Vegas aims to prove doubters wrong one more time in final
ARLINGTON, Va. — Jonathan Marchessault issued a challenge after the Vegas Golden Knights were nearly run out of the rink to open the Western Conference final against the Winnipeg Jets.
“We’re going to see what kind of team we are,” the forward said following a 4-2 defeat that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.
Accustomed to defying logic over the course of their magical first season, the Knights responded with four straight victories to dispose of the heavily favoured Jets in five games.
Now trailing the Washington Capitals 2-1 with the Stanley Cup on the line, head coach Gerard Gallant echoed much the same sentiment as Marchessault did three weeks ago.
“A lot of people counted us out,” Gallant said Sunday in reference to the Winnipeg series. “We’ve got to step up our game. In the three games, we haven’t been good enough. If we don’t step up our game, the same result’s going to happen. “We’ll see what we’re made of.” Vegas made a living this season — one that includes a stunning Pacific Division crown and a 12-3 record through the first three rounds of the playoffs — with a high-octane offence predicated on speed and relentless puck pressure.
But in the last two games, the Knights have hit a wall against a stout defensive Capitals group that smothers the opposition in the neutral zone, especially once they get a lead. The result for Vegas is backto-back losses for the first time in the playoffs
“We’re in a familiar situation with a lot of doubters. It’s fine with us,” said Vegas forward David Perron, whose team will look to even the series 2-2 in Monday’s Game 4. “We have to step up and play the right way, play the way that made us successful.”
The Knights have looked lost at times after grabbing a sloppy 6-4 victory in Game 1, falling 3-2 at home as Washington tied the series before dropping Saturday’s 3-1 decision in Game 3.
“We’ve just got to get back to our game, getting pucks deep and getting in on the forecheck,” Vegas defenceman Deryk Engelland said. “It’s been our key all season long — the five-man forecheck and fiveguy pressure all over the ice. We do it for a little bit at a time. Then we try to be too cute, and they thrive on the turnovers.”
Perron said coming through the neutral zone with speed and supporting the puck is imperative.
“They’ve got three guys (back),” he said. “Most of the time, their right winger is at the blue line.
“Our guys who have a lot of speed can go back deeper, gather some speed. Then the defencemen can try to freeze the first forechecker, kick it wide. These guys coming with speed, if they’re confronted, which they will be most times at the blue line, you can put it in and go on the forecheck.”
It sounds easy enough, but the Capitals have mastered their trap since about the 65-game mark of the regular season, when head coach Barry Trotz challenged them to renew their commitment to defence.
They shut out the high-flying Tampa Bay Lightning in Games 6 and 7 of the East final, and save for Game 1 of the Cup where neither team was sharp, have given up three goals to Vegas, including one off a disastrous miscue by netminder Braden Holtby.