Knights looking for sweep of Ducks heading into Christmas break

The Christmas shopping is all but done at the Cassidy household. Bruce Cassidy is fine taking zero credit for the packages that have made it to his doorstep every day the past few weeks.

There’s one more early present the Golden Knights’ coach would like before the team takes off for the next three days — another win at T-Mobile Arena.

The Knights (22-8-3) will try to win their fourth straight game, and eighth in the past nine, when they host the Anaheim Ducks (13-15-4) at 7 p.m. Monday.

The Knights are in a stretch of 10 of 12 games at home. So far, it’s played out how the Knights hoped.

They’ve handled their business in the first two, outscoring opponents 9-3 and securing two division wins in the process — Thursday against Vancouver and Saturday over Seattle.

Anaheim marks the third of a five-game stretch against Pacific Division teams, and the Knights can sweep the four-game season series with a win. The last meeting came Dec. 4 in Anaheim, where goaltender Ilya Samsonov needed just 19 saves in a commanding 4-1 victory.

Samsonov made 21 saves Saturday in the 6-2 win over the Kraken, paving the way for Adin Hill to likely return to the crease in search of his 15th win of the season (14-5-2).

“It’s human nature to sometimes play down to the level of opposition,” Cassidy said. “Do we look ahead? Yeah, we look ahead more to see where we’re going, what the schedule looks like to allow for practice time, more than who the opponent is.”

The best way the Knights can head into Christmas is with a complete, 60-minute performance. They’ve allowed the first goal in five straight games and fell behind less than three minutes in Saturday.

Lineup changes

The slow start forced Cassidy to make some changes up front, including benching Pavel Dorofeyev and Victor Olofsson midway through the opening period.

The new-look top line of Brett Howden, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone responded with two of the Knights’ three first-period goals. Eichel, Stone and Howden were each a plus-4.

The offense has dried up for Dorofeyev, now at 10 games without a goal and just three assists in that span. Cassidy’s hope for putting Dorofeyev on the top line was to get him going offensively.

Instead, it was Howden — now with 13 goals on the season — making the most of that opportunity.

Cassidy talked with Dorofeyev on Sunday and told him to keep playing through it. He said Dorofeyev has done a good job at playing away from the puck and winning battles. Goals just aren’t going in for him.

Dorofeyev “is perceived as a goal scorer. Goal scorers, when they don’t score, things go through their heads,” Cassidy said. “He’s not cheating. It’s just stick with it and try not to force plays, and I think maybe that’s what’s happened and looking for easier ice.”

Cassidy felt the group responded well to the changes from the second period on, but it’s something the Knights don’t want to keep making a habit out of.

Especially with where they are in the standings.

Looking for separation

The Knights are two points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the top spot in the Western Conference and have two games in hand. Only the Washington Capitals (.719) have a better points percentage than the Knights (.712) in the league standings.

Getting closer to them would make it a decent Christmas for the organization.

“Games are obviously really important in the division. We want to create as much separation as possible,” defenseman Nic Hague said. “We’re still trying to get to our game and know where it can be. Every night is another step in that direction.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.