Golden Knights' Chandler Stephenson has NSFW advice for teammates amid struggles

The Vegas Golden Knights were poised to be one of the NHL's strongest contenders for the Stanley Cup this season, but things have gone south (of the belt).

After suffering a humiliating 6-4 defeat to the middling Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson made it particularly clear that he is fed up with the team’s recent effort and wants them to do something to a specific body part to work harder.

“I’m sick of it. Everybody is sick of it. Everybody needs to dig deeper, grab their nuts and work,” Stephenson said.

Vegas has now lost four consecutive games, and two of those were against the bottom-feeding Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers. That's not exactly an encouraging streak of performances for a Cup-hopeful team. Add in the fact that the Golden Knights have been a relatively dismal 10-13-4 in the new year, and you can certainly see why one of the leaders of the team is worried about the club's performance.

Not everything is terrible, though. Even in the middle of a losing streak, the Golden Knights are clinging to a playoff spot and sit in the second wild-card slot with a one-point advantage over the burgeoning Dallas Stars. Vegas is also tied with the Edmonton Oilers in points, but has played two more games and therefore still sits below them and out of the top-three in the Pacific Division.

The entire Western Conference is a tight final race between a few teams that could swing either way. And Stephenson hopes his and his teammates’ nuts are going to make the postseason, whether they have to grab them or not.

Stephenson has been doing his part, ranking second on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 45 points in 58 games in 2021-22.

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