Golden Knights eager to wrap up season-long homestand

The Golden Knights might be learning a lesson that every kid who has gorged on candy on Halloween night has learned: Too much of a good thing isn’t always a good thing.

The Knights have lost steam as their season-long seven-game homestand has wound down. They’ve lost their past two games — their fifth and sixth at home during this stretch — and have fallen behind 3-0 in each of their last three.

Whether it’s complacency, cabin fever or something else, the typically nomadic Knights seem ready to move on. But before that happens, they conclude their homestand at 7 p.m. Saturday at T-Mobile Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“We had a great start to this homestand, and the last two have been real tough to stomach a little bit, you know?” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “We’ve been home too long. Let’s get going here. It just feels like almost the summertime. It’s not right. It’s a long time home, but you can’t use that excuse. You got to prepare yourself. We’re professionals.”

The Knights have been clear that this schedule quirk, tied for the longest homestand in franchise history, in no way excuses their starts recently.

Being at home hasn’t caused the team to fall behind 3-0 in 16:16 against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, or 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 24:18 on Tuesday, or 4-0 to the Los Angeles Kings in 19:56 on Thursday.

That’s on the Knights.

“It’s just little mental lapses in the beginning of games,” left wing Chandler Stephenson said. “There’s no reason for it. It’s, you know, on us. And only we can change it. I think that enough’s enough, and everybody’s sick and tired of it.”

Defenseman Nate Schmidt said being at home since their Dec. 27 game at Anaheim has been “a little bit different,” though. Previously, the Knights’ longest stint in Las Vegas came after an Oct. 22 game in Chicago. They played four straight home games, then left for Columbus on Nov. 3.

The team is used to moving on by now. To going to a new city. To having team dinners on the road. It’s accustomed to a back-and-forth lifestyle while the season is ongoing.

And the Knights will soon get their fill of it. After Saturday, their next home game is Feb. 8, which gives their date with the Blue Jackets added significance.

“It certainly is (important),” Schmidt said. “That’s something that you got to leave a good taste in the mouths of our faithful that come out and watch us and pay good money to see what’s not happening in the first period.”

The Knights know Saturday’s game isn’t just meaningful to their fans; it’s crucial in the standings, too. They entered Friday fourth in the Pacific Division in points percentage (.574), behind the Arizona Coyotes (.587), Edmonton Oilers (.576) and Calgary Flames (.576).

That’s not where they want to be coming off a long homestand, especially because their next eight games are on the road. They have a four-game trip before the All-Star break/bye week and another four-game one after.

Winning Saturday could keep them toward the top of the standings as they pack their bags. Going 5-2 on the homestand — as opposed to 4-3 — would let them hit the road with momentum.

“It’s our last home game before the break, and I think we have four on the road before the break, so let’s pick it up again,” Gallant said. “We’ve played well for a while, and we got to get it going again.”

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