Knights HC Bruce Cassidy discloses pivotal moment in series where Oilers pulled away from Vegas 

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified May 15, 2025 10:30 GMT

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Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said the Game 2 overtime loss was the key turning point in their second-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers won that game in Edmonton to take a 2-0 series lead. Cassidy said his team needed a split before heading home.

"I would say the overtime game in Game 2," Cassidy said postgame after the Oilers beat the Golden Knights 1-0 in OT at T-Mobile Arena in Game 5, winning the series 4-1. "We killed that five-minute major. We had to find a way to win that game. We needed to leave here with a split. We needed to find a way to win it. We thought we'd go on the power play."

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Just before the winning goal, Viktor Arvidsson hit Brayden McNabb into the boards, but the referees did not call a penalty. Cassidy said it was a missed call, though admitted his team still needed to score.

"It's my only beef — there was a call there that was missed that could have given us the opportunity," he said. "At the end of the day, we have to find a way to get the goal anyway, it doesn't matter."

Kasperi Kapanen scored the winning goal in overtime off a scramble in front. Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for Edmonton on the night in Game 5, while Adin Hill stopped 31 shots for Vegas.

The Oilers advanced to the Western Conference Final with a 4-1 series win.

Bruce Cassidy explains why Golden Knights struggled to score against Oilers

Bruce Cassidy also explained why his team could not score in their final two games. He said Edmonton played with discipline and limited their power play chances. Vegas only got one power play in Game 5.

"Discipline," Cassidy said. "You know, we only had one power play — that can usually get you going. You listen, both teams checked well. Not easy to get to the front of the net. So second chances were at a premium."

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He further pointed out that the Golden Knights are not a shoot-first team. Cassidy believes this mindset hurt them again, like it did against the Dallas Stars last year.

"We're a team that’s not a shoot-first team anyway, so that’s something we obviously will look at," Cassidy said." I think it cost us a little last year too, you know, lack of production in the Dallas series. So we have to change our mindset a little bit. At the end of the day, they did a good job blocking some shots too."

The Golden Knights got outshot 32-24, and despite having more control in faceoffs. Edmonton created better chances overall, and Cassidy sees that as the difference in the end.