Last night's opponent, the Nashville Predators, are the defending Central Division Champions. They beat out the eventual Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues and other talented teams like the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche. Point is, while they are no good at banners, the Predators are a very good hockey club.
Regular Season Western Conference Champs? (USA Today Sports)
Last season, the Preds won many games due to their ability to keep the puck out of the net. Now, they lead the entire NHL in Goals For with 28 in six games. During last night's contest, they showed just how deep and dynamic their offense can be, with goals coming from up and down the lineup.
Kyle Turris (158 career goals), Colton Sissons (39 career goals), Calle Jarnkrok (67 career goals), and Nick Bonino (106 career goals) scored four of the Preds' five goals against Marc-Andre Fleury and the Golden Knights. Filip Forsberg added the additional goal and is the only notable offensive player of the five goal scorers, evidenced by his seven career hat tricks.
What the Predators did well last night was utilize active sticks, a quick transition game, and decisiveness to defeat the Golden Knights. Their relentless pressure and good defensive positioning made breaking out of their own end very hard for the home team. Nashville capitalized on turnovers, including one behind the net by Fleury, to steal a game from the Golden Knights.
Pekka Rinne is still VERY good (USA Today Sports)
With the win, the Predators pushed their head-to-head record against Vegas to 4-2-1, dating back to the Golden Knights' inaugural season. Pekka Rinne played the way we have come to expect from the former Vezina winner, stopping 33 of 35 shots. The Golden Knights, as usual, won the Corsi battle, finishing the game with a CF% of 56.25%, at 5-on-5.
Looking deeper into the numbers and checking them against the eye test, the Golden Knights played a good game, for the most part. They had the edge in scoring chances AND high danger chances (5-on-5), while getting to the high scoring areas in the offensive zone. Their Power Play moved the puck very well, collecting another tally with the man advantage, on a Mark Stone one-timer in the slot.
Their most distinct weakness was and remains the defense corps. As assembled, they were unable to hang with a well-coached and talented team like the Predators. An inability to exit their own zone concisely with one extremely shaky defense pair, took it's toll in this one. With the defensively-sound Jake Bischoff in town, the team must look at using him in Deryk Engelland's place. Engelland's biggest moment of the night came on a Predators goal, that went in off his skate.
Nic Hague deserves time to grow with a better fit (USA Today Sports)
Nic Hague has not been perfect, but he has played well for a rookie blue liner. His youthful nervousness comes through at times, but overall, he plays a solid game for a number-six defenseman in the NHL. Something about the pair of Hague and Engelland just isn't working. While a shuffle of the defense pairs could work, with Shea Theodore re-inheriting Engelland, a swap with Bischoff may be the best option.
Ideally, I'd like to see the following pairs until Nate Schmidt and Zach Whitecloud rejoin the mix:
McNabb-Hague
Bischoff-Theodore
Merrill-Holden
Merrill and Holden have been rock-solid for the Golden Knights early on this season. McNabb remains their steadiest defensive-defenseman and Hague can play the opposite (right) side. In the final preseason game, Hague played with McNabb and the look was pretty good for Vegas. Engelland just isn't the right fit with Hague and arguably should be on the outside looking in.
Engelland has had a rough start to the season (USA Today Sports)
While these pairs could fail, it's worth a shot heading into a seemingly harmless battle with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday evening. Trotting out the same pairs and seeing the same mistakes from veterans could cost this team valuable points in the long-run. Just when it looks like the team is ready to go on a run (two, two-game win streaks), they drop a game badly, to a division opponent.
In more positive news, guys like Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, and Max Pacioretty continue to look impressive up front. Stone and Patches dropped the mitts, with Smith and Stone providing the offense. The whole top-six has played well early on this season and will lead the Golden Knights to victory most nights. Cody Glass continues to show he belongs, despite the general ineptitude of the third line. Fleury made big save, after big save yet again, this time in a losing effort.
Something needs to change and quickly for the Vegas Golden Knights, with one more home game before they hit the road for their next three, on the east coast. Games in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago won't be easy, but they are winnable. Even with their shortcomings, the Golden Knights remain one of the deepest offenses in the league. The eventual return of Alex Tuch and Schmidt will be huge for the club and from then on, it should be smooth sailing.
Prediction Result:
Unfortunately, my
#VGKPredictions for the night was correct, a Preds win.
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • 
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