LAS VEGAS — To stay alive, the Vegas Golden Knights need to look alive early in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
The Golden Knights scored the first goal in each of the first two games at home but lost both. They survived in Game 3 in Edmonton, winning 4-3 on a last-second goal by Reilly Smith. They weren’t as fortunate in Game 4 on Monday, allowing two first-period goals to Adam Henrique, including one 1:27 into the game, before losing 3-0.
They are down 3-1 in the best-of-7 series.
“The tenor we are going to set is we have to be better in the first 10 minutes,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s an urgency, an intensity out of the gate. I think that’s a no-brainer. They don’t need me to tell them that.”
The Golden Knights have lost both best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series in which they’ve trailed 3-1 in their history. Of the 352 NHL teams to face such a deficit, 32 have advanced, a success rate of 9.1 percent.
The Golden Knights own a record of 3-5 when facing elimination, including a 3-2 mark as the home team.
“It would behoove us to be the better team in the first 10 minutes, because if we get going, it will give us confidence, we’ll feel good about ourselves and maybe it puts doubt in them,” Cassidy said.
The players insist they understand the need to start to start faster and be better for longer stretches.
“They came out in the first [in Game 4], obviously, had a hard push,” Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel said. “Give us credit though, we stood up to them. You get behind and we obviously weren’t able to solve the goaltender. We’ve just got to be cleaner on our breakouts and just better execution, I think. It’s do-or-die now.”
Here’s a breakdown of Game 5:
Oilers: Edmonton is 42-19 in potential series-clinching games, including a 20-11 record on the road. It is looking to reach the third round in consecutive postseasons for the first time since a three-year stretch from 1990-1992. The Oilers know how important it is to knock a team out when the opportunity arises. Last season, they lost the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final before winning the next three against the Florida Panthers. They lost Game 7, but don’t want to give Vegas that kind of hope if they can avoid it. “We have to play one good game, that’s where our head’s at,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said. “Let’s play one good game here tonight and give ourselves a good chance to move on.”
Golden Knights: Vegas knows it needs to control the area in front of each net to win Game 5. In Game 4, each of Henrique’s goals came from 20 feet out or less. Each came after Edmonton won a puck battle in the offensive zone. Meanwhile, Cassidy said his team did not do enough to make life hard for Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, who looked shaky in Game 3. “I’m going to talk to them about the dirty areas,” he said. “We gave up two goals right in front of our net. We’ve got to kill those plays and be harder on the wall to begin with.
Number to know: 7-3. Goalie Adin Hill has a 7-3 record with a 2.56 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and two shutouts in his playoff career following a loss. Three goaltenders have more wins following a loss since Hill made his debut in the 2023 playoffs: Jake Oettinger (15), Sergei Bobrovsky (11) and Skinner, who got his 10th win following a loss in Game 4.
What to watch for: Four players missed the morning skate Wednesday and are game-time decisions, according to Cassidy. Forward Mark Stone sustained an injury in Game 3, but he played Game 4 and had one shot on goal and a minus-1 rating in 21:42 of ice time. Defenseman Brayden McNabb sustained an upper-body injury during overtime of Game 2 but has played the past two games. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo missed Game 1 because of an illness but has played in each of the past three games. Forward Brandon Saad has missed the past two games and is unlikely to return for Game 5.
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