Golden Knights get balanced scoring, making it a tough team to beat early.
The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Thursday at SAP Center.
Michael Amadio, Nicolas Hague, Nicolas Roy and Brayden Pachal all scored. Logan Thompson made 22 saves in the victory.
The Golden Knights return to the ice Saturday to take on the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Here are three takeaways:
Blue line scoring
Hague scored the game winner, but most of the attention went to Pachal who scored his first career NHL goal.
“The boys were super excited. There was a lot of hooting and hollering and a lot of congratulations,” Pachal said.” It’s super cool. It’s a dream come true. Growing up playing hockey, it’s one of those things about scoring your first NHL goal.”
The blue line, outside of Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, doesn’t do a lot of scoring for the Golden Knights.
That’s one area the Golden Knights could see more production from in an offensive sense. If it can get more scoring from Hague and other blue liners, the Golden Knights will be a tough team to match up with.
Balanced offense
This bring up point No. 2 about the offense. It’s balanced.
Ten Golden Knights reached the scoresheet against the Sharks and the four goals were scored not by big-name players.
“Tonight, it was our guys that we don’t typically rely on that plalyed some of the best hockey for us. That shows when you’re a good team,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “ You don’t need your top guys to play your ‘A’ game all the time to win. Some of them were fine, but not dominant like they can be. It’s not the usual suspects. You need that to win on regular basis. It can’t be one or two lines.”
Amadio, Roy, Hague and Pachal combined for 33 goals last season. These are the types of players that separate contenders from pretenders. Getting solid contributions from third-, fourth-line players and defensemen allow the likes of Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault to have off nights.
Thompson feeling like ‘himself’
Thompson earned his first win since March 23 against Calgary.
He looked good in net and will serve as 1B getting a fair number of starts this season.
“I’m relieved it’s over. I always say the first one is the hardest. Happy to get the win,” Thompson said. “I thought the guys played great and made my life pretty easy out there. Getting through that first period. Second period I got settled in and started controlling rebounds and start feeling like myself.”
Thompson was an All-Star last season. He looks to complement Adin Hill in net as the Golden Knights aim to keep both goalies healthy and fresh throughout the regular season. Neither goalie has played more than 40 games in a season.
If the Golden Knights are going to repeat, both Hill and Thompson will be relied upon.