"Have to find a way to not collapse": William Karlsson and Golden Knights camp speak on 7-4 loss to Coyotes

By ARJUN B

Modified Apr 06, 2024 07:44 GMT

In a shocking collapse on Friday night, the Vegas Golden Knights squandered a three-goal lead in the third period, falling 7-4 in the end to the Arizona Coyotes.

In his post-game interview, William Karlsson emphasized the need for the team to find a way to avoid such collapses:

"It's happened twice in the last two weeks now, and we have to find a way not to collapse, like we have been," Karlsson said in the post-game interview.

William Karlsson attributed the loss to small mistakes that led to significant consequences, stressing the importance of simplifying their game when faced with adversity.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy criticized the team's effort, saying that playing well for only 30 minutes is not enough to beat any team in the league:

"Some of it was us not taking care of the details. Let’s face it, there was a stretch there where every shot went in. You have to stop the bleeding somewhere in that. They were opportunistic, and we paid the price." Cassidy said.

Veteran defenseman Alec Martinez also echoed the need for the team to bounce back and manage their emotions better, particularly with the playoffs on the horizon. He acknowledged that momentum swings are inevitable and emphasized the importance of managing them more effectively than they did against the Coyotes:

"Talking about playoffs and we gotta manage it obviously much better than we did tonight," Martinez said.

Golden Knights suffer 7-4 loss to Coyotes

The Coyotes struck first with a goal from Alex Kerfoot in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. However, the Golden Knights responded quickly with four goals from William Karlsson, Jack Eichel, Anthony Mantha and Chandler Stephenson to go up 4-1 in the same period.

However, the Golden Knights' lead quickly evaporated as the Coyotes mounted an astonishing comeback. Within a mere 67 seconds, Josh Doan, Nick Bjugstad and Michael Carcone all found the back of the net in rapid succession to tie the game 4-4.

Carcone continued his goal-scoring tally by netting another to put the Coyotes ahead soon after. Josh Brown and Logan Cooley added two more goals to seal the game. The Vegas Golden Knights could not recover from this sudden goal-scoring onslaught, resulting in a demoralizing 7-4 defeat:

“We showed character,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “Our guys showed they care a lot. We’ve had comebacks in the past, and it’s good for everybody to contribute.”

The loss cost Vegas an opportunity to take sole possession of third place in the competitive Pacific Division standings. The Golden Knights are now tied with the Nashville Predators at 92 points apiece for the third playoff spot out West.

Los Angeles lurks behind with 91 points, as the three clubs vie for those final postseason spots.