Knights playoff scenarios: Home ice secured, but who will they play?

Bruce Cassidy didn’t mince words before the Golden Knights embarked on a three-game road trip.

The Knights coach went as far as to say he was “concerned” after his team was shut out 4-0 at home against the Winnipeg Jets on April 3.

Those worries should be lessened after the team took five of a possible six points on its road trip. That increased the Knights’ lead in the Pacific Division to six points over the second-place Los Angeles Kings with four games remaining in the regular season. The Kings have a game in hand.

The Knights also secured home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs by getting a point in their 3-2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

“We did a good job,” Cassidy said. “To be able to get a point getting right down to the wire, there’s certainly some positives there.”

The Knights (47-22-9) know they’ll be hosting Game 1 of the playoffs at T-Mobile Arena in less than two weeks. Their seed and their opponent are to be determined.

They can wrap up a division title as early as Saturday if they win their next two games in regulation. The Knights host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday and the Nashville Predators and former right wing Jonathan Marchessault on Saturday.

The Kings (44-24-9) host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, then the Avalanche on Saturday. The Knights would move closer to a clinch if Los Angeles drops points in either of those games.

“We want to be playing at our best,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “There’s always things we can clean up. The next day, we’ll get back to it, try to correct stuff and make sure we’re playing our best hockey come Game 1.”

The Knights, if they win the Pacific, would almost certainly be the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Jets (53-21-4) are on pace to win the Central Division and Presidents’ Trophy with 110 points in 78 games.

That would mean the Knights would match up with the top wild-card team.

The St. Louis Blues (43-29-7) held that spot as of Wednesday morning after going 12-1 in their last 13 games. But the Minnesota Wild (42-29-7) were just two points back with a game in hand. Both teams played Wednesday night.

The Knights, if they fell to second in the Pacific, would host the third-place Edmonton Oilers barring a major surprise.

The team can be excited about its recent play no matter who it ends up facing.

The Knights defeated the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks on consecutive days to start their road trip, then got a point against Colorado despite playing without center Jack Eichel (upper-body injury) and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo (illness) and Nic Hague (illness).

Third-string goaltender Akira Schmid was excellent when pressed into duty, making 21 saves against the Flames before making 34 more stops against Colorado.

Schmid, 24, has struggled for most of the year in the American Hockey League. But he gave the Knights a huge lift with goaltender Ilya Samsonov out with an upper-body injury.

“These are the games you want to play for and dream of as a kid,” Schmid said. “I like playing those games.”

The Knights’ next task, in addition to clinching the division, will be getting healthy for the playoffs.

Cassidy told the ESPN broadcast Tuesday that Eichel’s injury is something he’s been dealing with. Samsonov and center Tomas Hertl (upper-body) haven’t played since March 23.

The Knights didn’t practice Wednesday, so the trio’s status for Thursday’s game is unknown.

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