Lawless: Ignore the Noise

Lots will be said today and tomorrow leading up to Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. Most of it will be nonsense.

Here's what is fact: The Vegas Golden Knights lead the Dallas Stars three games to two in a best-of-seven series with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line. Vegas has two tries to win one game and the series. Dallas must win the next pair to move on to the next round. That's all true.

The rest of what you will read, hear and watch is opinion and guesswork. No one knows what is going to happen. No one knows how players are going to respond.

Following Game 5, a 4-2 win for Dallas, talk about momentum switching to the Stars side and pressure now weighing on Vegas began. These are contrived theories which may or may not apply.

Pressure on Vegas? Perhaps. Or maybe after a pair of losses in which the players strayed from their tried and true winning formula, they'll come back to their basics. Maybe the Golden Knights will be desperate after losing two straight for the first time in the postseason.

The Stars built momentum for themselves inside of Game 5 and rode it to a win. Does it extend now towards Game 6? Well, both teams will have had two sleeps and a plane ride as well as their regular preparation routines between this set of games. Any momentum stalled in the minutes following Game 5. Dallas has reason to feel good about itself. They've won two games in a row. So, however, does Vegas who have won three games in the series.

Like all games, this one will be settled following the drop of the puck.

Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy addressed the media on Sunday morning before his team departed for Dallas. And he was a touch prickly after having watched his team lose two straight following up on winning the first three of this series. Cassidy was asked what his message to his team would be today and leading up to Game 6.

"Let's get serious and get harder about our puck management and our battles," said Cassidy. "You have to go through the game, you see a little bit more about when you could stop slot battles. Particularly at our net front, we need to be a lot harder, we've got a big D corps, we've got to play like it again. And then we've got to get inside in front of their net. There's a couple opportunities, I think in the o-zone, we could have been greasier in front of their net, where we're waiting a little on the outside, there were some where we did get there and had good looks. But to me, it's become a bit of a sloth battle series."

Vegas has six Stanley Cup champions on its roster. Dallas has one. Cassidy said his team needs to look at itself and what it wants. And, he said he'd be part of that conversation.

"There's a group here that's been through this and they've been to this stage and we've got to get to the next, we've got to get over the hump," he said. "I consider myself a part of that leadership group. So we all have to step up and do our job that way. But it is a little bit internal here where the guys have to draw on their experience. You want to use it when you need it. And we need it now. We need the guys to reset here, today's a travel day. But we do have to understand that we can't keep playing the way we have the last two games and expect them to go away. You know, they're even hungrier now. And probably feeling more confident. So we still have the series lead, we can't overlook that. But at the end of the day, that's where they've got to sort of push one another internally. As I've said it before you sometimes you have to push one another in the group, and it's not always comfortable. So that's where we're at now."

Veteran Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith has been to the Stanley Cup Final with this team as well as four trips the WCF stage. He's an important voice in the dressing room as well as a key player on the ice.

"You just learn from your experience. Obviously, when you have teams down you really have to have a bit of a killer instinct and make sure that you're making things difficult on them and I think the last two games we haven't done that," said Smith. "We've given up free chances so it'll be important next game to get back to the style of play that's made it so successful in these playoffs... Really limiting teams to shots to the outside and not giving them second chance opportunities."

Vegas limited Dallas to an average of 6.3 High Danger Chances For in the first three games of the series - all VGK wins. The last two games, Dallas averaged 15 High Danger Chances For and earned wins.

"I think the last two games our defensive game has slipped a little bit and we're giving up grade-A chances that I don't think we were giving up in the first two rounds," said Smith. "I think it's easier to play in a series when you're up three games to nothing and we don't have that fortune right now. So you have to make sure that this next game is a better game for us and we have to go in there with the mindset that we're going to limit them to very little and make the most of our own opportunities."

Playoff series are about highs and lows. It's what makes this time of year so much fun. It isn't easy and the rewards are massive. So is the despair.

Game 6 is set for 5 p.m. PT at American Airlines Center. And you can hear Dan D'Uva and myself at 98.9 FM on the radio dial. That much is true, as well. Join us.