchise history. They’re spectators. They’ll have to watch with everyone else to see who lifts the trophy they thought could be theirs at the beginning of the season.

The early offseason leaves the Knights with “a lot of time for reflection,” as left wing Max Pacioretty said. They need to diagnose what went wrong, why things went south and how that can be remedied before the group reconvenes for training camp.

Coach Pete DeBoer, general manager Kelly McCrimmon and players are expected to address the media for the final time Tuesday. Before that happens, here are three things the Knights hope get better next season so they can rebound:

1. Injuries

Injuries weren’t the only reason the Knights missed the playoffs. They sure were a major one, however.

The Knights’ season was like one on the video game NHL 22 with the difficulty setting all the way up. They had approximately 500 man-games lost because of injury. They had 121 the season before, when they tied for the most points in the NHL. Pacific Division winner Calgary had 70 this year entering its last game.

The Knights lost key players, as well. Top-six forwards Mark Stone (45 games), Max Pacioretty (43), Reilly Smith (26) and William Karlsson (15) missed significant time. So did key defensemen Alec Martinez (56 games), Zach Whitecloud (23) and Brayden McNabb (13).

The Knights used a franchise record 39 players throughout the season. They also tied their own records for most players with a goal (27) and point (30).

“We’ve gone through stretches throughout the year where I myself thought it’s a really resilient team and there’s guys carrying the load,” left wing Mattias Janmark said. “Then it kind of kept on hitting us and eventually I guess as a team we couldn’t pull through.”

2. Goaltending

The Knights had the ultimate luxury of two strong starting goaltenders last season. By the end of this one, DeBoer’s frustrations with the position were becoming clear.

“It’s been tough getting some consistency there,” he said after a 3-2 loss to New Jersey on April 18.

The Knights won the Jennings Trophy last season for fewest goals allowed, but moved on from Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury in the summer to spread their resources across the roster. It led to a step back in the net.

Robin Lehner battled injuries throughout the season while making 44 starts. He ranked 17th in goals saved above expected among the 74 goaltenders with at least 10 games, according to the website MoneyPuck.com. New backup Laurent Brossoit also missed time while making 21 starts and ranked 38th in goals saved above expected.

What saved the Knights from a steep downgrade at the position was the play of rookie Logan Thompson. He was 10-5-3 and finished 32nd in goals saved above expected despite making only 19 appearances. Altogether, the Knights dropped from second in team save percentage (.920) a season ago to 20th (.901).

3. Special teams

DeBoer, after the Knights’ first preseason game Sept. 26, preached patience with the power play.

“I would ask that we look at this over the course of a year,” DeBoer said. “Evaluate this at the end of the year. We’re going to have ups. We’re going to have downs.”

The final grades likely won’t be too kind. The Knights, after going 4-for-43 on the power play last postseason and 0-for-15 in the NHL semifinals, went 10 straight games to open the year without a power-play goal. They got one in only 30 of 82 games.

“We didn’t have too much consistency in our units with guys getting injured, guys coming in, filling in certain spots,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “That’s something we have to look at and we definitely have to be better.”

The Knights dropped from the 22nd-ranked power play (17.8 percent) to the 25th-best (18.4 percent). More surprisingly, their penalty kill sunk with key pieces like Stone, Smith, Karlsson, Martinez, Whitecloud and McNabb missing time. They ranked No. 1 a season ago (86.8 percent) and 21st (77.4 percent) this year.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.