The Vegas Golden Knights have lost four games in a row and seven of their last eight to fall out of first place in the Pacific Division.
The team will look to erase a sense of foreboding in the locker room on Sunday evening when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I think we’re just finding ways to lose games right now,” Golden Knights defenseman Kaedan Korczak said.
Vegas sustained its latest loss Friday in St. Louis, rallying from a two-goal deficit before allowing the Blues to score the go-ahead goal with 1:33 remaining in the third period in a 4-3 outcome. St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn scored after a rebound off an odd-man rush deflected off his skate and past Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart.
After falling 6-5 to Colorado in a shootout on Dec. 27, the Golden Knights have just seven goals in their past three games, but Vegas captain Mark Stone is riding a three-game goal streak.
The team also welcomed the return of top scorer Jack Eichel (41 points) on Friday; he had missed the past seven games with an illness and upper-body injury.
“He’d been out awhile, so not a lot of practice time with us, if any,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “His timing was off, for sure.”
Vegas has surrendered 30 non-shootout goals in the past seven games.
“Good teams find a way to win,” Cassidy said. “We’ve got to get back to that.”
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, will try to match a season high with their third straight victory on Sunday.
After allowing visiting Washington to score the game-tying goal midway through the third period on Saturday, Chicago regrouped for a 3-2 victory. Captain Nick Foligno’s goal in the sixth round of a shootout lifted the Blackhawks.
Veteran Teuvo Teravainen, who scored in his third straight game, has seen the team’s younger core continue to develop in a run that includes three victories in five games (3-1-1).
“It builds their confidence,” Teravainen said. “They make some plays in the right moments, and of course they’re going to make some bad plays also sometimes. This group is good. They’re learning, and it’s a big win.”
No matter the experience level, the Blackhawks have strived for better opening sequences in games. They found one in Washington, with Ryan Donato redirecting an Ilya Mikheyev shot for the game’s first goal at 1:13 of the first period.
“I loved our start,” Foligno said. “It’s an area that we needed to get a little bit better in. I thought tonight on the road, against a good team, we just competed, just kind of built on our game.”
Chicago has ventured into shootouts in three of the past five games.
The Golden Knights can capture the three-game season series against the Blackhawks with a victory. Vegas edged Chicago 4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 2. Hart stopped 27 shots, Ivan Barbashev and Braeden Bowman each scored and set up a goal, and defenseman Shea Theodore earned two assists.
Theodore, however, remains sidelined with an upper-body injury.
