Golden Knights look for redemption in regular-season finale
The Golden Knights travel to Los Angeles to conclude the regular season Saturday with nothing on the line.
But that doesn’t mean the game is meaningless. Not after the way the Knights played in a 4-1 loss to Arizona in the home finale Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.
“Last night was probably the worst game that we’ve played in the history of our team,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said after Friday’s practice at City National Arena. “Collectively, we were just bad outside of (goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury).”
Fleury played for the first time since March 15 and looked sharp at times despite being under siege because of defensive lapses and inexplicable turnovers.
“Yesterday was embarrassing,” forward Paul Stastny said. “We were terrible. One line was good, and our goaltender was unbelievable, stood on his head. It was probably the worst game of my career, and it kind of trickled down to the rest of the team.
“Last game was so bad that it’s just got to be a complete 180 (degrees) out there, from myself to everyone on down. I know it was a meaningless game, but you do that at home for your home finale in the regular season in front of your fans, we’ve got to be better.”
The game against the Kings gives the Knights a chance to rebuild some confidence before they open the NHL playoffs next week against San Jose.
“I think with the playoffs you don’t want to just be coasting in,” defenseman Nick Holden said. “You want to be playing your best hockey. I think that’s going to be a big focus for us tomorrow, to make sure we’re going to be playing our style for 60 minutes.”
As a former player, Vegas coach Gerard Gallant understands what his team is going through as it awaits the playoffs.
“We played awful last night, but our playoffs were from the day we got Mark Stone (at the trade deadline) for the next three weeks,” Gallant said. “We won 10 of 11. We played great hockey when we had to. We pretty much secured our position. We weren’t going to go up or down unless some teams fell on their face and we won every game. That to me is when our team played our best hockey.
“Have we played our best over the last seven or eight games? We’ve played OK. Do I know we’ll play well come Wednesday or Thursday? I’m not worried one bit.”
Remember your first time?
Defenseman Jimmy Schuldt, a Hobey Baker Award finalist as one of the nation’s best collegiate players, could make his NHL debut Saturday after signing with the Knights this week.
That possibility prompted Gallant to recall his NHL debut with Detroit in January 1985.
“I remember flying into New York to play the Islanders,” he said. “It was an unbelievable experience. Scored a goal first game. Never forget it, obviously.”
Gallant said he still has the puck mounted on a plaque.
Nosek absent
Forward Tomas Nosek did not practice Friday. He was one of the few Knights who played well Thursday, as he had a season-high six shots on goal in 12:45 of ice time.
His status for Saturday’s game is unclear.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.