Wonky start aside, Gallant sees mostly ‘good hockey’
Coach says big difference lately is increase in goals
A two-game winning streak has started to dissipate whatever minor panic there may have been about a1-4startthatsawthe Golden Knights struggle to score goals.
Even with four points inthelasttwogames,the Knights are well behind last season’s torrid 6-1 opening to the inaugural season.
But coach Gerard Gallant doesn’t believe results are necessarily indicative of how his team is playing.
“Last year, I think early in the year at this time we were6-1orwhateveritwas and I didn’t think we were playing great hockey at the time,” he said Friday after practice. “We had some unbelievable goaltending and some puck luck. So far thisyear,wedidn’thavethe puck luck. The last couple games it’s starting to come alittlebit.”
The Knights stole a 1-0 victoryonthefinalgame of a long road trip against the Flyers before returning home and erupting for their biggest offensive outburst of the season in a 4-1 win over the Sabres on Tuesday.
“Nothing was different,” Gallant said. “(The pucks) finally got in the back of the net, but nothing was really different to be honest with you.
“When you assess the seven games, I thought we played pretty good hockey for the most part. There’s a couple games I didn’t like, but we played pretty good for the most part. The puck just didn’t go in the net.”
The Knights will look to keep the momentum going as they continue their homestand Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Anaheim Ducks.
Ready to go
The Knights got in three days of practice between the win over Buffalo and Saturday’s Pacific Division showdown against the Ducks.
Forward Ryan Carpenter said the sessions were good for the team to get someworkdoneasfaras fine-tuning some things on the ice while getting some rest.he’sexcitedtohave the puck drop on a real game again.
“When you start practicing more than two days in a row, you definitely start getting antsy to get out there and play again,” he said Friday. “So we’ll be ready to go against a good Anaheim team tomorrow.”
He hopes some of the momentum from the two- game winning streak carries over despite the down time.
“To string together backto-back wins like that definitely gives us confidence,” he said. “It hasn’t been the start we wanted, but we can only control one game at atimesorightnowwe’re focused on this next one.”
Engelland questionable
Defenseman Deryk Engelland was a full participant in practice on Friday, a day after skating with his teammates in a powder blue non-contact jersey.
It doesn’t mean he’s a sure thing to play on Saturday.
“I don’t know yet,” said Gallant, who indicated a decision will be made after Saturday’s morning skate. “I can’t guess on stuff like that. Deryk has to tell us.”
Engelland missed Tuesday’s win over Buffalo after leavingthefinalgameof the road trip against the Flyers early with an apparent arm injury.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @ Adamhilllvrj on Twitter.