LAS VEGAS — As the calendar turns to 2026, the Golden Knights find themselves looking to the future as they wrap up their 2025 campaign Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.
However, the recent past continues to haunt them.
The Cavaliers host the Nashville Predators, a team that struggled early on but seems to have discovered its weaknesses of late. The Preds, who have former Golden Knight Nick Hague on the roster on New Year’s Eve (Jonathan Marchessault is out due to injury), have won seven of their past 10 games to get their winning percentage back to .500 (17-17-4).
There was no point in dwelling on the past after Vegas trailed 5-0 in the second quarter against Minnesota on Monday and ultimately lost 5-2. But the same issues that had the Knights struggling — goaltending errors, poor defensive quality and a lack of two-way play from some forwards — came into play again, as Nashville overturned a 2-0 deficit with four goals to win 4-2.
“We didn’t let up,” Cavaliers coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We gave up a long field goal against Minnesota, we gave up a long field goal (Wednesday). That has to stop. We’re not getting to the shooting line. We’re not punching in front. That’s what’s going on. Those pucks have to stop against us.”
Before the puck dropped, Team Canada announced Italy’s Olympic roster. Three Golden Knights — forwards Mark Stone and Mitch Marner and defenseman Shai Theodore — were selected, along with two former VGK players — forward Nick Suzuki and goaltender Logan Thompson. Cassidy and former Cavaliers coach Pete DeBoer are both assistant coaches with Team Canada. Both served as Thompson’s coaches during his time in Vegas.
“I think Mitch would be an automatic, I think Stoney would be an automatic,” Cassidy said of the selections. “I thought about Shea because he got hurt early on and I was a little concerned. But I think when we started talking about individuals, everyone had him open on the roster. So I’m happy for Shea. He should be there.”
The U.S. Olympic roster will be announced on Friday. Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin are expected to make the 25-man roster.
There was some disappointing news from the Olympics, with reports that centre-forward Wilhelm Carlsson, who was expected to represent Sweden, would not be able to compete due to injury. Carlson has not played for the Cavaliers since Nov. 8 and remains on IR with a lower-body injury. The 32-year-old Carlson also missed last year’s Four Nations tournament due to injury. This may be his last chance to play internationally for the national team.
But that pales in comparison to the Cavaliers’ disappointing second half of December. Vegas has just one win since going 4-0-1 on a Met Division road trip earlier this month. Between December 17 and 31, they went 1-4-2 and allowed 29 goals in that span. Stone’s power shot and defender Ben Hutton’s scoring gave the Cavaliers an early lead, but they couldn’t hold on.
“We need to stay in the game longer, get tighter and win some games,” Cassidy said. “You don’t want one goal to turn into two or three. That’s what’s happened the last few games.
They also lost defenseman Brayden McNabb after McNabb had an on-ice collision with Michael Bunting in the second period and did not return. If McNabb, who has played in 298 consecutive games, misses any time, it would mean the Cavaliers will be without their top defensive pairing, as Theodore still missed his seventh straight game Wednesday with an upper-body injury.
Cassidy said he was unsure whether McNabb would be available for the Cavaliers’ game against the Blues in St. Louis on Friday. He said it was an upper-body injury and believed Bunting was guilty of game interference.
Looking for highlights? The goal came from Hutton, whose first-period goal was his sixth of the season, a career-high. But that was quickly overshadowed by Nashville’s Steven Stamkos, who reached his personal milestone with his 600th NHL career goal after a power-play score tied the game at 2-2.
Maybe the annual Dad Tour this coming Friday in St. Louis and Chicago will keep the Cavaliers going. More importantly, maybe Eichel’s return will allow Vegas to take the right step in 2026. Because 2025 is definitely ending in the wrong way.
