The Vegas Golden Knights have their backs against the wall after three games in their Stanley Cup semifinals series against the Montreal Canadiens. Vegas absorbed a tough 3-2 overtime loss in Game 3 on the road Friday night, with goalie Marc-André Fleury making a crucial mistake in the third period that led to a game-tying goal by Habs forward Josh Anderson.

But apart from that Fleury snafu and the ensuing overtime goal he gave up to Anderson (again) in extra time, one of the biggest reasons Vegas lost that game was their anemic power play. The Knights could have survived Montreal in Game 3 had they converted on at least one of their four opportunities on the man advantage. And this isn't just a one-game issue for Vegas. This has been a glaring weak point of the team that they have yet to address.

If their power-play problems continue, historically speaking, their chances of winning the Stanley Cup this year are dim even though they were among the top favorites to lift Lord Stanley entering the playoffs.

Via Jesse Granger of The Athletic:

“In the past 30 years, no team has won the Stanley Cup with a playoff power-play percentage lower than 11 percent. There has also never been a Stanley Cup winner with the lowest power-play percentage of any team in the playoffs.”

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So far in the playoffs, the Golden Knights have scored on the power play just four times in 38 chances for an atrocious 10.5 PP% — the worst by any team that made the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Against the Habs, Vegas is just 0 of 10 on the power play.

Game 4 against the Canadiens on Sunday will be a high time for the Golden Knights to finally break out of their power-play slump.