The Knights did not stop with their performance of Self-immolation Theater. They got a power play in the OT. When the Knights are desperate and the team is running out the clock until summer break, 4-on-3 power plays should be something you cash in on. James Reimer didn't bother Vegas with a couple prayers from deep. They failed to beat Reimer in the shootout and now have to win their last three games to have a chance at making the playoffs.
The Stars could take it out of their hands by collecting four points in their last three games. Even if they don't beat the Knights Tuesday, they face the other two teams on Wednesday and Friday. Two more teams have had senioritis since February. In the Yotes case, forever.
There are many problems for the Knights. You've probably heard them scream about injuries. If they hadn't eroded their depth in their pursuit of whatever the newest, shiniest thing came on the market that week, it might have been less of a problem.
Any team that trusts Robin Lehner in important games tends to have a mess in their goalies. They can't decide if Lehner is hurt or not. He hasn't been very good, and has been injured, but he needs an odd look to wet himself off. Pete DeBoer has handled the whole thing and his team liked a deadbeat dad. The Knights special teams have been coughing up sputum all season, and while some of that on the PK side can be pinned on goaltending, there is no reason a team with this kind of firepower should look like five guys waiting for their drivers license.
The prize claim of this season, Eichel, has been a flop lately. While the numbers look ok for him, this last week or so when the Knights have been playing for their lives, he has been nowhere.
Last night, against the Sharks on the second of a back-to-back, Eichel had an expected goals percentage of eight. That's eight. His rating for the night was 40 percent. The titans of industry were at Eichel's party. They are: Thomas Bordeleau, Noah Gregor, and Rudolfs Balcers. They are not the guys who will be opening for the band on their reunion tour. If you watch the last minute of the game, you will notice that Eichel was drifting over to the opposite corner to chase the puck, and he never had a chance to get to it.
He has one goal in his last five games. That is it. He has been getting his balls gnawed off by other people. In the last five games, he has a Corsi-percentage of 37.2, 63.7, 39.5, and 44.9. The Knights lost to the Eskimos in that one game. His expected goal percentage in those five was incomprehensible.
The Knights have time to perform in their last three games. Things are not moving in the right direction. His M.O. is always at the head of a ship that crashes. The BU team lost to the Providence team in the NCAA Championship game. He captained the world junior team in 2015, but they were defeated by Shesterkin in the quarterfinals. The US team with Eichel on it beat Russia in the quarters the year before. It was Andrei Vasilevskiy who did the honors at the guillotine. The Sabres never made the playoffs.
Even if they cut out more of the foundation to add him, the Knights thought they had accomplished their goal. The boulder is rolling down the hill and the man is lying in the dirt.
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