X marks the playoff spot as Golden Knights look to clinch

Gerard Gallant may have revealed a secret when the Golden Knights coach dropped this little nugget about the importance of Sunday’s victory: “Get to 97 points, and that was a goal.”

Gallant seemed to be alluding to a preseason target set by the Knights, a point total that, based on history, would make them the first expansion team to qualify for the postseason since the NHL expanded for the 1967-68 season.

“But there’s no X beside our name right now, so that’s the key,” Gallant said, referring to the symbol used in the NHL standings to indicate teams that have clinched a playoff berth.

“Getting closer to it.”

While Nashville remains the lone Western Conference team with an X and is leaving everyone in their hot sauce-covered dust in the race for the top seed, the Knights (46-21-5) hold a cozy eight-point lead over San Jose in the Pacific Division with 10 games remaining.

They can reduce their dwindling magic points number further when the struggling Vancouver Canucks (25-38-9, 58 points) visit T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday to cap a four-game homestand.

“I think we know our recipe to success,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “We’ve talked about it as a team. With the coaches, we had some videos showing what we’ve done wrong, what we’ve done right in the past that’s working for us. You never want to go through phases where nothing goes your way, but it happens. It’s a long season.

“We’ve played a lot of games lately and we’ve just got to make sure … we’re back at our regular selves, the way we can play. The playoffs are around the corner, so we’ve got to get our game together before it starts.”

The Knights ended a two-game slide Sunday with a 4-0 win over Calgary behind a natural hat trick from center William Karlsson and a 42-save effort from Fleury.

The Knights need seven points to clinch a playoff berth after Los Angeles (86 points, nine games remaining) beat Minnesota 4-3 in overtime on Monday.

If the Knights win the Pacific Division title and Nashville claims the conference’s top seed, the Knights would meet the No. 1 wild card in the first round of the playoffs.

Colorado (39-25-8, 86 points with 10 games remaining) currently holds that spot in a dramatic turnaround one season after it finished with the worst record in the league.

The Avalanche, who play the Knights in a home-and-home Saturday and Monday, are led by Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon.

“Our mindset right now is we’ve got to get back to playing the hockey we were a few weeks ago,” defenseman Jon Merrill said. “You can’t wait till the playoffs. (We’ve) got to get our game going in the right direction right now and start trending in the upward direction and start really peaking right now and get our game ready for playoffs.”

One area the Knights hope to improve against Vancouver is their starts.

Calgary had a 20-6 advantage in shots on goal in the first period on Sunday, and the Knights have allowed the first goal in four of their past six games (1-3 record).

“I think we’re waiting too long to get engaged in the game, and when you do that in playoff mode, teams are going to bury you,” forward Ryan Reaves said. “You can’t wait until the third period like we’ve been doing to turn it on and try and mount a comeback.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.