On Thursday evening the Golden Knights will kick off a battle between Honda West Division superiority in Colorado. A two-game set with the dynamic Avalanche is on deck, following an up-and-down set of games against the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues.
With Robin Lehner back at full strength, the Golden Knights have gone back to their 50/50 goaltending tandem. Marc-Andre Fleury played well in LA, but the Vegas offense let him down, losing the game 3-1.
Tomas Nosek cut the score to 2-1 with 3:27 left in the game. Jeff Carter promptly erased that effort less than a minute later, sealing the win for the Kings. Both goaltenders - Fleury and Cal Petersen - were exceptional with the latter getting the needed goal support. The Keegan Kolesar fight early in the second was the highlight of the night for the VGK.
It was a completely different story the next night in their own barn. The Golden Knights’ offense exploded for five goals, against Jordan Binnington, a goalie who has had success against them in the past.
Jonathan Marchessault opened the scoring with a quick angle shot at 8:41 of the first. William Karlsson won the draw and Marchessault flung a quick shot at Binnington that found daylight. The tally was his ninth goal of the season.
Defenseman Vince Dunn tied the game early in the second period, jumping on a loose puck and beating Lehner up high through a ton of traffic. The third period was all Vegas.
Mark Stone (1:20), Kolesar (11:19), Karlsson (14:56), and Stone again (18:08) scored in the final frame. Karlsson and Stone finished the game with Power Play Goals, a lonely and glaring weakness of this otherwise elite Golden Knights club.
All eyes are on tonight’s contest, with their stiffest competition on deck. The Avalanche come into this two-game set with a 7-0-1 record in their last eight games. The Arizona Coyotes were able to steal Tuesday night’s game with two unanswered goals in the third and a perfect 3-for-3 shootout performance against the winless Jonas Johansson.
Things To Watch For
1.
Top-Heaviness:Both clubs rely heavily on their top six forwards for offense. After losing Max Pacioretty to a lower body injury, the Golden Knights slid Alex Tuch into his vacated 1-LW slot, leaving line two unchanged. Tuch getting more minutes in any capacity is a good thing, as the 24-year-old ranks second on the team in goals scored (13), trailing only Pacioretty (16).
Colorado brings a newly healthy squad to the table, led by their Big Three - Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog. They’ve been on fire of late, having been on the ice for 17 (18 for Rantanen) of the team’s 36 goals in that eight-game stretch.
2.
Capitalizing on Chances:Colorado ranks second in the NHL in Scoring Chances Allowed (at 5-on-5 play) while also ranking second in Scoring Chances For. They get a lot of chances and they give very few. The Golden Knights will need to capitalize on the chances they get, because they’ve been few and far between, in Colorado’s d-zone.
The Golden Knights are no slouches themselves and rank a respectful fourth in Scoring Chances For % (8th SCF, 11th SCA). Both teams will need to have a nose for the net and make good on chances. Unfortunately for them.....
3.
Goaltending Has Been Key:Fleury and Lehner have been great all season. Fleury is receiving legitimate Vezina recognition for his quality and sheer volume of work in Lehner’s absence (concussion). On the other end, Philip Grubauer is having a magnificent season, posting a line of 19-7-0, 1.71 GAA, .930 SV%. He too should firmly be in the Vezina conversation. A hot goalie can certainly steal one or both of these games.
4.
Special Teams:In their last outing, the Golden Knights potted two Power Play Goals, going 2/3 on the night, and bringing their season mark up to 19.1% (T-19). A tie for 19th place is not ideal for a team with as much skill as theirs. Maybe it’s turning a corner? Colorado’s Power Play is a bit better, but find themselves in the middle of the pack, in 14th place operating at a clip of 23.4%. Both teams are stellar on the kill.
COL: 87.4% (2nd)
VGK: 84.4% (6th)
Both teams are fast, tenacious, and aggressive while down a man. Reilly Smith and Karlsson are always a threat in transition while shorthanded.
5.
Home Ice Advantage?:Although the game is in Colorado, the Avalanche won’t enjoy much of a home ice edge before April 2. That is the date handed down to them by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. Prior to the 22% allowance, the team plans to host first-responders and essential workers.
A very valuable four points will be up for grabs, with just two points separating these teams in first and second. Will Vegas come out still on top or will there be a new leader of the Honda West Division. It’s very likely that one of these teams will be the playoff semi-final representative for the West Division and that will make for two very good games.
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