Following their 3-0 defeat in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round, Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel delivered a firm message to his teammates as they now face elimination in the NHL postseason against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
McDavid and the Oilers steamrolled the Golden Knights, blanking the visiting team in a dominant showdown during Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Edmonton is now one victory away from advancing to the Conference Final, while Vegas has its back against the wall.
Eichel’s six-game point streak reached its end during the deflating loss to the Oilers, as the American star in Vegas failed to register a point for the first time since Game 3 of the opening round series agains the Minnesota Wild. Then, Eichel had been kept off the scoresheet in the opening three games of the matchup.
Now, as the Golden Knights find themselves with their head between a rock and a hard place, they need their best player to step up, along with the rest of the team, as they return to Las Vegas in hopes of forcing a Game 6 back in Edmonton.
On that note, Eichel didn’t mince words with a bold six-word statement for his teammates as they gear up to host McDavid and the red-hot Oilers at T-Mobile Arena.
“It’s do or die now,” Jack Eichel firmly stated after the 3-0 loss in Edmonton, via NHL.com.
Poked the bear
The Golden Knights came up across a completely different version of Stuart Skinner in Game 4, and they had no answers for the 26-year-old netminder who recorded his fourth career postseason shutout, and the first in this year’s playoffs.
“They came out in the first, obviously, had a hard push,” Eichel added. “Give us credit though, we stood up to them. You get behind and we obviously weren’t able to solve the goaltender. We’ve just got to be cleaner on our breakouts and just better execution, I think.“
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Needless to say, the Golden Knights will need to come up with answers for Skinner and the Oilers in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena. They say the house always wins in Las Vegas, but Edmonton has enjoyed success in its recent visits and will now go all-in, hoping to knock the home team out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.