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Does VGK Activate D More Than Normal?; Perron Recalls 1st NHL Player He Met

February 16, 2018, 5:06 PM ET [2 Comments]
Sheng Peng
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In the middle of this morning's practice, a "Go Knights go!" chant boomed from all around a packed City National Arena.

At practice.

It caught David Perron's attention. The winger looked up and smiled to himself.

After practice, I asked Perron about the chanting and he shared a fun story about his first childhood encounter with an NHL player:

We're just lucky to live through that right now.

I was talking to a couple guys the other day, we're almost getting used to big crowds at practice.

Today was exceptional with [the chanting] going on.

The other day, there was a team from Montana, they had their jerseys on.

It's always cool to see the kids. It makes you remember how it was as a kid. For me in Montreal, dreaming to play in the NHL.

I think kids are lucky here because they bump into us quite often. If they want, they just come to practice. I don't remember bumping into an NHL player until maybe I was 10 or 12. If you wanted to meet somebody, you didn't really have a window of an opportunity.

I don't even remember [the first NHL'er that I met]. What was cool for us was you could bump into major junior [players]. Hockey's so big back home that it felt like it was the NHL when you were really young.

But now that I'm talking about it, [the first NHL player that I met] was probably Stéphan Lebeau. I went to his hockey school. He was always messing around with the puck on the ice prior to the kids' practices.

I was going to the hockey school, but I was too young to [participate]. I was with my stick outside the rink, just trying to do what he did. Finally, I did it once. And some older kids from the hockey school took me to him, showed him I could do it.

I was trying to him to impress him a little bit.

(HockeyBuzz note: Lebeau played with the Montreal Canadiens and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim from 1989 to 1995, recording 277 points in 373 games.)

***

Also of note: Shea Theodore missed practice. Gerard Gallant said that Theodore has a sore throat and will be a gameday decision.

Meanwhile, Jon Merrill and Luca Sbisa both declared themselves close to returning.

We'll see if either steps in for Theodore tomorrow afternoon.

***

Well, this couldn't last forever.



The Golden Knights rolled an Oilers squad which couldn't get out of its own way 4-1. 30 points now separate Vegas and Edmonton in the standings.



Winning Play

The Knights' first two goals were similar in this respect: There was a high-low switch between forward and defenseman which led to the puck behind Cam Talbot.

View post on imgur.com


Pierre-Édouard Bellemare goes high, while Deryk Engelland rolls to the net. Engelland dusts a befuddled Leon Draisaitl.

View post on imgur.com


Reilly Smith goes high, while Brayden McNabb rolls to the net, taking Ryan Strome with him. This opens up space for a Nate Schmidt blueline blast, which Jonathan Marchessault deflects because Patrick Maroon loses coverage.

On switching with Smith, McNabb noted, "It's a play that we've kind of been practicing lately, actually."

I asked Marchessault, McNabb, Engelland, and Gerard Gallant if Vegas was more aggressive with jumping defensemen to create constant motion in the offensive zone than other teams. I received three different answers.

"Oh yeah," asserted Marchessault, adding, "When we play against Chicago or Tampa, they activate those D like we do."

On the other hand, McNabb declared, "I think every team's the same. Every team wants to jump up."

"A lot of teams are doing that," said Engelland, stressing, "It's no more here than anywhere in the league."

Meanwhile, Gallant demurred, "I don't know how to answer that one, to be honest with you."

Draw your own conclusions. I tend to think that yes, Vegas is more aggressive activating defensemen than other teams, but I don't have statistical proof. If anything, they're probably more successful than most squads at it.

Regardless, Marchessault, McNabb, Engelland, and Gallant would probably agree on these points:

We talked about it from Day 1, if we're going to be a successful team, our defensemen have to be a big part of our offense. If you get guys moving in and not gambling and not turning over pucks, it works very well for us. (Gallant)

When the dman is going high, going low, it makes it hard to cover.

It's all hockey sense. If it's there, it's there. If it's not, it's not. (McNabb)

It creates all kinds of confusion in the D-zone. (Marchessault)


Pluses

Besides their goal, the Tomas Nosek-Bellemare-Carpenter line was the team's best last night. Especially during the opening frame, they were able to establish themselves in transition and on the forecheck. On Carpenter's goal, it was Nosek who gained the zone in transition. To finish off the period, Bellemare and Carpenter forechecked Draisaitl into submission:



Bellemare would lead the team in 5v5 Corsi For % (63.89) and Scoring Chances For % (60.0). He also managed to draw a hooking penalty on McDavid! At the moment, he and Cody Eakin seem to be in a dead heat for the role of the team's third-line center.

Minuses

Despite the 4-1 score, Gallant was not entirely pleased with his team's game. He actually shouldered the blame for this:

We talked about certain things in the neutral zone before the game with my players and I said I want us to pick up some speed in the neutral zone. As a coach, you don’t want to change a whole lot of what your systems are.

We tried to pick up some speed, especially against McDavid, Draisaitl. When we did that, we backed off a little bit too much and we didn’t forecheck as well. Sometimes as a coach, you wonder if you did the right thing by telling them this.

I thought we gave them too much time in the neutral zone and weren’t forechecking enough.

Basically, Gallant was worried that McDavid and company would get behind the defense if their forecheck was too aggressive, so they opted to hang back a little more to contain speed.

Here's an example: Notice Reilly Smith back off and William Karlsson's half-hearted forecheck. The Edmonton stretch pass misses, but the seam was there.

View post on imgur.com


It's an interesting admission from a coach who has constantly preached the importance of his team playing their game.

Vegas hosts another bottom-feeder in Montreal this Saturday.

***

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