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00:00All right, big game tonight at the T-Mobile with the Knights and Stars.
00:05That's good hockey right there, baby.
00:08Yeah, for sure, and the Knights, I think, are a little bit feeling better about themselves
00:12after bouncing back a little bit, getting on track.
00:15They've been through a little sluggish run, no question about it,
00:17the worst run of the year by far.
00:20But I think what you're dealing with is a couple of guys
00:22that are looking forward to, you know, playing.
00:23They had seven guys that were going to play in the Four Nations.
00:26Now they're, you know, dropping like flies off that roster
00:28from the Golden Knights' perspective.
00:30But I think guys are hitting that stretch of the season
00:32where they're looking forward to the break,
00:33they're looking forward to being off,
00:34they're looking forward to playing in that tournament,
00:36and they've got to kind of get back on track.
00:38And by the way, the goalie play just hasn't been good of late for the Knights.
00:41They kind of bounced back a little bit the other day.
00:42I think they'll maybe continue that.
00:44I think Bruce Cassidy sent the message like,
00:46hey, the break hasn't started yet.
00:48So they got this game, then they're hitting another Thursday game,
00:51then they're hitting the road for the, you know,
00:53three games and one hotel trip into New York.
00:55So they're going to finish strong, and I think the message has been sent.
00:58I think they're going to bounce back a little bit before they go into that break.
01:00But certainly they're looking forward to that,
01:02and I think that's part of the slide.
01:03So what happened?
01:05They were riding high on top of the, you know, standings,
01:09and then Edmonton had no McDavid, and they still passed him.
01:13He came back last night, and they passed him.
01:16And they've had this, you know, three wins in ten skid.
01:19What happened to them?
01:20Because we're not over here following it like we're living there.
01:23You know what I'm saying? Like, what happened?
01:25How did they fall apart a little bit?
01:28Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing you look at is goaltending.
01:30And, you know, their system is designed basically to, you know, keep everything outside.
01:36The goaltender has to make a play every once in a while,
01:38but it's, hey, protect the goalies with the system.
01:40And when you do have to make a play, you've got to make that play.
01:42You're not going to have to make, you know, 50 saves in a game
01:45and stand on your head for them to win games.
01:47You just have to make three or four saves a game that are impressive,
01:50and the rest of it, the defense is going to take care of.
01:52And the goaltending has really let them down during the stretch.
01:55I don't think there's any question about it.
01:56Like Cassidy said a couple of times, like, hey, like, we are paying these guys.
01:59Like, you know, we're trying to protect them a lot,
02:00but they do have to make saves, and they just weren't making those saves when they had the chance.
02:04Got a little bounce back effort in that area.
02:06I think if you watch the goaltending, if that improves, I think the team improves.
02:09But certainly, I think it's just, it's one of those stretches that you encounter
02:12at 82-game season where, you know, you're just not seeing your best every night.
02:16And I think it's been a little bit slow for Cassidy to kind of, you know,
02:19crack the whip a little bit and say, hey, let's get to it
02:21because he knows it's a long season and he knows his team pretty well.
02:25But I think they are starting to get to the point where they're like, all right,
02:27let's get this fixed before we go on this break.
02:30So they lost to them in Dallas 4-3.
02:33It was a great game.
02:35Then they went home and beat the Stanley Cup champs on Sunday 4-1.
02:41What do you think this game will be like tonight compared to the game that was Friday night in Dallas?
02:47Well, I think that was fun, as you mentioned.
02:48It was a really fun game.
02:49It was a great game to watch, a very entertaining one.
02:51And, you know, I think there's going to be a lot of energy.
02:54Like I said, I think that they are looking to make sure they get the ship righted,
02:58especially before they go on this trip coming up.
03:00You know, they've got one more game tonight and then one more game at home.
03:03Then they're on a road trip and then they're on a break for, you know, for two weeks.
03:05So they know they've only got a couple games.
03:07They see the light at the end of the tunnel.
03:09I think they allowed themselves to lose focus a little bit.
03:11But I do think this game is going to be much better.
03:13We saw that bounce back performance.
03:14It was the goaltending, but everybody played really, really well against Florida.
03:17I think they understood the importance of that game.
03:19And I think now bouncing back after knowing they lost to Dallas last week,
03:22I think you see a really, really big effort from the Knights tonight, no question.