Last season, only one team (Minnesota Wild) which was more than four points removed from the playoff line on Nov. 1 qualified for the post-season.
Our friend Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has been using Nov. 1 as the playoff line and tracking the results since the 2005-06 season - and only seven teams have completed the climb back from playoff obscurity. The bottom line: if a team is four points or more below the playoff border when November breaks, getting back in is a rarity. We're talking less than one team per season. Teams don't make the playoffs in October - but they do miss them.
Vegas had good moments on its recent five-game road swing - just not enough of them.
"You look at our last game, and I don't look at the last game too often, but it was a positive one for us," said head coach Gerard Gallant. "(Marc-Andre) Fleury was outstanding and Philadelphia probably should have gotten better results than what they got. You know, we scored late in the hockey game to win 1-0 but they had some great chances and Fleury made some key saves for us. Fleury stole that one for us and played really well so hopefully our team will come home and be rejuvenated. We've got five in a row at some so hopefully we play really well against Buffalo."
A lack of production to this point - just 10 goals though six games - has held back the Knights.
They need to get in the winning business during this homestand and creating more offense is key. Vegas is generating 32.2 shots per game which ranks 15th in the NHL. On the other side, Vegas is holding the opposition to an average of 24.8 shots per game which is third in the league. Those numbers are fine.
But when it comes to execution, the Golden Knights are lagging with an average of 1.67 goals-for per game which is tied for third worst in the NHL.
"Our game has to get going. Like I said, we are playing okay, but we aren't playing good enough," said Gallant. "When you win, you play real quick and play real fast and there is no hesitation in your game. Right now we have some of that hesitation. We know it as coaches, we know it as players and we just have to be better. We have to work a little harder with each guy. It's the lack of offense within our team. There is obviously some concerns, you look at some games and we are getting chances like hitting goal posts on our power plays and that's frustrating. We should have more goals and we are better team than that. You have to stay with it. It's six games into the season and we wish we were 4-2 instead of 2-4 but work hard will get you through it and it will hopefully make you better down the road."
