For most of the season, the Vegas Golden Knights led the Pacific Division but recent struggles have moved them one spot behind the Seattle Kraken.
The Golden Knights have lost four of their last five games and continue to struggle with injuries to core players. Now the pressure is on the team to get back to their early season form when they were among the top clubs in the league.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy pointed to Jack Eichel as one player in particular who he believes needs to play to the level he's capable and pick up the slack.
"Jack just hasn't been the same driving force for us as he was at the start of the year on both ends of the ice," Cassidy told reporters after Vegas' latest loss to the Detroit Red Wings. "The expectations are not being met from Jack. He needs to be better for us especially as we're down a few guys that create offense for us. He needs to be one of the drivers."
It has been a struggle for Eichel the last three games with just an assist and a minus-4 rating. The 26-year-old missed almost a month with a lower-body injury to end 2022 but he has been able to put up points consistently scoring 15 goals and 34 points in 33 games in his second season in Vegas.
With Mark Stone sidelined, Eichel's dip in production couldn't have come at a worst time.
Cassidy also made sure to mention that other key players haven't been pulling their weight.
"(I) think we've had passengers lately, guys that we rely on that need to be better," Cassidy said. "Timely save tonight could've made a difference. So I wouldn't put (Thursday's loss) on one element, but getting outworked in key situations, key times in the game, putting ourselves in bad spots was probably the start of it.
"As I said, we need better from some of our players that we rely on. And just to sort of expand on that, we went through injuries a little while ago. We came through it OK. Our effort was good. We had no passengers."
Speaking to reporters after practice Wednesday, Eichel acknowledged that he hasn't played his best but also believes it's not on one player to pick up the slack.
"There's gonna be ups and downs throughout the course of a season. Nobody plays 82 games straight perfectly. It's frustrating; we want to be better. But, you know, we learn from these games and figure out what you need to do better as a group,” Eichel said.
"I think I probably already put enough pressure on myself as is. And I'm sure all the other guys in here would say the same. Everyone has the right mindset, we all want to step up and help the team win, and we're all in this together."
The Golden Knights host the Washington Capitals on Saturday before heading out on a six-game road trip.
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