Golden Knights show resiliency when trailing 1-0 in playoffs

The Golden Knights took an early punch to the gut when they lost their playoff opener 1-0 in overtime Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.

Their history suggests they have a good chance of getting back up off the mat in Tuesday’s Game 2 at T-Mobile Arena.

The Knights have lost Game 1 of a playoff series three times and have come back to win the next game each time. That’s a good sign for them because of how important Game 2 will be in how the series shakes out.

Teams that start the playoffs 1-1 at home have gone on to win 55.5 percent of the time, according to Hockey-Reference.com. Those that start 0-2 at home have won 19.6 percent of the time.

“Every loss in the Stanley Cup playoffs is devastating,” forward Alex Tuch said. “It’s never easy to bounce back, but … we know what it takes to bounce back from a game like that. We know what it’s like to be successful in the playoffs, and we’re going to do everything in our power tomorrow (to win).”

The Knights have been resilient. They trailed 1-0 in their first season against Winnipeg, their second season against San Jose and last postseason against Dallas. They won Game 2 each time. They beat the Jets in five games, lost to the Sharks in seven and lost to the Stars in five.

The Knights also have recovered from losses quickly this season. The team had only three losing streaks of at least two games. Two of those involved the Wild, who swept the Knights in Minnesota on March 8 and 10 and at T-Mobile Arena on April 1 and 3.

“Our group’s been real good at self-evaluation and response,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “That’s one of the strengths of our group. They’re an honest group.”

The Knights hope that pays off for them Tuesday. They will have to recover quickly again to even the series.

“You can’t get too high or low in playoffs,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “If you get a win, you can’t think you’re winning the Stanley Cup. You lose, you can’t think you’re going home. It’s a little bit of a roller coaster, and if you can stay even keeled through the whole playoffs, you’ll have success.”

Pacioretty update

Left wing Max Pacioretty, who missed the final six regular-season games and first playoff game, is considered day to day, DeBoer said.

DeBoer said Pacioretty is “trending in the right direction” in terms of recovering from his undisclosed injury.

Pacioretty was the Knights’ leading goal scorer for the second straight season with 24. He also finished second in points with 51.

Tight start to NHL playoffs

The Knights’ overtime loss Sunday continued a trend early in the postseason.

Three of the four games Saturday and Sunday went into overtime. The fourth game between Tampa Bay and Florida was tied late until center Brayden Point gave the Lightning a 5-4 lead with 1:14 remaining.

DeBoer said it isn’t surprising.

“With the way the divisions are aligned this year, there are no easy matchups,” he said. “Some of the matchups could easily be conference final matchups and they’re first-round matchups.”

Silver Knights playoff schedule

The American Hockey League announced the Pacific Division playoff schedule Monday.

The Silver Knights, who finished first in the standings, will host a best-of-three semifinal starting at 7 p.m. Friday at Orleans Arena. Game 2 will be at 1 p.m. Sunday and Game 3, if necessary, will be at a to-be-determined time May 24.

The Silver Knights will face one of four teams competing in a play-in round. Fourth-seed San Jose will play seventh-seed Tucson on Tuesday, and fifth-seed Colorado and sixth-seed Ontario will meet. The winners will meet Wednesday for the chance to play the Silver Knights.

Second-seed Bakersfield and third-seed San Diego will meet in the other semifinal. The winners will play a best-of-three final hosted by the highest seed.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.