USA Today Sports
Last night, the Vegas Golden Knights seemed to be well on their way to embarrassing the New Jersey Devils and extending their win-streak to three games. Vegas scored three goals in the first ten minutes of the game on NJ starting goalie Corey Schneider. Alex Tuch opened the scoring 1:19 into the game for the Golden Knights, with a sweet wraparound and was followed up by William Karlsson at 7:45, and William Carrier at 9:23 of the opening period.
Kinkaid and Schneider, USA Today Sports
Carrier's goal was the last straw for the struggling (4.66 GAA, .852 SV%) Schneider. Carrier took a routine wrist shot from a distance. Schneider gloved it, but then lost control of the shot, putting it into his own net. Devils coach John Hynes had seen enough and yanked Schneider for their usual, starter Keith Kinkaid. New Jersey was not conceding the game, they wanted to get a fresh start with 50 minutes of game time remaining. In retrospect, that was a good idea. Kinkaid kept the Golden Knights off of the scoreboard for the rest of the period. With a three-goal deficit to make-up, New Jersey came out of the locker room to start the 2nd, determined to turn the game around.
William Karlsson, USA Today Sports
NJ outscored the Golden Knights 2-1 in the second period. The Devils scored first, on the power play, 2:59 into the period. William Karlsson erased that goal less than a minute later, with a PPG of his own, his second of the night and 13th of the season. From there, it was all downhill for Vegas. Miles Wood scored his third of the season for NJ, just after the midway point of the game and the teams went into the second intermission with a 4-2 score in favor of Vegas.
Nico Hischier, USA Today Sports
New Jersey would go on to score three unanswered goals, including an overtime winner from their 2017 1st overall draft pick, Nico Hischier. Hischier scored 41 seconds into overtime, ending a game that the Vegas Golden Knights would surely like to forget. So what went wrong in this one? How did Vegas go from a 3-0 lead, 10 minutes into the game, to losing 5-4 in overtime, to the last place (Metropolitan Division) Devils?
1. Vegas was severely outshot and outpressured by NJ
By the end of this game, NJ held a 42-22 shot advantage. New Jersey was aggressive and tried to take the game to Vegas. Although they allowed the three early goals, NJ outshot Vegas 12-10 in the first. New Jersey seemed to want to test Marc-Andre Fleury, every chance they got. This could be due to the fact that he was making his 12th straight start for Vegas, including two back-to-back sets. New Jersey dominated the territorial battle, evidenced by their 63.9% Corsi For% (game flow chart below).
The Golden Knights typically outshoot their opponents, even in losing efforts. At times, their tendency to settle for perimeter play and point shots leads to high shot totals and inconsistent scoring, but that wasn't the case in this one.
2. Vegas' attack was stifled by a solid defensive effort and Keith Kinkaid
New Jersey gave up a quick three goals to the Golden Knights, but following those three goals, Vegas was only able to add one more. New Jersey did a good job of rallying around Kinkaid, never giving up, and shutting down the Vegas attack. Normally Vegas gets a ton of pucks on net, shooting from all over, but NJ held them to 22 total shots and a mere 19 scoring chances. In comparison, NJ compiled 35 scoring chances, including 10 high danger chances (Vegas had seven high danger chances). NJ did an admirable job shutting down the low slot/net front and Kinkaid didn't allow many second chances. Vegas was held in check for the last two periods of the game.
3. Fleury started again
Marc-Andre Fleury, USA Today Sports
Malcolm Subban may never play another game for the Vegas Golden Knights. He had been on the bench for 11 straight games, coming into the NJ game. New Jersey is in last place in their division and should have been the team to get your back-up in against. Instead, Vegas decided to keep riding Fleury, sending him out for his 12th straight start. If Subban isn't good enough to start that game, what will the Golden Knights let him do? The Devils peppered Fleury with 42 shots and eventually won the game. Could it be, that a guy starting his 12th straight game can't handle such a high output? Either way, I hope the team is hiding a minor injury to Subban. If Subban is completely healthy, this goaltender management is asinine.
4. New Jersey was hungrier
Watching this game, it seemed like everyone outside of the MeatGrinders (VGK's 4th line) played complacently. The Golden Knights had won two in a row and nine of their last 11, coming into the Devil game. Throughout the contest, it looked like Vegas knew it. Yes, the Devils are in last place. Yes, you have been red hot. No, you cant play like you're superior and there is no chance NJ can beat you. Vegas learned a lesson last night. Even with a three-goal lead, you can't take a NHL team for granted, even one that has been as bad as the Devils this season.
5. New lines with Paul Stastny back
There was a little controversy surrounding the lineup construction for this one. It was widely known that Stastny was returning for the game, but who would he play with? Originally signed to be the second line center, Stastny suffered a long-term injury. While he was out, Erik Haula took over the 2C role. Haula is now out indefinitely and Cody Eakin became the 2C, centering Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch. Ever since Eakin's insertion to that line, they have been playing great, arguably Vegas' best line in the last two weeks or so.
Prior to the game, Gerard Gallant was questioned by Las Vegas Review Journal reporter David Schoen on his morning skate line rushes. In the skate, Pacioretty was skating with new players and was replaced on the first PP unit by William Karlsson. When asked if Pacioretty was injured Gallant replied "Nothing's wrong with Max. You've gotta scratch somebody tonight and we'll decide after warm-ups....we'll know before warm-ups, but he's fine." Later, it came out that Pacioretty had a "minor injury" and it was "management's decision" to hold him out as a precaution. Schoen reported that a team spokesperson said "The team feels it is best for him to miss one game, instead of six".
Even taking an injury into account, the line mixing was sub-optimal. Previously Vegas rolled with:
81-71-19 (always solid)
67-21-89 (playing great)
24-40-92 (improving)
28-41-75 (solid)
Against NJ (+ Stastny, - Pacioretty):
81-71-19
24-26-89
40-
21-92
28-41-75
It may seem like a small deal, but Alex Tuch got two new linemates, on the second line. Cody Eakin was dropped down to L3, bumped by Stastny, although he seemed to spark the second line once he was placed with Pacioretty and Tuch. Eakin played with Ryan Carpenter and Tomas Nosek to start the season and the line was not great. Stastny could have (and should have) been put on the third line with Oscar Lindberg sliding up to L2, taking Pacioretty's spot for the night and minimally changing the dynamic. Eakin and Tuch could have continued to play together and Stastny could have helped Carpenter and Nosek get more offensive opportunities. Gallant's roster construction is interesting at times.
Following the game, most of the players and coaches cited New Jersey's pace of play or their speed, or resiliency. It seems like far too often, this Vegas team oversimplifies the game. They have a mentality that whichever team skates the hardest, hits the most, and forechecks the best, wins the game. They have a mentality of a team full of grinders. Head down, skate fast, win. Quite often, that approach works and they win a decent number of games, but sometimes that just isn't good enough.
It will be interesting to see what Vegas has in store for Sunday morning in New York. They play the Rangers at 9:30 Pacific time, before heading to Columbus to play a great team, the very next night. Will Subban get in? Does Pacioretty come back and if so, what will the lines look like? Does the Stastny-less second line get reunited or is Stastny replacing Eakin for good? Tune in on Sunday to find out. Pucks and eggs!
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