Vegas Golden Knights fans have a lot to be thankful for, with Thanksgiving week coming to a close. I am not referring to the wonderful leftovers we are all, some of us at this exact moment, eating. Yes, I am typing with one hand, a huge turkey leg in the other (Hold your applause).
Holiday leftovers aside, the Vegas Golden Knights have gotten back to their winning ways, having swept a pair of home, back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Pair those two along with wins in Arizona and Edmonton earlier in the week and you have a spark. Overall the Golden Knights have won four out of their last five games and have a huge burst of momentum as they prepare to head back out on the road for three games in Chicago, Vancouver, and Edmonton. So, what exactly should we be thankful for, if it isn't about the turkey, stuffing, and PIE!?
1. The return of Nate Schmidt:
Since his return to the line-up, the Vegas Golden Knights are 4-1. Now, this is not to say that Schmidt was the solution to all of the team’s problems, at least not directly. His energy and demeanor clearly bring the team's spirit up, but he can't fix everything. Despite that fact, Schmidt’s return did allow coach Gerard Gallant the chance to go back to his preferred method of pairing defensemen. As highlighted by Jesse Granger of The Athletic (link below), Gallant is happy to pair a puck-moving, offensive-minded defenseman with more of a stay-at-home type of defender. While Schmidt was out, Vegas was down to two offensive defensemen (Colin Miller and Shea Theodore), due to Gallant’s reluctance to play Brad Hunt regularly. With Hunt as a health scratch, Gallant chose to roll with Jon Merrill and Nick Holden as his bottom pair, which yielded negative results and had fans calling for Merrill’s head. Now Vegas rolls with Schmidt/McNabb, Theodore/Engelland, and Miller/Holden which has been a big help. Defense has been much cleaner this past week. Thank you, Nate!
2. Team defense has been much better:
Far too often this season, the Vegas Golden Knights have been caught puck-watching. Now what does that mean? Obviously the players need to look at the puck! Puck-watching refers to the act of losing track of your man in the defensive zone and allowing them to get open because you get caught watching the puck too much. This has never been more apparent than in the 7-2 loss vs the Flames last weekend. Forwards at the top of the defensive zone got caught watching the play behind the net too often and left their assignments open at the blue line/top of the slot, multiple times and were burned by it. Specifically, the first goal (Matthew Tkachuk) and fourth goal (TJ Brodie) in the Flames loss show these transgressions, as I covered in an earlier article here on HockeyBuzz.com. (https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Jeff-Paul/Knights-Go-Down-in-Flames-in-Calgary-7-2/268/96076)
Lately, the team has been far more responsible in their own zone. Forwards are supporting the defensemen in their own zone and have been covering when the d-men pinch low in the offensive zone, a facet of the offense that Vegas likes to utilize. Thank you, defense!
3. Will the Real Max Pacioretty Please Stand Up?
This past week, Max Pacioretty showed why George McPhee targeted him via trade this offseason. Not only was former Golden Knight, Tomas Tatar a bad fit with the team, but Pacioretty has a solid resume of goal scoring and point production since the 2010-11 season. Early on this year, while battling back from a concussion, Pacioretty seemed out of sorts and not worth the haul that brought him to Vegas (Tatar, prospect Nick Suzuki, and a 2nd round draft pick). This was made even worse because McPhee gave up a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick at the 2017-18 trade deadline to get Tatar to Vegas, certainly a failed investment. Tatar is experiencing success in Montreal and even scored a game-winning goal in Montreal to beat the Golden Knights. What first seemed like a horrible deal, the Pacioretty addition is starting to reap its benefits.
Since November 18th in Edmonton, Pacioretty has scored six goals on 12 shots, along with one assist. The Golden Knights' second line of Cody Eakin centering Alex Tuch and Pacioretty has been gelling lately and producing a high volume of points. One of the major issues during Vegas’ rough start was depth goal-scoring. At their current production, the second line looks lethal and should be given the opportunity to remain together upon the potential return of injured forwards Paul Stastny and Erik Haula. Thank you, Patches!
4. Marc-Andre Fleury is back to his old self!
Early in the season, when the Golden Knights were struggling, Fleury was not stealing games as he did in the past. Last season when the Golden Knights were being outplayed, Fleury had the tendency to put the team on his back and steal the win. He would come up with huge nights, only allowing a single goal, if any, to give the team a chance to win low-scoring games. Lately, Fleury is back to his old habits. With the help of improved team defense, the same defense that allowed backup Malcolm Subban to get shelled for seven goals in Calgary, Fleury put together a back-to-back with two shutouts. Friday and Saturday was the first time Fleury started both games of a back-to-back since the first two games of the Golden Knights’ inaugural season. The goaltender did not disappoint or show fatigue on his way to stopping 28 shots on Friday and 33 shots Saturday for 61 saves worth of shutout hockey. The two shutouts put Fleury in sole possession of 1st place in the league with five shutouts on the season, in just 21 games played. Even more impressive, Fleury had four shutouts in all of the 2017-18 season, where his return to his prime-form play was unquestioned over his 46-game opening season in Vegas’ net. Shutting teams out at a rate of about 25% is amazing, unsustainable, but amazing nonetheless. Thank you, Marc-Andre!
5. The Vegas Golden Knights were never out of the playoff picture:
The Pacific Division has not been strong to start the season. Multiple teams have occupied first place early on, including the Flames and the Sharks, the two teams most recently shut out by the Golden Knights. Even at the worst, sitting in 7th in the division, the Golden Knights remained a mere four points from a playoff position. Not that it matters all that much this early in the season, but teams like to be in a playoff spot and continue their high level of play, as opposed to fighting back from a bad start, as the Golden Knights were tasked with. As of Sunday morning, following the 4-1 stretch of games, Vegas finds themselves tied with the 3rd place Anaheim Ducks, at 25 points, but with one more game played (technically in 4th place). The top three teams in each division automatically make the playoffs. That is where the Golden Knights want to be. In the wildcard picture (top two teams in the West that aren’t 3rd or better in their division), the Golden Knights are just one point behind the Dallas Stars. Vegas’ turnaround has gotten them back in the middle of things. When taking the lack of firepower in the Pacific Division, you can certainly see a clear route to the playoffs for the Vegas Golden Knights, provided they keep up this level of play. Thank you, Pacific Division!
All-in-all, a season that was all doom and gloom has turned around and the sun is shining on the T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights have turned things around just in time for their fans to have a happy holiday season. Grabbing some momentum before a little road trip is huge for this team as they battle back to their rightful spot in the playoff picture, as the defending Western Conference Champions. To my readers, I thank you for your patronage and look forward to providing more insight and VGK coverage to help supplement and enhance your hockey seasons. By the looks of it, we will be short on dull moments! Buckle up, this will be a fun ride!
Thank you! Jeff Paul
Jesse Granger’s article on TheAthletic.com (requires paid subscription): https://theathletic.com/674208/2018/11/25/why-golden-knights-new-defensive-lineup-is-the-ideal-mix/
Follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/VGK_Buzz) for in-game discussion and analysis.