The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner thinks the defending Stanley Cup champions need to start getting their act together if they want to be playing hockey in the spring.

"We got to take care of business," Jonathan Marchessault said following the Vegas Golden Knights' 5-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. "We're not in the playoffs yet. We gotta start playing like we want to be in it.

"We need more than just a couple guys every night. We're going to need everybody, and right now, we don't have that."

The Golden Knights have now dropped three games in a row and only hold a three-point cushion over the St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, though Vegas has a game in hand.

It's been tough sledding for Sin City as of late. The team has had to deal with the absences of key players, such as goaltender Adin Hill, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and captain Mark Stone.

Hill returned from his seven-game layoff on Wednesday, but it was a rough outing for the netminder. He allowed five goals on 25 shots while surrendering 1.4 goals above expected at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Golden Knights mustered just 18 shots of their own and had 16 giveaways.

Since the calendar flipped to 2024, Vegas ranks 22nd in the league with a 20-18-3 record and 19th with a .524 points percentage. Before Jan. 1, the Golden Knights were battling the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the Pacific Division.

"Right now, for us, our game's not where we need to be," said Keegan Kolesar, who scored Vegas' only goal versus Edmonton. "Even if we were to get in, it might be a quick bounce for us out of there."

The Oilers, meanwhile, were able to put together a strong performance against their heated rivals without superstar captain Connor McDavid.

"We've got a lot of guys off our roster that aren't playing, as well, so that to me, is irrelevant," Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said of McDavid's absence.

The bench boss added: "Even if he was playing, I wouldn't have expected this result, to be perfectly honest with you."

Marchessault scored 13 goals and 25 points in 22 playoff games last spring while helping the Golden Knights win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

The 33-year-old is following up that performance with a strong 2023-24 campaign. He's racked up a career-high 41 goals in 78 contests and can become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

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Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta remains steadfast in his desire to bring a professional hockey franchise to the city.

"We would like to work to get an NHL team in Houston," he said Wednesday, according to the Houston Chronicle's Greg Rajan. "I'm working on it."

Fertitta's interest in the matter dates back to 2017, around one month after he purchased the Rockets for $2.2 billion. The NBA squad plays at the Toyota Center, a venue with a capacity of 19,000 seats - 17,800 when fitted for a rink.

"I would put an NHL team here tomorrow," Fertitta told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle at the time. "This one has got to work. But I'd love to have the other dates in the building.

"Do I want to see Toyota Center filled up 300 nights a year? Definitely. We'll do whatever we can do, but whatever we do has to make sense. ... Will we be aggressive? Yes. That's my nature."

Houston has never had an NHL team to call its own. However, it was previously home to the Aeros, who played in the World Hockey Association from 1972-78, the International Hockey League from 1994-2001, and the American Hockey League until 2013.

The Toyota Center was the Aeros' home venue from 2003-2013.

In February, Fertitta told Bloomberg's Shelly Hagan and David Wethe that he was "talking to the NHL," noting that those conversations had recently turned more serious.

Fertitta added that he was open to bringing in an expansion franchise or adding a team from an existing market.

On Wednesday, reports broke that the Arizona Coyotes could move to Utah as soon as next season. The NHL is reportedly drafting two versions of the 2024-25 schedule to accommodate the potential relocation to Salt Lake City.

The Coyotes have been at the center of relocation rumors for years, but the uncertainty has ramped up since they moved to the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at the start of the 2022-23 season.

The franchise was attempting to construct a new arena in Tempe, Arizona, but residents voted against building a $2.1-billion entertainment district in the area last May. The Coyotes have since pivoted to a plot of land up for auction in North Phoenix, but Scottsdale mayor David Ortega slammed the plans as "not feasible or welcome" on Monday.

The league most recently expanded to Seattle in 2021. Plans to add another expansion franchise don't appear imminent.

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Oilers superstar Connor McDavid was out of the lineup for Edmonton's 5-1 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday because of a lower-body injury.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch announced Tuesday that the captain was considered day-to-day with the ailment. McDavid was labeled a game-time decision for the Oilers' clash against their Pacific Division rivals.

Knoblauch said postgame that he is optimistic McDavid can play Friday against the Arizona Coyotes, but mentioned he'll have to be cautious since the Oilers also play on Saturday, per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman.

McDavid appeared to suffer the injury during Edmonton's 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday. His final shift of the outing occurred late in the third period.

"He played up until five minutes left of the game and felt some discomfort," Knoblauch explained Tuesday. "We didn't want to make it worse, and we held him back."

McDavid missed two games earlier this season with an upper-body injury.

The 27-year-old is one assist away from 100 on the season with five more games remaining after Wednesday's matchup. McDavid is also in the running for his sixth career Art Ross Trophy with 130 points on the campaign.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will kick off in 10 days.

"I think Connor knows what the big picture is," Knoblauch said Wednesday, per NHL.com's Derek Van Diest.

"I believe that he is competitive and wants to contribute as much as possible and not take himself out of the lineup, but I think he understands where our team is at, and obviously where his body's at, and what we are looking for in the future."

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It’s on to the playoffs for Canada’s National Women’s Team, which faces Sweden in the quarterfinals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship for the second year in a row.