The Vegas Golden Knights bring a streak of four straight 6-2 games into their Saturday road contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The good news for the Golden Knights? They won the first two games in that span, defeating the Calgary Flames and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The bad news? They carry a two-game losing streak into Ohio, which includes a setback against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday in the opener of their two-game road trip.
The Golden Knights, who advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last season behind strong defense and solid goaltending, allowed only 24 goals over their first 10 games of the season, so allowing 12 goals in their back-to-back losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis could be considered concerning.
“A little bit,” said Vegas center Jack Eichel, who leads the team with 19 points and 13 assists. “I feel like it’s just sloppy play on our own part. The last two hasn’t been like us. I think it’s a good opportunity for us all to look in the mirror and know we have to be better as a group, all five guys on the ice at a time, working with our goaltender.
“I don’t want to say concerning because obviously we know we have it in this room, but you don’t want to give up that many goals in back-to-back games. … We as a team have to be better.”
Before the recent slump, Vegas had allowed a total of six goals in its three previous games, and just four goals in a contest twice.
“You don’t want to give up six in back-to-back games,” said veteran Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb. “We’ll look at it and get better. A humbling last couple of games, so we’ll get better.”
Next up is a Columbus team coming off a 6-2 loss of its own on Tuesday against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. The Blue Jackets, who have garnered just six points over their first eight games, trailed 5-1 after two periods and lost despite finishing with a 38-22 edge in shots on goal.
Columbus brings a two-game losing streak into the Saturday contest and has gone 1-4-0 over its past five games, including a 1-0 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Oct. 17. Only Vancouver (five) has fewer points in the league.
Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness blames needless penalties combined with turnovers for his team’s recent struggles. Columbus also brings in a streak of going 0-for-20 on the power play. The Blue Jackets have not scored with the man advantage since their opener against Buffalo on Oct. 1.
Bowness called out his team for its sloppy play after the Tuesday defeat to the Maple Leafs.
“You go back to the Rangers game, we didn’t turn the puck over,” Bowness said. “Then the first (period), look at all the turnovers. If it continues, people are going to start losing ice time. I’m going to have to bench some guys. If they keep taking penalties, I’m going to have to bench them. That’s bringing that on themselves.
“I’m out of patience with it. You want to keep saying ‘I can make that play’ and then not make it, and we end up playing a three-quarters ice game, then expect to lose some ice time.”