Failure of power play spells doom
Unit 0-for-15 in series vs. Montreal, 4-for-43 in playoffs
Of all the damning statistics against the Golden Knights’ power play, this one stands out from Thursday.
The Knights generated two shots on goal during their two chances with the man advantage. Montreal had three shots on goal while short-handed.
“Just a lot of wasted opportunities,” right wing Reilly Smith said.
There are several reasons the Knights’ season ended short of expectations following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup semifinals at Bell Centre.
At, or near, the top of the list is a broken power play that coach Pete Deboer and lead assistant Steve Spott were never able to repair.
“Just didn’t play with any confidence,” Deboer said. “You saw the same thing we did. If we knew what was wrong, we would have fixed it. That’s obviously something that has to get fixed. You need your power play this time of year, and your penalty kill. Special teams are huge. It was disappointing.”
The Knights didn’t convert on either of their power-play chances Thursday and finished the series 0-for-15. They failed to score on their final 18 power-play opportunities of the postseason and went 4-for-43 against Minnesota, Colorado and Montreal.
Of those opponents, only Colorado was ranked in the top 10 in the NHL on the penalty kill during the regular season.
The Canadiens finished 23rd in the regular season on the penalty kill at 78.5 percent, but have successfully killed 30 straight power plays and haven’t allowed a goal while short-handed in the past 13 games.
“A goal here, a goal there changes the game,” Smith said. “All but two of the games in the series were really tight. That would have given us a huge boost.”
The Knights were able to mask their weakness on the power play during the regular season (17.8 percent, 22nd in the league) with strong five-on-five play, but it cost them in
the playoffs against better competition.
The 1-3-1 formation favored by Deboer and Spott didn’t seem to fit the Knights’ personnel, which lacks a true finisher aside from Max Pacioretty and presented no threat from the “bumper” or middle position.
Neither Shea Theodore nor Alex Pietrangelo developed into a quarterback from the point who could unlock a penalty kill with a threatening pass.
“I think we look at everything. I know we moved personnel around. We shuffled the deck with people and units. Nothing seemed to take,” Deboer said. “I don’t have an answer for you. It was a frustrating piece of our game in a playoff and a season where big pieces of our game were really good.”
Here are three more takeaways from the season-ending loss:
1. End for Fleury?
At the start of the game, goalie Robin Lehner was caught on camera hollering that he forgot chewing gum, and Marc-andre Fleury ran back to the locker room to fetch a stick for his partner.
That might be the final act for Fleury in a Knights uniform.
After a season in which Fleury proved there was still plenty left in the tank, the 36-year-old heads into
an uncertain offseason with one year remaining on his contract.
The Knights explored trading Fleury last offseason, and he helped his value going 26-10 with a 1.98 goalsagainst average and .928 save percentage on the way to being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.
With changes expected after another postseason defeat, the Knights might look to move his $7 million salary cap hit again.
2. Close doesn’t count
The Knights’ inability to win close games cropped up for the second straight postseason.
The loss in Game 6 dropped the Knights to 3-5 in one-goal games during the playoffs, including 2-4 in overtime. Three of their four losses against the Canadiens were by one goal.
Last postseason, the Knights went 4-5 in games decided by one goal, including five consecutive defeats. All four of their losses to Dallas in the Western Conference Final were by one goal.
“For me, our group, I thought we took a step from a year ago when we got to this point,” Deboer said. “We were better. We were better during the regular season. We were better during the playoffs against two really tough teams in Minnesota and Colorado,
but we still fell off at the wrong time.”
3. Future star
Canadiens rookie Cole Caufield was a difference-maker against the Knights and looks like a potential 40-goal scorer.
The 5-foot-7-inch winger scored four goals in the series and made a slick play to chip the puck past defenseman Brayden Mcnabb before his go-ahead goal in the second period of Game 6.
Caufield was the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft and won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey at Wisconsin this past season. His mind games with Lehner were one of the most entertaining exchanges of the series and showed Caufield’s confidence.
Meanwhile, the Knights’ lineup for Game 6 included one player drafted by the team (defenseman Nic Hague).
“When a puck went the other way on Caufield’s stick or (Nick) Suzuki’s stick, they stuck them in the net,” Deboer said. “That’s playoff hockey. We did the same thing to Colorado. The tables got turned on us here.”