Golden Knights Need Killer Instinct in Potential Series-Clinching Game 6

The Vegas Golden Knights are on the brink of eliminating the Minnesota Wild and advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With a 3-2 series lead, the Golden Knights have the upper hand; teams that win Game 5 in a tied series go on to win 80.4% of the time. 

However, they can’t afford to get complacent.

“When a team is up against it, you’ve got to match their intensity early,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy on being in a series-clinching scenario. “You can’t sit around and wait and say, ‘I’ve got another chance.’ That’s the thing– you put some doubt in their mind if you’re coming to play and pushing and getting to another level. That’ll be our message; we’ve got another level to get to. 

“Put doubt in their minds by being on your game early,” Cassidy continued. “Don’t wait to see what happens. They’re going to have a push right away because they’re up against the wall. Well, why don’t we have the push first? Get the first push and go from there. And then get hungry, knowing that if we do get the lead… then we put teams away by doing that. We were the better team early [when the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023].”

There’s a common saying in hockey that in a playoff series, the fourth win is the hardest. Cassidy doesn’t buy into that. 

“You don’t have to go by the conventional saying of ‘the last one’s the toughest.’ It might very well be– they’re a really, really scrappy, hardworking, no-nonsense team, and they’re coming at you. So I suspect it will be, but we don’t have to go in there with that mentality. Let’s get to another level. That would be my message.”

Golden Knights Series-Clinching History

The Golden Knights have existed for just eight years, but their postseason success and winning pedigree make them seem older. They’ve qualified for the playoffs in seven of their eight seasons and advanced beyond the first round in four. The eighth season is, of course, still ongoing. Only time will tell how that statistic will look in a few days, weeks, or months.

Let’s take a look back at the other six Golden Knights’ postseasons.

The Golden Knights have played 22 total potential series-clinching games throughout their history. They have a record of 11-11. Of course, three of those eleven losses came during the Round 1 collapse against the San Jose Sharks in 2019.

Just because Moneypuck.com gives the Golden Knights a 58.1% chance to win Game 6 and eliminate the Minnesota Wild doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. Far from it– they actually don’t have the greatest track record in potential series-clinching games. The Golden Knights have a record of 7-6 in games where they have their first opportunity to close out a series. 

If the Golden Knights lose on Thursday, it doesn’t mean it’s time to push the panic button or waive the white flag. They won four of six past playoff series where they didn’t eliminate their opponent on their first try.

How Important is Winning Game 6?

Moneypuck gives the Golden Knights an 83.4% chance of advancing to the second round and losing on Thursday is far from a death sentence. But this Golden Knights team has higher aspirations than just winning a round– Moneypuck gives them the third-best odds to win the Stanley Cup, the highest among Western Conference teams.

When the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023, they played just 22 games. It can’t be understated just how crucial that was to their success. Playoffs are a grind– the intense physicality and heightened emotional swings weigh on players and coaches alike. 

Players try to stay even-keeled, but in such a high-pressure environment, frustration builds quicker, and tempers flare more easily. The fewer games a team has to play, the better. Avoiding injuries is perhaps the most important ingredient to winning a Stanley Cup; unfortunately, it’s also the hardest to control.

The Golden Knights avoided major injuries during their 2023 run, and a big reason for that is the amount of games they played. In Round 1, they beat the Winnipeg Jets in five games. After trading wins early, they ultimately toppled the Edmonton Oilers in Round 2 in six games. In Round 3, they took down the Dallas Stars in six games. When they reached the Stanley Cup Final, they faced a banged-up Florida Panthers team and quickly dispatched them in five games.

No path to the Stanley Cup Final is truly easy. Sixteen teams qualify for the playoffs, and they’re all dangerous in their own right. But the Golden Knights have an easier path than others. They would do well to take advantage of that.