(Photo Credit: @Capitals on X/Twitter)

There’s an age-old cliche in hockey: “We have to play 60 minutes.”

In theory, the idea is that it takes maximum effort for every second of the game to win consistently in the NHL. In reality, it’s nearly impossible to dominate a professional team for the full 60 minutes. In Vegas, the Golden Knights are done worrying about playing 60 minutes, they’re simply looking for more than they’ve been getting.

Good of us to play 20 minutes. And that’s the thing, right? When we do play 20 minutes, you almost win a hockey game. Can you imagine when you play 40 or 45? -Bruce Cassidy

Yet again, the Golden Knights lost a game in which they fell into a big hole, nearly climbed out of it, but ran out of time.

Each of VGK’s last five regulation losses has seen them allow the first two goals of the game. They’ve allowed the first goal in 34 of their 59 games and have gone on to lose 22 of them. Yet, aside from a few outliers here and there, they’re never out of the game.

Last night in Washington, they furiously came back with a 3rd period push that came within inches of tying the game. In Anaheim, they climbed back from 3-0 down to 3-2 and had multiple looks to tie it late. In Boston, it looked like they were going to make history storming back from down four goals in the final frame, but came up just short. It’s been the story over and over and over again. So much so that the coach knows his team is good enough to win games even without the cliche, he’s just asking for a bit more.

Listen 60 every night is not going to happen. You’re going to have ups and downs, but you’ve got to be at 40 or 50 minutes at least this time of year, and we weren’t close to that. -Cassidy

The Golden Knights slipped back below .600 points percentage with the loss, and though they still hold an advantage in the Pacific and a decent cushion on the final playoff spot, the upcoming schedule is no cakewalk. Three Eastern Conference playoff contenders, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Detroit, round out the road trip and then Western Conference powers, Minnesota, Edmonton, and Dallas are next up.

11 of the next 14 games are against teams in playoff position, and as it stands, the Golden Knights boast just a 5-9-10 record against playoff teams.

60 minutes is understandably too much to ask for, and Bruce Cassidy isn’t even asking for it. He is asking for a lot more than they’ve been able to give far too often this season, and if he doesn’t get it, the comfortable spot in the postseason could disappear in a hurry over the next month.