If you thought the absence of Chandler Stephenson on Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers wasn’t a big deal, last night you could not help but notice how important he has become to this team. His speed alone forces opposing players to back up and quickly if they have any intention of slowing him down or taking away his angle. Assisting on 4 of the 5 goals Vegas put behind Minnesota Wild goaltender Cam Talbot, Chandler played a major role in the VGK 6-4 victory over the #1 team in the entire Western Conference. The Wild sit on top of the Central Division with a 19-8-1 record and 39 points, which leads all of the other 15 teams in the Western Conference.
Let me break down how Stephenson is excelling with the VGK. Chandler’s 4 assists comprise a career high and he currently leads the VGK in scoring: 9G, 17A, for 26 points in 26 games. In his previous 260 NHL games, he scored 36 goals. His lifetime average was 0.14 goals per game; this season he has more than doubled his goal production average to an unbelievable 0.36. Keep in mind that he has played a number of games without Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. So his numbers have not been influenced by these 2 prolific scorers.
Which leads me to my next point. How does head coach Pete DeBoer even consider breaking up this line when Jack Eichel is healthy enough to return to the VGK lineup?
On the podcast Hockey Knights in Vegas, which I do with Eddie Rivkin (found on YouTube and my Facebook page), Eddie says I’m off my rocker to think that DeBoer wouldn’t put Eichel between Stone and Pacioretty. What do you think? I would love to hear your opinion.
I know Ryan Wallis (a.k.a. “The Hockey Guy,” who does the pre-game and post-game shows and is the host of the “VGK Insider” show on Fox Sports radio) also has the same opinion as mine and I totally respect Ryan’s hockey knowledge. Tell me why Ryan and I are wrong here.
The chemistry among players is always talked about. Certain players just gel with others and here is where salary should not dictate where you play Jack Eichel. This is not meant as any disrespect to Eichel, who is a thoroughbred, but how much stronger would the VGK be with Jack Eichel playing between Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault? That would entail moving William Karlsson down to center the 3rd line and Nicolas Roy centering the 4th line. You now would have a team that for the first 4 years had a glaring weak spot among their centers—no longer a problem.
Max Pacioretty has also been on fire since he returned from a fractured foot on Nov 24. In another milestone accomplishment, last night Max had his 10th goal of the season in just 10 games, along with two assists, for 17 points. His goal set a VGK franchise record of goals in 6 consecutive games. He has scored 8 goals and added 6 assists for 14 points in just 8 games.
Not to leave Zach Whitecloud out, but he had a stellar night, tying a career high with a 2-goal game. And what made it even more special was that Zach’s mom was in attendance last night at T-Mobile. Zach mentioned post-game that his mom hasn’t seen him score many goals, as he has always been a defensive-minded player, so it was a special night for the Whitecloud family, to say the least.
In the game the VGK had to overcome some bumps in the road to secure this needed victory. The Wild scored a goal with just .06 seconds left in the first period to send the team to the locker room tied at 2-2. It was a goal that Robin Lehner should have stopped and he admitted that post-game that there was another save he should have made that he didn’t.
The Wild opened the second period by scoring another goal just 9 seconds in. Goals like these can break a team down and change momentum. But this is a team game and very early in the season, Robin Lehner saved the team on more than a few occasions and last night the team returned the favor scoring 5 goals and an empty-net goal from just about 200 feet by Alex Pietrangelo that closed the scoring for the final score of 6-4 and the much needed 2 points in the Pacific Division.
With this victory, Vegas improved their record to 16-11 as they embark on a 6-night 4-game road trip to the east coast.
Other game notes and quotes.
Chandler Stephenson missed Friday’s game to attend the funeral of his grandmother. He made note of this in remarks post-game. “I think she was helping me tonight. It has been a sad couple of days, but I’ve had a lot of support here. The team, staff, players, everybody was there for me. It helps you get through it. It was a special night, for sure.”
Mark Stone, who had 1G and 2A last night, added, “It’s always tough to see teammates go through stuff like that. It’s emotional for all of us. To get him back, and for him to put on that kind of performance together for us, was inspirational and something we needed as a team. For Chandler to fly back and be with the team shows his resiliency and character.”
