LAS VEGAS — Welcome back to “Friday Knight hiLights,” as the Golden Knights have just one game left before the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament.
Vegas snapped a season-high tying four-game losing skid on Thursday and will visit Boston before the break, and one day before Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
The Golden Knights were split on a Super Bowl poll released earlier this week, and now it’s time to hear from coach Bruce Cassidy on who he thinks will win on Super Sunday.
“Dallas, I got Dallas,” Cassidy said of his beloved Cowboys before his team left for the four-game road trip.
Unfortunately for him and Cowboys Nation, they missed the playoffs for the 16th time in 29 years, since they last made a Super Bowl when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995.
“I’m going to take Kansas City,” Cassidy revealed. “I think they’re the better team, plain and simple. They’ve been there. They find ways to win these games.
“All year I think people have doubted them, whether they could do it in the playoffs or win close games. Here they are. Again, win another close one last week, so that’s why.”
The AFC champion Chiefs will face the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, hoping to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls.
As one of the coaches for Team Canada, Cassidy will have his hands full once the NHL pauses 4 Nations. But as a spirited fan, Cassidy will surely be in front of a television on Sunday.
“I yell at the TV like everyone else, I’m a fan,” he said. “And some coaches contain it well, and some don’t. And that’s the challenge in my job, right? Especially in a high… get into the playoffs, in the finals.
“You’ve got to keep your composure. So I’m always impressed with the guys that can. I always like when the camera cuts back and then they’re yelling at them, they go back to the ref, the guy who’s on the sideline who had nothing to do with the call.
“Like pass interference, those are the tough ones, those are subjective.”
In offering his thoughts on the controversial ball spot in the AFC Championship that resulted in a turnover-on-downs for the Buffalo Bills and handed the Chiefs the ball after a fourth-down conversion attempt was ruled just short of a first down, Cassidy wondered aloud if the NFL could turn to a sensor-embedded football, just as the NHL has to enhance broadcast statistics and graphics.
“How can you tell, almost like a line, that they’re watching from the sides and all these people are coming together?” Cassidy said. “How can you get that spot right every time? I guess you have to find a way to review those or find a way to review those in the last two minutes. That’s just my two cents on that. That guy marking the ball, I don’t know man, that’d be tough to get it right, exact.”
ON THE BEAT
From Sin Bin’s Ken Boehlke: VGK In The Midst Of Worst Stretch Ever; History Shows It’ll Get Better Soon Though
From The Athletic’s Jesse Granger: What adding Brandon Saad could mean for the Vegas Golden Knights
From Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Danny Webster: Knights’ newest forward explains decision to give up money to chase Cup
From Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Ed Graney: Risk-reward is real for Knights at new international hockey event
From Las Vegas Sun’s Jack Williams: Golden Knights’ Shea Theodore elevates his game to new heights
FORMER KNIGHTS
Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt has 57 hits through the 54 games he’s played this season. He’s on pace to register a career-high 84 hits, provided he finishes with 80 games played. Schmidt has missed just two games this season.
Ottawa Senators forward Michael Amadio is on a two-game goal streak after scoring the team’s lone goal in Tampa on Thursday. He’s scored a goal in three of the playoff-contending Senators’ last four games. Amadio ranks 12th on the team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists).
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has been in a lull with goal production since mid-December. After opening the season with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 29 games, he’s got just 22 points over his last 25 games, only four of them being goals. He snapped a 10-game goal-less skid on Jan. 6, and is currently mired in a five-game drought with a goal.
Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch is riding a three-game point streak, including Tuesday’s three-point performance that included two goals in a 3-2 win over Columbus. Tuch is tied for third on the team with 40 points.
Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson continues to look like a Vezina candidate, as he’s 24-2-4 this season and is ranked second with a 2.18 goals-against average and .923 save percentage among netminders with a minimum of 25 starts.
