On a three-game skid, perhaps the Golden Knights were hungrier for a victory than the visiting Coyotes.
While the visitors managed to reach OT, Rick Tocchet certainly thought so:
Rick Tocchet on Scott Wedgewood in 3-2 OT loss to VGK: "He played great. He got us a point. The guys owe him ... We don't have a team that can afford to have passengers and we had passengers tonight ... I used the bench so I don't think it was fatigue."
— Dave Vest (@davest4yotes) December 4, 2017
"We seriously just played a good game," beamed Gallant. "The first two periods were outstanding hockey."
By my count, Vegas outchanced Arizona 27-17 in all situations. According to Natural Stat Trick, it was 46-26 Scoring Chances and 17-10 High-Danger Corsi For in the expansion squad's favor.
This was a landslide, even if the final tally didn't reflect it.
Every Golden Knights goal was off transition. They moved the puck at will through all three zones; in honor of that, let's break down each each goal.
#Yotes backdoor is open. First, Engelland tries to hit Haula with stretch, intercepted. Then Miller hits Tuch with stretch, he beats Wedgewood #VegasBorn
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 4, 2017
Looks like #VegasBorn caught #Yotes on change. Good vision by Miller, better skating by Tuch pic.twitter.com/cQEaGGSdrs
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 4, 2017
When Marchessault sucks Brendan Perlini toward him, the 'Yotes have three players behind the play, while the Knights have three about to skate ahead.
This creates an outnumbered attack at entry, Scott Wedgewood gives up a fat rebound up the middle, and a "passenger" (Rieder) forgets Marchessault.
"I know they were gassed out there," said the center-winger, who was at the end of his own shift too.
While this doesn't cover every goal, Tuch spoke generally of the Knights' masterful transition game:
Really starts with our reloads and our backchecks.Guys were doing a really good job coming out of [our] offensive zone and backchecking and turning pucks over. Causing their forwards to have a lot of trouble entering their offensive zone.
When we're backchecking, our D can stay up. They can get it up to us as fast as possible.
Just as importantly, the home team choked off Arizona's transition game.
Another example of strong #VegasBorn play: #Yotes badly want to play transition game too, but #VGK has had coverage in most cases tonight. Like here, Miller cuts off Fischer pic.twitter.com/jwFPaAbOt3
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 4, 2017
While Gallant wouldn't get into specifics, he observed, "We had some fresh legs today. I thought the score shouldn’t have been as close as it was."
Indeed, there were so many positives with the Golden Knights' performance, it's hard to narrow them down.
Following the loss in Winnipeg, Tuch wasn't enamored with the team's forecheck. At this morning's skatearound, he talked about the need to get the five-man forecheck going. This was before tonight:
Really aggressive forwards and our defensemen coming down the walls and creating turnovers.I think Colin Miller's done a really good job the last couple games. I think we need everybody to do the same as him.
Even the forwards too, a couple guys might be forechecking, but the third guy is kind of hanging back, waiting for something to happen. We just need to be aggressive.
Suffice to say, the 21-year-old was pleased with his squad's effort in this department:
Every line was doing really well. The defensemen were really aggressive. Like I said, Colin Miller does it really well. He was on his game tonight with it.It really helped turn pucks over. And we able to get a lot of possession in the zone.
An excellent example of the five-man unit working in concert was this minute-plus bit of sustained pressure by the Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith line in the final frame. While the forwards did the lionshare of the work, Sbisa challenged successfully in the neutral zone when the 'Yotes acquired momentary control.
What a shift by Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith, spend over a minute in zone. Simplifying, but Marchessault is engine for transition game, Karlsson and Smith are underrated down low and defensively #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/8nR2PRuOds
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 4, 2017
"That shift in particular put them back on their heels a little bit," offered Smith.
Marchessault agreed, "It turned the game around for sure."
Speaking of their line, they were magnificent once again, dominating possession and chances. For example, Smith sported a 62.5 5v5 Corsi For %, 76.92 Scoring Chances For %, 83.33 High Danger Corsi For %.
Marchessault was over the moon about the line's chemistry.
Jonathan Marchessault, on how much he loves playing w/ Reilly Smith & William Karlsson:
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 4, 2017
"In your pro career, you play with a lot of different linemates. But I don't remember playing with two guys that I want to play with more than those two."#VegasBorn
As Tuch noted, every line worked, but the Tomas Nosek-Bellemare-Stefan Matteau group also popped, despite going scoreless. For example, Nosek led the team in 5v5 Corsi For % (69.7), Scoring Chances For % (92.3), and High-Danger Corsi For % (100.0)
Minuses
Besides a lack of finish, the Golden Knights authored a model game.
But keeping the Desert Dogs around almost came back to bite them, as Dylan Strome struck a post with the game tied and eight minutes left in the contest. A few inches, and we'd be talking like this.
Today, thru 2 periods, is a great example of why advanced stats don't tell the whole story of a game. VGK up 53-25 Corsi, 26-14 SOG, and 10-3 High danger chances.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) December 4, 2017
Yet the only number that matters is tied 1-1.
(Graph from @NatStatTrick) pic.twitter.com/46nDeIxYTX
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