Three takeaways from the Golden Knights' 4-3 preseason victory over the Avalanche

LAS VEGAS – The Vegas Golden Knights rallied from a three-goal deficit to leave T-Mobile Arena with a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in their sixth preseason game.

Paul Cotter scored the game winner at 18:43 of the third period. Nicolas Roy, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jonathan Marchessault also scored. Logan Thompson made 31 saves.

“At the end of the day, a win’s a win, so we’ll take it,” Cotter said. “No matter what there’s always room for improvement. We got some guys who are younger in the lineup, but that’s how it is at the start of the season. You start to get your legs. There are some things you can’t control. There are a lot of things you can control. Obviously physicality, and the one thing we could have done a little better was get to the front of the net and create a little chaos.”

Here are the three takeaways from the game:

Last season’s power play had plenty of dry spells, and Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy wanted to see his team improve specifically in that area.

The team went 0-for-3 on the man advantage, but it did display some new wrinkles, particiuarly on the first unit featuring Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson. They had three shots on the power play, but also had prime opportunities to score, especially on the third go around.

It’s a work in progress, but if it’s any indication, it’s definitely an area of interest that the Golden Knights want to improve on.

“When preseason happens, those passes are half a second late or not on target. The execution is not quite there,” Marchessault said. “That’s something personally that I definitely want to improve. You have to give them credit. They have a good PK. They pressure a lot. They’re really good. But when we make good tape to tape passes, take what is given, we make good plays and have good scoring chances. Tonight, it didn’t hurt us, but it didn’t help us.”

Eichel wore the ‘A’ in the game as the assistant captain, but Cassidy did not officially name him the assistant. In fact, Cassidy said the team will decide that when training camp is over.

That said, Eichel, who was a captain on the Buffalo Sabres, offers leadership qualities that would make him a prime candidate to be the assistant captain.

“He’s good with the younger players in term of his age,” Cassidy said. “His connection is good [with younger players]. … That helps when you have a younger guy. Some of the older guys are in another phase of your life with children etc. So to have a younger guy to connect [is helpful]. He can connect with different age groups of the team.”

Cotter said he was disappointed with how he was playing until the third period. That’s when things clicked, ultimately resulting in a goal.

Cassidy liked what Cotter did and likes what Cotter has to offer as a potential left wing to William Karlsson.

He’s big bodied, physical, and has a good shot, similar to the other left wingers – Brett Howden, Ivan Barbashev, and William Carrier.

It’s for this reason that Cassidy is giving him the first opportunity to win the vacant job.

“He can forecheck and squash you on the boards,” Cassidy said. “He’s a big man who’s powerful. He can bring that to his game. When he does, he’s a difference maker. … Our left side like ‘Barby,’ Carrier and when ‘Howie’s’ over there, those are big men who can do that. We want him to be one of those guys.”