Vancouver Sun

Knights regroup for one final push

Coach says players feeling no pressure heading into do-or-die Game 5 in Vegas

- MICHAEL TRAIKOS

LAS VEGAS This is new for the Vegas Golden Knights.

For the first time in the playoffs, the expansion team will be facing eliminatio­n when it hosts Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final Thursday. If they fail to stay alive, it would also be the first time all season that they lost four games in a row. Think about that for a second. Vegas, which has lost three in a row to Washington, has never had a losing streak longer than three games in its 101-game history. It’s a short history, but a winning mindset has been cultivated within the Golden Knights’ dressing room.

The team is hopeful that won’t soon change.

“Let’s face it, we started the season and there was no expectatio­n for our hockey club,” Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant said Tuesday. “Did the expectatio­ns change going into the playoffs? Sure they did because we had a great regular season and won the Pacific Division.

“We’re going to play in our building. The pressure’s off us. We’re going to work hard and have some fun. We’ll see what happens.”

At the same time, don’t expect the Capitals to feel any pressure. This team might have its share of skeletons, but it also has a sense of freedom after advancing further than it had in 20 years.

So when someone asked head coach Barry Trotz about how Washington had blown a 3-1 lead to the New York Rangers in the second round of the 2014-15 playoffs, he brushed it aside as ancient history.

“I don’t think we were mentally in the place we are now,” Trotz said. “We’re a totally different team … it’s not even a factor for me. The process is that we’ve got to win one game, plain and simple. And it starts with just focus on the one game. The one game is in Vegas — Game 5 — and you put your complete effort, your complete focus into that and the result will be there. If it’s not, you’ve got to move on.”

With three opportunit­ies to close out the series, Trotz was asked if there was a danger the players might look past Game 5 and want to reward their fans with a Stanley Cup victory at home in Game 6.

“Zero chance of that,” said Trotz. “We want to win — we just want to win the next game … We just want to do it and that’s the message. It doesn’t matter where you get it done.

“We just want to get it done.”

Two years ago, Evgeny Kuznetsov finished in the top 10 in league scoring. This season, he tied for 19th.

And yet, this was the year when the hockey world took notice of the Capitals centre.

The reason? Two years ago, he followed up a 77-point season with one goal and one assist in 12 playoff games.

“You can make a name for yourself in the playoffs,” said Trotz. “And he’s definitely doing that.”

Indeed, Kuznetsov leads the playoffs with 31 points in 23 games. Seven of those points have come in the Stanley Cup final, where he would be the favourite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy if not for Alex Ovechkin, who has 14 goals and 26 points.

“I think he’s been on the cusp of superstar status all year,” Trotz said of Kuznetsov.

“I think, obviously, the glare of Ovie probably has dimmed Kuzy ’s light, if you will. But the playoffs … Kuzy’s elevated his game.”

 ?? ALEX BRANDON/ THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Coach Gerard Gallant’s Vegas Golden Knights, a team from a city where hot and cold streaks can spell fortune or disaster, learned a hard lesson in Game 4: Hockey isn’t always fair.
ALEX BRANDON/ THE CANADIAN PRESS Coach Gerard Gallant’s Vegas Golden Knights, a team from a city where hot and cold streaks can spell fortune or disaster, learned a hard lesson in Game 4: Hockey isn’t always fair.

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