"It's one game and it's a long series," Reilly Smith said. "Wipe the slate clean and make sure we bring our best effort next game. We usually don't practice too much this time of the year. After a game like that, I think everyone needed it."
Vegas went 3-0-0 against the Jets in the regular season. However, as everyone knows, playoffs are considered a 'new season' where nothing matters on paper. It's the change of pace, atmosphere and level of physicality that makes playoffs so much more taxing.
"Whether you lose 2-1 or you lose 6-1, it doesn't matter. It's a loss at the end of the day," Jonathan Marchessault said. "To be honest, I think it was a poor performance from us. It's a big game for us tomorrow. I think yesterday we didn't have 20 guys that wanted to compete, and it showed in our game. To be a good team in the playoffs, you need everybody."
The Golden Knights are mostly a veteran team. The majority of them have faced postseason adversity before and know what it takes to win when it matters most. They are aware of their mistakes and are honest with themselves about correcting them. Addressing mistakes doesn't mean the mood has to be negative, though. The general mindset in the locker room was an 'acknowledge and move on' type of mentality.
"We're a resilient team and we're never going to quit on anything," said Marchessault. "I'm definitely excited to see our group tomorrow."
Head Coach Bruce Cassidy agrees.
"Playoffs become about the response," Cassidy said. "We have to be better, it's that simple. There was no one area; our entire game wasn't at the level it needs to be to beat playoff-caliber teams."
Cassidy went on to praise the group and echo the positive mentality that the players have exhibited all year.
"They are a veteran group," said Cassidy. "They've been through some playoff series. I think everybody knows it's not won or lost after one game. You have to get better… I expect we will. We're a good hockey team, we had 111 points this year. We're not going to define ourselves by one hockey game… We didn't play well, but we have to make sure we correct it."
The Golden Knights will participate in morning skate before Game 2 on Thursday at 11 a.m. at City National Arena. All team practices are free and open to the public and timing will be confirmed each morning on the official Vegas Golden Knights Twitter account.
