Special Teams Letting Down Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas Golden Knights is 2-for-22 in its last seven games on the man advantage; 12-for-30 on the penalty kill.
Stephen R. Sylvanie - USA TODAY Sports - Special Teams Letting Down Vegas Golden KnightsThe Vegas Golden Knights understood they have a prime opportunity when the Florida Panthers were called for three consecutive penalties and had a 5-on-3 for more than 2:30.
The Golden Knights fired one shot on net during that stretch, which apparently deflated them enough to result in their sixth loss in seven games to the Florida Panthers - a 4-1 defeat on Thursday.
"Our best players got outplayed on special teams by their best players," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "From there, we weren’t able to get our game back."
It has been a disappointing trend for the Golden Knights that their power play has more or less let them down. They allowed three power-play goals against the Florida Panthers.
In the last seven games, Vegas is 12-for-30 on the kill. They were second in the league on penalty kill on Dec. 17 and have plummeted to 16th.
Not good.
The power play hasn't been much better, going 2-for-22 in that same stretch. They went from the 11th best power play in the league to the 16th since Dec. 17
Now Vegas hasn't been necessarily the power play machine over its franchise history. It was slowly improving this season, but during this run of seven games, it has been the same old story.
The more concerning aspect is definitely the penalty kill. Vegas won with a less-than-optimal power play set up last year.
The kill is defense, which is the hallmark of a Cassidy-coached team. Some of the goals can be attributed to puck luck, but the Golden Knights are far from executing at their best whether that's winning draws in their own zone, failing to clear the puck or losing a net-front battle.
For example, look at the Sam Reinhart goal in the third period of that loss to the Panthers.
The puck gets to Reinhart in the slot relatively without any type of pressure from the Golden Knights.
Defenseman Alec Martinez is late getting to Matthew Tkachuk in the bumper, who makes the easy pass to an open Reinhart, who was open because the rotations were a step behind the puck.
Reinhart is an All-Star for a reason, and he will almost always bury that shot if he's given that much time and space.
Those are the breakdowns that are hurting Vegas right now, and it's something that will probably be highlighted in film review.
It's a simple thing: the Golden Knights simply cannot be allowing a goal 60 percent of the time they take a penalty.
That's not a formula for success and everyone has to step up their game if they are looking to make another run at the Stanley Cup.
“Twenty guys come to the rink and play every night," Vegas captain Mark Stone said. "Everyone has to play better. Forwards have to play better, the D have to play better, goalie has to play better.”
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