Knights on Ice — Can You Put Your Finger on What Has Happened?

Last night I was invited to a VGK watch party hosted by Christopher of @Adore Oil. You might know him as the fan who sits behind the VGK bench in a VGK jersey and scarf, dances throughout the warm-ups, and is always shown on the Knight Tron.

The VGK staff nicknamed him the Warmies Guy. Christopher might be the most visible VGK fan in all of Las Vegas. He’s on the right in the photo below (that’s me on the left).

The watch party was at the Cosmopolitan pool that has been converted to an ice rink three stories above the Strip. At least 300 VGK fans were in attendance and they were treated to a blowout win, 8-3, against the Chicago Blackhawks.

At the party while we watched the VGK score the most goals ever, several fans asked me if I could put a finger on what seems to have turned this team around 180 degrees in such a short time.

I said, “I’d need all ten of my fingers to explain the complete makeover the Knights have undergone since their first twenty games.”

1) The first thing was the lack of scoring — only 50 goals for an average of 2.5 goals per game in this season’s first 20. Last season, they scored 79 goals in their first 20 games.

2) They also gave up 58 goals in the first 20 games this season, which averages out to 2.9 goals per game. Last season, though they gave up 60 goals in their first 20 games, let’s not forget that Fleury was injured in the fourth game and didn’t play in the other 16. Fleury gave up only four goals in the three games before he took a knee to the head against Detroit. Thanks to their 79 goals scored, the 60 given up didn’t pose a problem.

3) In their past six games, the Knights have scored 27 goals, 4.5 per, two goals more on average than in the first 20. This alone takes a lot of pressure off of Fleury, as he doesn’t have to be perfect every night to record a win. It also has a direct effect on the six defensemen who were probably squeezing the sticks more than normal, not wanting to give up the puck to turnovers, which lead to odd-man rushes on Fleury. Also, their shots seemed to either miss altogether or bounced off of the posts or crossbar. Colin Miller had around seven shots hit the posts before netting his two goals in the last three games.

4) In the past six games, of which Fleury played in five, the Knights surrendered 15 goals, 2.5 per against. Take out the slap-in-the-face game against Calgary in which they gave up seven goals with Subban between the pipes and Fleury gave up only eight goals in the five games, an amazing goal-against of 1.6. That included his back-to-back shutouts at T-Mobile.

5) The return of Nate Schmidt to the lineup has been immense. The other 19 players seem to be relaxed with Nate quarterbacking the defense; he, along with Brayden McNabb, takes a lot of the heavy minutes off the other four defensemen, who can now play within their strengths. Nate plays most of the minutes against the other team’s top players. In last night’s game, his ice time (17:59) was dialed back a little, thanks to the score, but since his return, he’s been logging the most ice time for the entire team: 23:32 vs. Calgary on 11/19, 23:48 on 11/21 vs. Arizona, 20:59 vs. Calgary on 11/23, and 20:05 vs. San Jose on 11/24.

6) Last season, eight different defensemen played for the VGK, scoring a total of 30 goals. This season, the seven defensemen scored only six. Since Schmidt’s return, Colin Miller has scored two goals in the last three games, Shea Theodore doubled his output from two goals to four goals (two last night), and even Deryk Engelland, who had zero points in his first 19 games, picked up three assists last night. It was the first three-point game in his 568-game career. It’s not by accident that out of nowhere, the defensemen are joining in on the offensive side of the puck. Nate Schmidt has a lot to do with their newfound freedom.

7) Last season, the VGK were getting a lot of scoring from the first line of Karlsson, Marchessault, and Smith, along with Perron’s 66 points, Haula’s 55, Neal’s 44, and Tuch’s 37. Teams had to contend not just with the top line, but all the lines. With Neal and Perron gone and the injuries to Tuch, Haula, Stastny, and Pacioretty, the opposition could focus on shutting down the first line. This was what the VGK had to deal with for 20 games into the season.

8) Since Tuch and Pacioretty returned and were put together with Eakin, that line has been on fire. Now teams have two lines to shut down and that accounts for the recent surge in goals from the top six forwards. Tuch has scored a goal in three straight games and has 19 points in his 18 games. Pacioretty, who had two goals and zero assists in the first 20 games, now has eight goals and five assists in 22 games.

9) In the slap-in-the-face game, the entire team was embarrassed by their 7-2 drubbing, especially giving up five goals in the first period. In my opinion, that game woke up a team that might have been still riding the euphoria from their amazing inaugural season. Maybe they thought they just needed to show up and not put in the effort they did last year, with 20 captains all playing for one another game after game.

10) Finally, the VGK has had to endure a highly unfavorable schedule. They played their first game of the season at T-Mobile, then immediately left on a five-game road trip back east to play five games in eight days. They’ve been on the road for 15 of the first 26 games, with another stretch of five games in just seven days. Two four-game road trips remain (Dec. 12-17 and Feb. 1-7 back to the east coast). But with the offense powering up and the presence of Nate Schmidt both on the ice and in the locker room, the VGK makeover appears to have them back on track, in the playoff hunt, and with a record over .500 (13-12-1) for the first time this season. The lights on the Strip are always bright and now the lights of the VGK seem to be just as bright.

I had just enough fingers to answer their question.

Jay and Lisa, fans of the team Vegas Golden Knights and the book Vegas Golden Knights

Last night’s win over Chicago gave the VGK their first four-game winning streak of the season.

Ryan Reaves not only scored his fifth goal of the season, he also registered a game-high seven shots on net.

William Carrier continues to be a wrecking ball, with another six hits last night to add to his NHL lead in total hits. In 104 career games, Carrier had 10 goals total; he now has four goals in just 26 games. In Carrier’s 41 games with the Buffalo Sabers, he took 50 shots on goal; in just 26 games with Vegas this season, he has 52 shots on goal. The entire fourth line of Bellemare, Reaves, and Carrier saved the VGK from a complete collapse during the first 20 games.

Last night’s final score of 8-3 is somewhat deceiving, as Marc-Andre Fleury made some key saves in the first period keeping Chicago off the scoreboard. The game could have gotten out of hand in the first, but Fleury stood tall.

Chicago did score two goals on their first five shots in the second period to make things somewhat interesting. Those two goals trimmed the Vegas lead to 4-2. Ryan Reaves’ tip-in of Deryk Engelland’s shot from the point brought it up to 5-2 and Shea Theodore’s first goal of the game with just six seconds left in the second opened up a 6-2 lead.

Eleven of the 18 VGK skaters registered at least one point in last night’s game.

Goal scorers for Vegas: Daniel Carr (first of the season), Alex Tuch (8), Cody Eakin (9, 10), William Karlsson PPG (7), Ryan Reaves (5), Shea Theodore (3, 4)

My 3 Stars of the Game: Shea Theodore (2 goals, 1 assist), Alex Tuch (1 goal, 1 assist), Cody Eakin (2 goals)

Next game is another Pacific Division matchup against the Canucks at Vancouver tomorrow 11/29 at 7 p.m.

Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you can contact me directly at [email protected]

And for the most comprehensive coverage of the Vegas Golden Knights’ historic inaugural season, take a look at our book Vegas Golden Knights—How a First-Year Expansion Team Healed Las Vegas and Shocked the Hockey World.

Click here for a short video of the game and the Cosmo’s fine ice-skating rink.