Knights on Ice — Subban Abandoned on the Side of the Road

If Malcolm Subban were a car, he would have needed to call a cab last night to come and drive him home. He was left on the side of the road — or in this case, alone on the ice by his teammates.

Nashville scored three goals on Subban and no one in their right hockey mind could put even one ounce of blame on the stranded Golden Knights goaltender in last night’s 4-1 loss to the Predators. Nashville was awarded their fourth goal when Nick Holden committed a holding penalty on a player attempting to score into the VGK’s open net.

Ryan Hartman scored his second and third goals this season. On the first, Colin Miller took the easy way out, going for a poke check instead of putting a body on Hartman, who entered the zone with speed. Miller wasn’t only leaning in, but also facing in the opposite direction of the swift-moving forward. If he doesn’t make contact with the puck, he’s completely out of the play. It’s safer to just get in front of the player, making legal body contact, which most likely separates him from the puck.

The new style of play in the NHL is built around speed, but the game hasn’t evolved into just poke checking. You poke check in beer leagues. In the NHL, poke checking is just being lazy and not willing to sacrifice your body. You have to make forwards earn every inch of ice, especially when they enter their offensive zone.

In the first 12 games this season (and I pointed this out in my post about the Tampa Bay game), all seven VGK defensemen are being outhit by just the three players of the fourth line. Last night, the six defensemen had a whopping total of two hits for the entire game. Shameful. The fourth line had five hits, also low, especially for that line, but when three guys more than double the hits of six defensemen — who are paid to take the body when defending — that’s a problem.

Defensemen, from their first time on the ice at any level of hockey, are taught that on odd-man rushes (when the offensive team has one or two more players than defenders), the only thing to do is prevent the player with the puck any open passing lanes. You leave the shooter to the goaltender and you prevent the lateral pass to the trailing player. The goalie has the player with the puck and you have the player without the puck.

Hartman’s second goal came just 57 seconds after his first. Jon Merrill made a bad pinch along the boards. Nick Bonino and Kevin Fiala were already leaving their zone to retrieve the puck that Merrill failed to keep in on a wraparound pass from PK Subban. When Ryan Hartman joined them, it was 3-on-1 with only Nick Holden back. Holden did his part and picked up Bonino coming down the center of the ice. Malcolm Subban had Fiala with the puck. But when Tomas Nosek incorrectly slid over toward Fiala, it left Hartman all alone on the left wing. Fiala waited until Nosek overcommitted, then sent a cross-ice pass to Hartman, who easily beat Subban, positioned to face a Fiala shot. Holden played it exactly like he was supposed to. Nosek didn’t.

Reilly Smith scored for Vegas in the first period on the power play and the score was 2-1 in favor of Nashville in the third period. Reilly Smith had the puck on his stick right in front of Nashville backup goalie Juuse Saros, filling in for Pekka Rinne who has missed the last five games with an undisclosed injury. Smith snapped a shot that beat Saros over his right shoulder, but it hit the crossbar and didn’t go in.

Just a minute later, Nashville had another odd-man rush on Subban, with just Deryk Engelland back. Engelland failed to keep Kyle Turris from passing it cross-ice to Calle Jarnkrok, leaving Subban hung out to dry again. Jarnkrok scored the Predators’ third goal.

The defensive core of Vegas is being exposed and with Vegas scoring two or fewer goals in nine of their first 12 games, the defensive lapses are magnified. Vegas, known for their quick first-period starts, has been outscored 9 to 5 in their first periods through 12 games. Last year, they were one of the top two teams in goals scored. This season, they’re ranked 30th out of 31 teams with 27 goals, just ahead of the L.A. Kings with 22. And the Knights have played one more game than the Kings.

About the only positive take from this game was the VGK’s power-play goal. Even then, they registered only six shots total during their four power plays.

The line of Eakin, Carpenter, and Nosek were a combined -9 for the night.

Jonathan Marchessault continues to shine offensively, with six points in his last six games (4 goals and 2 assists).

The only bright spot I can see in this slow start is that even with holes in the second line due to injuries and Nate Schmidt out for another eight games, the Golden Knights have played only 12 of 82 games and they’re only four points out of first place in the Pacific Division.

Also, they’ve had a tough schedule, playing a lot of good teams in the first 12 games. Of the 10 teams they’ve faced, seven have a winning record and three are leading their respective divisions (Nashville, Tampa Bay, and Pittsburgh). But the schedule doesn’t get easier with 11 of the next 16 games on the road.

Hang tough, VGK fans. It’s still early and four points aren’t a lot when you have 70 games left, with at least 140 points to be earned (not counting the one point earned in overtime losses).

My 3 Stars of the Game: Ryan Hartman (2 goals), Kevin Fiala (2 assists), Juuse Saros (23 saves on 24 shots)

The VGK’s next game is tomorrow against the Blues in St. Louis at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Your comments are welcome here on 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.