Golden Knights HC Bruce Cassidy highlights key factor in enduring back-to-back losses

The Vegas Golden Knights have lost four of their last five games, starting with a 4-0 shutout loss to the New York Islanders on Jan. 9. Next, they lost 2-1 to the New York Rangers on Jan. 11, despite Ilya Samsonov making 24 saves on 26 shots.

Although the team responded with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, it lost 5-3 to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Vegas' latest defeat came on Friday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, losing 3-2 after giving up two goals in the third period.

However, Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy believes there is no need to panic.

"We're not scoring at the level we were, so we have to look ourselves and say why not, and some guys we rely on," Cassidy said, per The Hockey News. "The rush game was going great, say for Eichel's line early on ... now teams have shut some of that down. And some other guys that we rely on to score haven't for a while."

Cassidy said teams have stopped their fast-paced offense, which worked well earlier in the season.

The Golden Knights' recent losses differ from their Stanley Cup-winning season two years ago. Back then, they were 28-15-2 after 45 games, ranking 15th in the league. This season, they are 29-13-3 after 45 games.

They have improved in scoring, ranking fourth with 3.41 goals per game, and are sixth in goals allowed, averaging 2.68 per game. Pavel Dorofeyev leads with 19 goals, and Jack Eichel has 44 assists and 55 points. Their power play is fifth in the NHL at 25.2%, but their penalty kill ranks 20th at 78.0%.

Vegas Golden Knights lost to Hurricanes on Friday

The Vegas Golden Knights lost 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night at Lenovo Center. Tomas Hertl scored first, giving Vegas a 1-0 lead. Keegan Kolesar had a penalty shot but was stopped by Pyotr Kochetkov, keeping the lead at one. Seth Jarvis tied the game at 1-1 for Carolina, scoring off a pass from Jordan Martinook.

Jackson Blake gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead when his shot deflected off Noah Hanifin’s stick. Seth Jarvis scored his second goal, extending the lead to 3-1. Shea Theodore made it 3-2 with a power-play goal, but the Golden Knights couldn’t tie the game.

"We were getting a lot of pucks back and getting a lot of opportunities to score. We didn’t cash in as many as we would have liked." Theodore said (via NHL). "Going forward, I think we have to try and get back on track faster and try and get the momentum back."

Vegas will next play the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.