Knights make quick trip home to face road-tested New York Rangers

The Golden Knights had a successful weekend, earning three of a possible four points on a road back-to-back following a disappointing homestand.

The team returns to T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday to play the New York Rangers before heading back on the road for another three games.

The Knights (8-4-6) snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday by defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-1 at Enterprise Center. They then rallied to earn a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

“We played two different games,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We knew there wouldn’t be a lot of room getting through the neutral zone (against Minnesota). It was a tight game.”

The Knights needed the points they picked up. They were coming off one of the worst home stretches in team history, going 1-3-2 over a six-game stretch at T-Mobile Arena. Their lone win was a 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Knights will now host the Rangers in the first meeting between the two teams since New York shipped Original Misfit Reilly Smith back to Las Vegas in March.

The right wing scored a game-tying power-play goal against the Wild on Sunday. Smith, who had one goal in the Knights’ first 15 games, has two goals and four points in his last three appearances.

His tally Sunday continued the team’s resurgence on the power play. The Knights went 3-for-7 over the weekend after being stuck in a 3-for-34 slump their previous 10 games.

The run of success coincided with the team going back to a five-forward first unit. Right wing Braeden Bowman, 22, took injured captain Mark Stone’s spot on the goal line and scored his first career goal Saturday.

Bowman also skated on the top line with center Jack Eichel and left wing Ivan Barbashev the past two games. He earned a lot of responsibility quickly after making his debut Thursday.

“It’s crazy,” Bowman said Saturday about going through the NHL experience. “They treat us really well, especially in Vegas. It’s really special.”

It’s unclear if the Rangers will have coach Mike Sullivan behind the bench. He missed his team’s 2-1 home loss to the Red Wings due to personal reasons Sunday.

Assistant coaches David Quinn and Joe Sacco, who have both been bench bosses before, split Sullivan’s responsibilities.

The Rangers (10-8-2) are 1-7-1 at Madison Square Garden this season, but the Knights are in for a test Tuesday. New York has a NHL-best 9-1-1 road record. The Rangers will also likely start goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

Shesterkin, the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, has done his part to keep New York afloat. He is 7-6-2 with a .913 save percentage and 2.39 goals-against average this season. Shesterkin is 2-2 with a .900 save percentage in four starts against the Knights.

“There’s no quit in this locker room. I think that’s a great thing,” right wing Mitch Marner said. “We all have each other’s back. That’s something to be proud of, so we keep working on it and keep getting better at it.”

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