Zach Whitecloud had an excellent chance for the hat trick when Mark Stone sent him in on a breakaway out of the penalty box.
“Us six guys on the back end want to contribute as much as possible in any offensive way, whether that’s scoring goals, or creating chances, or being on the forecheck,” Whitecloud said.
Pacioretty and Stone’s eight-game point streaks are the second-longest in Golden Knights history. Alex Tuch holds the record at nine games with 11 points — three goals, eight assists — from Dec. 27, 2018 to Jan. 12, 2019.
In my last few articles, I have not been shy about shining a bright light on the dismal VGK specialty teams. So let me step up and point out that last night, both the power play and penalty kill had some swagger to them. The VGK scored 2 PPG on 4 chances and the penalty kill surrendered only 1 goal in the Wild’s 6 power-play that included a 5-on 3.
My 3 stars of the game: Chandler Stephenson (4A, a career high; his speed made a difference last night, especially considering he was playing with a heavy heart, Max Pacioretty (1G 2A and a 6-game goal- scoring streak), Zach Whitecloud (2G, 5 SOG, 3 blocked shots, and 21 minutes of ice time)
Next game is tomorrow vs. the Boston Bruins at 4 p.m. Pacific Time, the first game of a 4-game east coast road trip .
Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy or on Twitter @TheRealJoePane
One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game.
Never miss another post
Hagle Patricia sent this comment in
Thanks for the update
Judy Schneider had this comment
Thanks, Joe Pane great article!!🧡🖤💕
Mark Hinrich sent this opinion in
Excellent insight
Hagle, Judy and Mark
Thank you all for your feedback
Joe P
I think Stephenson should stay right where he is. Eichel on the 2nd line can only elevate .( The Misfits are gold but this might just make them platinum)
I’d be interested in your thoughts of our goalie situation. I’m a Panda fan BUT with 1/3 of the season in the rear view mirror – I think we truly need someone a bit stronger!
Hey Joe.
I´ve made a copy of a comment I sent a few games earlier about Stevenson and Eichel.
“As I don´t see Stevenson as a natural center, he would be a perfect winger on the third line. Just as Tuch was before.
Stevenson is a better scorer than a passer, but a center on the first line must have both scoring and playmaking abilities. Chandler has great speed and a very good scoring touch but Stone is the playmaker on the first line.
Janmark, who is is a good skater, thrived on the speed of Tuch and Stevenson is in the same mould as Tuch.
Therefore Dadonov is the expendable player who should be sacrified together with Theodore.
By letting Theodore and Dadonov go in exchange of a few draft picks, the moneybag is 10,2 M$ lighter all of a sudden.
Roy is a good third line center and with two speedy wingers, Stevenson and Janmark, there´s a good balance on that line just as it was when Tuch was on the third line.
The Misfit Line must stay intact, their play against Calgary was a proof of that. They must be one of the best second lines in the league.
In twenty years they will be at the VGK museum, three players in full gear under the sign: “The Misfit Line. Three players, one brain”.
The only place for Eichel is at centering the first line. He´s the first no. 1 center the Golden Knights had since day one.
If the chemistry works well between Eichel, Stone and Patchy VGK will have a first line as good as any of the best teams.
The fourth line will be the best of the rest amongst Carrier, Kolesar, Howden, Patrick, Amadio and the young guys at Henderson.
They´ll do a good job whoever is on the ice.”
Hey Joe.
Thanks for the recap. I couldn´t watch the game in Sweden but I saw a recap on nhl.com.
It showed me the goals but nothing more.
I saw some good combinations that lead to a few goals.
The Minnesota goals seemed to be the fruit of bad goaltending and bad defensive play.
I couldn´t get the whole picture as both the VGK and the Minnesota goals was sort of cut out of the context.
As you know I don´t like to judge players or teams by a short cut of the game.
To put it short, I don`t like twitter!
That´s when you come to my help, Joe.
I totally agree with Eichel on the second line. The first line of Patches, Stone and Stephenson is working just fine. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
I see Smith and McNabb gone so the misfit line will be broken anyway. I would love the second line of Marchy, Eichel and Dadonav. Carrier, Karlsson and Amadio for third. Jan mark, Roy and anyone but Kolesar. For line 4.
Just my thoughts.