Golden Knights Face Tough Uphill Climb To Realize Playoff Berth With Five Games Left: ‘It’s A Desperate Time For Us’
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
About a half-day after they left T-Mobile Arena after a brutal 3-2 loss to the lowly New Jersey Devils, the Vegas Golden Knights were back on the ice at their practice center in Summerlin Tuesday morning with Matt the flag guy waving his two VGK flags and about 30 other fans beginning to realize this might be the year their Knights are not good enough to qualify for the 16-team postseason in the 32-team NHL.
At about 12 noon, the Golden Knights PR staff guided the media to the usual press conference room a short hall walk from the practice rink at City National Arena. And coach Pete DeBoer and players Brayden McNabb and Max Pacioretty came in, one-by-one to say they believe they can win the Knights’ five remaining games and squeeze into a playoff spot.
“It’s a desperate time for us,” McNabb said. “Your margin of error is very little.”
The Knights trail the Los Angeles Kings by three points with both teams having five games remaining.
“We have a veteran group. They get it,” DeBoer said of the challenge.
We know we can win five games. But it won’t be easy. — Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty
The Golden Knights don’t have to wait long before getting their next chance at adding two points to their 87-point season total. They play Washington at T-Mobile Arena Wednesday at 7 PM.
The Golden Knights scored a decisive 6-1 win over division-leading Calgary in Canada last week. But then they lost two consecutive games — 4-0 to Edmonton and then last night’s disappointing 3-2 losing performance with so much at stake against the Devils.
The Bill Foley-owned team has experienced unprecedented success as an NHL expansion franchise, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in Year 1 and making the playoffs the next three years, including trips to the NHL semifinals the past two seasons.
Even though Year 5 has been an up-and-down season marred by disjointed, inconsistent play for the VGK, the franchise’s announced attendance has fallen off only slightly since 2019-20.
The Golden Knights average announced attendances have been 18,042 for 2017-18; 18,319 for 2018-19; and 18,311 for 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
This season with two home dates to go, the Knights are averaging 18,090 per game — down 221 a game from pre-COVID in 2020. That’s only a 1.2 percent drop in attendance, not too bad when you consider the Knights are currently outside the playoffs.
LVSportsBiz.com will be at tomorrow’s game with live photo and social media coverage as the Knights try and chase down a playoff berth.
PSA
