Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy was not at all happy with how much his team turned the puck over in Game 5 against the Dallas Stars — and he roasted the Arizona Coyotes out of left field during his post-game press conference.
“To me, the [biggest indicator of our lack of] desperation was we had 24 giveaways tonight,” Cassidy said after Dallas took the Western Conference Final to a Game 6 with a 4-2 win on Saturday night.
“I'm not sure you're beating the Arizona Coyotes in January with 24 giveaways. No disrespect to Arizona, but it's not the right way to play. We're trying to go to the Stanley Cup Final against a desperate team, so to me, that's the whole game right there.”
The Coyote were just minding their own business after another terrible season in the desert, and probably didn't expect to get roasted by Vegas' coach.
The 58-year-old Canadian probably has a point, though; the Golden Knights turned the puck over 15 more times than the Stars on Saturday night, a recipe for disaster in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Zach Whitecloud led the team with a game-high four turnovers, while Chandler Stephenson had three. It wasn't good enough for Vegas, who have completely lost momentum after leading the series 3-0 and coming one goal short of sweeping the West Final in Game 4.
Now, the Stars are back on home ice for Game 6 at American Airlines Center on Monday night, and will have captain Jamie Benn back, who has served his two-game suspension for a vicious cross-check on Mark Stone in Game 3.
Dallas is looking to become just the fifth team to erase an 0-3 series hole and advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, and Bruce Cassidy's team will need to be a lot more responsible with the puck if they hope to avoid being on the wrong side of history.