Talented, confident Knights looking for hunger versus Wild

Yahoo

20-04-2025

LAS VEGAS — In a town where the all-you-can-eat buffets are legendary, and you can get a shrimp cocktail for less than $10 at any hour of day or night, the local hockey club's coach just wants his team to be hungry.
We are less than two years removed from Bruce Cassidy directing the Vegas Golden Knights to the franchise's first Stanley Cup title, in just its sixth season of existence, having joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2017. When thinking about his team's latest foray into the playoffs, and a first-round series versus the Minnesota Wild, Cassidy couldn't help but reflect back on what they did in 2023, and the internal fire it takes to win 16 postseason games.
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He said the hunger his team had two seasons ago, led by a bunch of players and a coach that had never before reached the game's pinnacle, is the difference-maker beyond the 82-game regular season.
'That's kind of what we have to re-claim. That needs to be equal to the other team, unless you're way better,' Cassidy said. 'When you come into the playoffs, it's 16 teams that are not that different. Some obviously have advantages over others, but they're all good hockey teams. So, that hunger and competitiveness has to be at the top of the list.'
Vegas finished the regular season with a 50-22-10 record, tops in the Pacific Division and second behind Winnipeg in the Western Conference. Three of those 50 wins came against the Wild. But in their guests from Minnesota, the Vegas coach sees some things his team will need to counter, and a potential advantage for the Golden Knights if the Wild take penalties.
'I think they're good at keeping the puck out of their net, and that's usually a product of not allowing the rush game to get going. I think they're very good at suppressing rush chances and not giving you odd-man rushes or easy opportunities,' he said. 'You're going to have to get inside, you're going to have to work and create your offense through O-zone play … get on the power play, that's an advantage. They've given up some goals on the PK. But the rush game, I think, is what they're really good at.'
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For the Wild's part, their coach raves about the size of the Vegas defenders, and says that getting to the net might be Minnesota's biggest challenge if they are to pull off an upset and get to the second round, something the Wild have not done since 2015.
'First and foremost, they're a pretty strong defensive structure team,' John Hynes said on Friday. 'They have one of the bigger D-cores in the league, and when you look at their defensive numbers, they're a team that is responsible without (the puck). From an offensive perspective, they have high-end talent and they can hit you in multiple ways.'
The Knights' offense is keyed by Jack Eichel, the 2015 Hobey Baker winner from Boston University who languished in Buffalo early in his career, then came to Vegas and was a cornerstone of the 2023 Stanley Cup run. Despite missing five regular-season contests, including one against the Wild, he finished in the NHL's top 10 statistically with 28 goals and 66 assists in 77 games.
Eichel's lone hat trick of the season came on March 25 at Xcel Energy Center in a 5-1 win over the Wild.
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While preparing his team to face the Wild, Cassidy said that the first 60 minutes of any playoff series is the classroom where you learn how the next three to six games are going to go.
'I think the series starts after Game 1. You see what you are a little bit, and what they are and away we go. 'I didn't see this coming, I saw this coming, yeah, this is who they are,' ' Cassidy said. 'And then you start making a few adjustments and then you go along. I can give them all they want on Minnesota. They're going to give us all about Vegas. But once you start playing, you start to truly know and get into it. So, you've got to be careful you don't overload. I have learned that.'
After a 50-win season, the Knights are coming in as the confident favorite, and their coach said he's not trying to give them too much to think about regarding Kirill Kaprizov or Brock Faber or Filip Gustavsson.
'We're going to play our game and let them adjust to us. That's not a bad mindset,' Cassidy said. 'They want to play hockey. They've done it 82 times this year. They want to play Vegas Golden Knights' hockey and they don't want to hear every detail about Minnesota.'
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