Of the Golden Knights, Guy Boucher said, "They're relentless."
The visiting Kings got a faceful of that for 60 minutes last night, as the expansion side pounded them 4-2 before a record crowd of 18,211 at T-Mobile Arena.
This was after the first period:
From drop of the puck, #VegasBorn quicker on puck than #GoKingsGo. By my count, VGK 5-2 quality even strength scoring chances. @NatStatTrick has VGK 23-17 5v5 Corsi, 12-7 scoring chances, 4-1 high-danger
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 20, 2017
We knew #GoKingsGo would respond, but #VegasBorn answer was impressive, despite giving up goal. By my count, #VGK 6-4 quality ES chances in 2nd. @NatStatTrick has 25-11 5v5 Corsi, 13-6 scoring chances, 7-2 High-danger for pd. VGK simply better team so far
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 20, 2017
12-6-1 Vegas is just one point behind Los Angeles for first place in the Pacific Division, with two games in hand.
Down 3-0 after 20, the Kings made an expected push in the second period. What wasn't necessarily expected was the Knights' pushback, spearheaded by the Pierre-à‰douard Bellemare line.
Twice, after Trevor Lewis's mid-second strike and Jussi Jokinen's wide-open one-timer bid, Tomas Nosek-Bellemare-William Carrier turned the play the other way.
Seconds later, it's Nosek who anticipates Nick Shore's desire to hit an exiting Brown up the middle:
Again, after Jokinen was left unmarked, the fourth line put the house back in order:
From that point on, it's a lot of Carrier, who shrugs off both Jake Muzzin and Christian Folin for a couple stuff attempts. It's also Carrier who gets cleaned out by Muzzin right before back-to-back Nosek opportunities.
"That’s what they do," said Coach Gerard Gallant, about the line's ability to sustain momentum. "They cycled the puck down low, they took pucks to the net. That’s what they do. When they’re effective, it’s a big part of the game."
Pluses
Of course, it wasn't just the fourth line who steamrolled the visitors:
Here, Brendan Leipsic victimizes Brown, swiping the puck at the blueline and setting up Cody Eakin's goal.
William Karlsson, followed by Jonathan Marchessault, swarm Christian Folin.
It's Leipsic again, who battles the much bigger Adrian Kempe to a standstill. Eakin then harasses Tyler Toffoli into an errant pass.
Tuch ambushes Doughty #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/qeUGpejUnb
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 20, 2017
With all due respect to world-class Drew Doughty, Nate Schmidt was the best defenseman on the ice last night. Besides leading Vegas in TOI, he also authored the save of the game:
Shore putback got past Lagace, that was all Schmidt there #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/TQhH3EayBC
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 20, 2017
It's worth noting that Schmidt, along with Brayden McNabb, played heavy minutes against Anze Kopitar.
"Nate has been excellent for us," noted Gallant. "He’s been playing hard and playing smart hockey and he’s a great skater."
Let's not forget McNabb's work too. His physicality gave Kopitar trouble down low on multiple occasions last night. He also did this to another former captain of his:
Kings taught McNabb well #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/7h6DXhNbKp
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 20, 2017
#VegasBorn Brayden McNabb admits tonight's win "a little sweeter." He laughed when asked when he'd start trashtalking his ex-teammates: "Trying to stay even-keel here. There's a lot of hockey left."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 20, 2017
Minuses
Despite soundly outplaying the Kings, the Golden Knights could never quite pull ahead, needing an Alex Tuch empty-netter to seal the deal. Credit goes to Darcy Kuemper, of course, who made 30 saves in relief of Jonathan Quick. But a little more finish never hurts.
After an 11-2-2 start, Los Angeles has stumbled, losing five of their last six.
At first glance, it appears teams have figured LA out a bit, hampering their breakout by taking away first options. This, and Quick falling off his unsustainable .939 Save %, have doomed them. Don't forget that they were surrendering a ton of scoring chances even before this recent losing stretch; Quick was papering over a lot before the Tampa Bay shellacking.
By my reckoning, however, neither the 11-2-2 beginning or the more recent 1-5-1 accurately represent this squad. I still forecast a playoff spot, especially considering their surprising, improved depth up front.
With Adrian Kempe and Alex Iafallo's emergence, the Kings have added a pair of top-nine forwards which we didn't know that they had before. When Jeff Carter comes back, this team should still be in the thick of it, especially considering the number of Pacific rivals slowed by age, injuries, or inconsistency.
I mean, look, at the quarter mark, an expansion team has the best Points % in the division. It doesn't appear that anybody is running away with the Pacific this year.
***
Stats as of 11/19/17, courtesy of Corsica, Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, and Sporting Charts. ++++I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS! If you, or anyone you know would be interested in placing an ad here at HockeyBuzz, then send me a PM!++++