It works on both sides, I think. Vegas had to be motivated early on by the possibility of being the team that knocked the Flames out of the playoffs. It may not have mattered much to them in the bigger scheme of things, but it gave a sense of importance to what was otherwise a nothing game for them.
Once the Wild and Blues won their games, that took the fun out of it and the Knights had no particular reason to try so hard. So the Flames were playing loose, motivated (as the players themselves said) to salute their fans by giving them one last comeback at home, and the Knights had no particular motivation to do anything except save their health for the playoffs.
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