Golden Knights are off to ragged start in Year 2
A season after their surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Vegas Golden Knights are finally starting to look like an expansion team.
The Knights were in sixth place in the Pacific Division on Monday after a slow start to a season that finally saw them make progress after a five-game home stand capped by Sunday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators.
“Somebody just said in the dressing room we had a five-game home stand and we’re 3-1-1,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “And it doesn’t feel like that because (we started) off 1-4 when we got back home. So, we had a good home stand but it doesn’t feel like that.”
Perhaps it’s because last season the Golden Knights were 8-3 through their first 11 games and just three points out of the division lead. They had outscored the opposition 41-31 as they got their inaugural season off to a rapid start. Vegas also allowed three or more goals just four times in that span. The season, of course, ended with them falling short of the Stanley Cup.
This season so far, Vegas has been outscored 30-26 and the Knights have allowed three or more goals seven times.
Noticeably missing from the second line are James Neal, who at this time last year led the team with seven goals and 10 points, and David Perron, who had contributed four goals, four assists. Neal is now in Calgary and Perron is in St. Louis and their presumed replacements - Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny - are on the shelf.
Stastny has missed the last eight games and isn’t expected to return until December, while Pacioretty came off the ice Friday after being drilled by Tampa Bay’s Braydon Coburn. He didn’t play Sunday. Cody Eakin did, and left the game in the first period after being levelled by Mark Borowiecki.
The team is also still without lead defenceman Nate Schmidt, who is serving a 20-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance, while defenceman Deryk Engelland recently returned from an injury.
“Everybody has injuries, you have to come out to play our game and do the best you can when you’re in the lineup. ... We’ve done that from last year, and I think most teams do that,” Gallant said. “You do the best you can with what you’ve got.”
The top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith has combined to score 25 points. And while the second and third lines have been plagued by lineup changes due to the injuries and have yet to find the right chemistry, the fourth line of Ryan Reaves, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and William Carrier have produced several quality shifts.
Reaves, who arrived in February with a reputation for being an enforcer, has hardly looked like the bruiser who has had more than 60 fights in his career. His mere presence has provided a consistent energy the Golden Knights can count on for a spark. Of his three goals this season, two were game-tying shots and the other was a game-winner.
“Ryan Reaves is a fan favourite, he is a tough guy and it definitely energizes our group,” Gallant said. “He is a popular player and he puts the work in and does a lot of work for the physical side of it, but he is also playing real good hockey for us.”
He is part of the team’s power-play package that needs immediate improvement. After going 1-for-5 on Sunday, they’re now 4-for-37 (10.8 per cent) on the power play, ranking 29th in the NHL. They have scored four in their last five games, however.
“It’s not only the shots that we have, it’s also the quality of shots that we have,” said Marchessault, who leads the team with 11 points, including Sunday’s game-winner in overtime with a penalty shot. “The quality needs to be better. We need to cash in on all of our chances. We just need to come back to our bases. It’s about playing well defensively and we definitely need to get better from everybody, especially facing the injuries we have right now.”
Vegas heads to Nashville on Tuesday and St. Louis on Thursday.
“We want to win, we want to play better, and we want to make sure things are going,” Gallant said.