Golden Knights begin critical 5-game road trip

For approximately 10 minutes at the end of Thursday’s practice at City National Arena, the Golden Knights simulated a 3-on-3 overtime.

With points becoming a precious commodity in the final four weeks of the regular season, coach Pete DeBoer is looking for any edge he can find.

“We are working on, and we talked about it today before we worked on the 3-on-3 overtime, that there’s going to be some critical points on the table, and we are going to be in this situation here over the last (14) games,” DeBoer said. “We have to be ready for that.”

The Knights (37-23-8, 82 points) embark on a critical five-game road trip that begins Friday at Winnipeg and features potential first-round playoff opponents at every stop.

DeBoer said goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will start at Bell MTS Place against the Jets.

That game is followed by a back-to-back against Calgary and Edmonton, which trails the Knights by two points in the Pacific Division.

The trip concludes with games at wild-card contender Minnesota and Colorado.

“You never want to leave it in anyone else’s hands coming down the stretch,” Knights defenseman Shea Theodore said. “When you’re playing divisional opponents, those are the four-point games. When we go into Calgary, when we go into Edmonton, those are huge games as far as the standings go. Those are teams that are trying to scratch and claw and catch up.”

The Knights play 10 of their final 14 games on the road, where they are 15-12-4. After struggling for consistency during the first four months of the season away from home, the Knights are 4-2 since the All-Star break.

One of those losses was at Tampa Bay, when the Knights had a decisive statistical edge at 5-on-5, and the other in Minnesota can largely be chalked up to the schedule.

They won’t catch any breaks on this trip, either, with every team making a playoff push.

Winnipeg is 7-2-1 in its past 10 home games. Calgary won two straight and is 6-3-1 in its past 10 games, and Edmonton had won three straight before losing at Chicago on Thursday.

Also, Minnesota is 6-3-1 in its past 10, and Colorado remains hot on the heels of St. Louis for first in the Central Division.

“I think we’ve got to bring some of that momentum on the road, but we’ve also got to learn to play on the road in hostile environments, not sleeping in your bed, not having the last line change, all that good stuff,” Knights forward Ryan Reaves said. “It’s important to get that down right now so you’re not trying to learn in the playoffs.”

The Knights are 8-8 in games decided in overtime or a shootout and emphasized puck possession during their 3-on-3 work Thursday.

With the division races so competitive, the 3-on-3 OTs are even more important for the Knights after they traded a goalie who is undefeated all time in shootouts (Malcolm Subban) for one who admittedly struggles (Robin Lehner).

The Knights, winners of nine of their past 10 games, would play one of the two wild cards in the first round of the postseason should they win the division. The second-place team in the Pacific meets the third-place division finisher in the first round.

After Wednesday’s games, the Knights’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth was 23 points.

“The teams around us, no one’s losing games,” DeBoer said. “I think it’s going to be like that right to the end, so you’ve got to take care of your business. For us, we’ve had the benefit of being at home here for a couple weeks and now we’ve got to bring that game to the road.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.