Vegas Golden Knights head coach, Bruce Cassidy spoke to reporters after the team lost 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 on Monday. Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, but their offense failed in front of Oilers' goalie Stuart Skinner and defense.
Skinner made 23 saves, and it was his first victory of the playoffs after allowing 15 goals in his first three starts. The Knights are now down 3-1 in the series heading into Wednesday's game.
Postgame, Cassidy said the team needs to start games better, noting that this was the second game in a row where Vegas gave up early goals, and took his share of responsibility. The Golden Knights were outshot 15-5 in the first period.
"Well we have to start better, Gary," Cassidy said. "This is a couple games in a row now we're chasing it. We knew they'd come out better. We're a veteran group. It's on the coach to prepare the players. So I take my share of the responsibility.
"But it's also a veteran group, they got to know that this team's going to be hungry. They're at home again, they come off a loss, so make sure we're on our toes. I don't think there was enough players on their toes ready to go.
"That'll be step one in Game 5, make sure we push the envelope early and get to our game quicker. We had been progressively building our game and today we took a step back," he added.
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Golden Knights coach praised Edmonton for early lead
In the game, Adam Henrique scored twice in the first period for the Oilers. Connor Brown set up the first goal after stealing the puck behind the net. Zach Hyman assisted on the second with a pass from below the goal line.
Bruce Cassidy mentioned the Oilers' early lead and neutral zone play.
"They got an early lead and they’ve been here before. You’ve got to manage the game if you do that, and they did a good job of it," Cassidy said via NHL.com. "We had some looks but we were kind of one and done... We need to do a better job getting through the neutral zone, breaking them down if we’re going to get some looks off the rush."
Evander Kane made it 3-0 in the second period, while Connor McDavid picked up an assist to extend his playoff point streak to eight games. The Golden Knights must win Game 5 at T-Mobile on Wednesday to keep their playoff hopes alive.
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