Following a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, the Vegas Golden Knights fourth road loss in the first month of the season, coach Bruce Cassidy said the team’s road struggles need to be addressed.

However, at Friday’s practice, he said that four road games in the first month are not a large enough sample size to say that the Golden Knights are “struggling.”

“I don’t think the road games are enough of a sample size to be a struggle,” Cassidy said. “We haven’t finished as well there, but we’ve scored 11 goals in four road games. That will often get a win or two along the way.”

In the season, especially on the road, Vegas has struggled with defending its opponent’s rush. In three out of four road losses, the Golden Knights have allowed multiple goals in a short amount of time. Most recently, on Wednesday, the Kings scored back-to-back goals in under 45 seconds on two separate occasions.

In the time spent in the defensive zone at even strength, the Golden Knights are sitting below the 50th percentile at 41.1% time spent defending.

“Our rush defense is the biggest thing that I feel we need to catch up on,” Cassidy said. “We have more offensive-minded people deeper in the lineup, and we’ve got to be cleaner (on defense) in that area. Then we’re going to be a better defensive team.”

At the beginning of the season, Cassidy made it a point that he wanted the Golden Knights to be the best defensive team in the Pacific Division. Breaking down those numbers a month in, the Golden Knights are tied for third in the division in goals allowed (34) and are fifth in shots allowed per game (28.7).

Looking ahead, the Golden Knights’ next game, against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday, is at home, where they have yet to lose this season. It’s one of the few times Vegas will be at home in November, as it has nine road games.

If four games is too small a sample size, Cassidy and the Golden Knights will almost certainly find out by the end of this month if playing on the road is a struggle.

“We’ve been excellent at home, and we can score at home,” Cassidy said. “We’re learning that the young kids are getting better…the strength for this team will be down the middle of the ice. They’re our guys that will drive this team and the D-core.”