How alarming is the Vegas Golden Knights’ recent stretch heading into the NHL Trade Deadline?

Credit: Mark Stone (© Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

Now in their seventh year of existence, one thing that’s certain for the Vegas Golden Knights is that they’re always going for it. The expansion franchise has made it to three Western Conference Finals in their first six seasons, winning last year then defeating the Florida Panthers in five games to win the Stanley Cup Finals.

This season, they started the year winning 11 of their first 12 games, and everything about their game indicated they were on their way to another Stanley Cup run. But February and the beginning of March have been the Golden Knights’ toughest stretch, with the club losing seven of their last nine games. As of March 5, Vegas is 33-22-7 with 73 points, third in the Pacific Division but only one point ahead of the surging Los Angeles Kings, who also have two games in hand.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the Golden Knights’ struggles and if the club can hold on to a playoff spot in the last quarter of the season.

Tyler Yaremchuk: One team that’s struggling is the Vegas Golden Knights, they’ve dropped back-to-back games to the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets. That’s not exactly top-tier opponents. By points percentage, they’re sitting in a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, is this just a team that’s run through a rash of injuries or are there legitimate concerns?

Frank Seravalli: I tend to think it’s more the former, and this has got to be one of the most bizaare regular seasons that a team has had in a while. Think about the undefeated run they had to start the season, and now they’re in a spot where they’re potentially being passed by the Kings in the division.

I tend to be a believer in the long haul of the Golden Knights, especially when you consider all the things that have fallen apart this season: they didn’t have Adin Hill for awhile, Shea Theodore was gone for a chunk of time, Jack Eichel missed some games and now they’re heart-and-soul in Mark Stone out of the lineup.

Listen to the full segment and the rest of the episode here…