Bruce Cassidy points out major reason for Golden Knights' loss in Game 1 vs. Oilers

The Vegas Golden Knights lost 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series. The Knights secured a two-goal lead by the first half of the opening period, but it went downhill from there. Their offense was completely shut down after the initial two goals, and the Oilers made a comeback with four back-to-back goals to win the game.

Speaking to reporters after the game, coach Bruce Cassidy said the team's performance in the second period was a major reason for the loss.

"Listen, that’s when our game gets off the rails—it’s turnovers, and we play slow," Cassidy said [0:55]. "We play that slow, east-west."

Cassidy said this style led to turnovers and gave the Oilers more chances to pressure them. He mentioned the ice was soft and pucks were bouncing, which made clean passes difficult. In his view, the Golden Knights should have kept the game simple by moving the puck up the ice and winning battles along the boards.

"And, you could see the ice, the pucks were bouncing, and the ice looked a little bit soft, I don’t know for whatever reason," Cassidy said. "Same for both teams. So sometimes you just got to chuck it up the ice, get in some foot races, win battles on the boards."

The coach added that in the first period, Vegas played better and faster. But in the second, the team slowed down and allowed Edmonton to force mistakes.

"I thought we did a better job of that in the first period, for sure," Cassidy said. "We slowed the game down, allowed them to force us. I think their bottom lineup forechecks well. That’s what they want to do—get it behind you."

Cassidy said his team spent too much time defending and ran out of energy for offense. That’s what happened in the second period, and it gave Edmonton the edge.

"And they, uh, if you allow them success doing that, now again, that’s when you get in your own end a lot, right? And they can’t get off for a change, so you have no energy to play offense," Cassidy said. "Well, that was the second period."

So, Cassidy believes there was no real pressure or chances to wear the Oilers down.

Oilers kept Vegas Golden Knights overwhelmed with their offense

The Vegas Golden Knights started the game well. Mark Stone scored two goals in the first period to give them a 2-0 lead. But Corey Perry scored for Edmonton late in the first to make it 2-1. Leon Draisaitl tied the game early in the third. Zach Hyman scored the go-ahead goal late in the third, and Connor Brown added another to finish the win.

Connor McDavid had two assists, and Calvin Pickard made 15 saves for the Oilers. Adin Hill stopped 24 shots for Vegas. The Oilers became the first team in NHL history to win five straight comeback games in one postseason.

Now, the Vegas Golden Knights will review what went wrong as they focus on Game 2, which will be played on Thursday.