{"id":435170,"date":"2026-01-29T23:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/435170\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:54:17","slug":"cassidy-wants-vegas-to-reclaim-their-time-in-the-middle-of-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/435170\/","title":{"rendered":"Cassidy Wants Vegas To Reclaim Their Time In The Middle Of Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

(Credit: Sportsnet)<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights return to home ice tonight after spending the last four games on the road. Vegas went an undesirable 1-2-1 on their East Coast trip but managed to save the trip with a late comeback and forcing overtime in Montreal. Ignoring the 7-1 baseball score loss, Vegas recorded a healthy 12 goals in four games. However, coach Bruce Cassidy was concerned about how his team has not been able to rescue a game once they fall behind in the 2nd period.<\/p>\n

The second period, the game got away from us a bit. That\u2019s a problem for us lately is when we\u2019ve just not been able to reclaim our game to get sort of back in it. One turns into two and lately it\u2019s been two turning into three. We kept it within a goal, so it\u2019s there for us. -Bruce Cassidy<\/p>\n

While Vegas remains one of the league\u2019s best 3rd period teams, they\u2019re severely middling in the middle frame. In the final 20 minutes of a game, the Golden Knights have a massive +24 goal differential. VGK has scored the second most 3rd period goals with 68. Unfortunately, the Golden Knights continue be outscored in the middle 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On this four-game road trip, Vegas went -7 in 2nd period. On the bright side, they were +3 in the final frame. Nevertheless, they lost three of four on the road and needed a strong 3rd period in Toronto to pick up their first victory since January 17th.<\/p>\n

We were down going into the third period, and we\u2019ve done a good job this year getting back in the game. We\u2019re never out of it, so that\u2019s a positive. We played with pace. Offensively, I thought we generated some good looks. -Bruce Cassidy<\/p>\n

Beginning tonight, the Golden Knights have five challenging games before the Olympic break. According to their coach, reclaiming their game in the 2nd period would greatly put his club in position to win the game. Especially, when you consider how dominant the Golden Knights are in the final frame.<\/p>\n

VGK Period Goal Differential<\/p>\n

1st Period: -8 Goal Differential (48 Goals Scored, 56 Goals Allowed)
\n2nd Period: -1 Goal Differential (50 Goals Scored, 51 Goals Allowed)
\n3rd Period: +24 Goal Differential (68 Goals Scored, 44 Goals Allowed)<\/p>\n

With only a handful of games before the Milan Cortina Winter Games, it\u2019ll be important for Vegas to accrue as many standings points as possible. Each game will be against a Western Conference opponent, and losing points inside the conference could haunt them when they return in late February. And don\u2019t look now, but nine of the following 15 games after the break are on the road.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s simple. Just like a bellyaching politician on Capitol Hill, it\u2019s time for Vegas to reclaim their time. At least from the 2nd period on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credit: Sportsnet) The Golden Knights return to home ice tonight after spending the last four games on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5129],"tags":[762,149,5317,5,4,2219,74,39,5316,2071],"class_list":{"0":"post-435170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vegas-golden-knights","8":"tag-bruce-cassidy","9":"tag-golden-knights","10":"tag-goldenknights","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-pacific-division","14":"tag-vegas","15":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","16":"tag-vegasgoldenknights","17":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115981089564841621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}