Las Vegas, N.V.– Despite outshooting the San Jose Sharks 25-5 after the first 40 minutes, the Vegas Golden Knightsentered the third period trailing 2-1. They tied it up 3:18 into the third, but in the end, the Golden Knights only scored two goals on 29 shots, and ultimately fell 4-2 to the Sharks in the preseason finale.
Them’s the breaks.
For the 10th time in franchise history, the Golden Knights do not go undefeated in the preseason. Maybe next year.
But they got what they wanted out of it. They won three of their four preseason games, and the veterans got to get their feet wet. And, most importantly, they escaped the preseason completely unscathed. There was a moment of concern in the third period when Jeremy Lauzon went down hard after blocking a shot, but in true Jeremy Lauzon fashion, he didn’t miss a shift.
Ryan Craig said it best: “I really liked our first 40. And, uh, we got out healthy in the third.”
1. Defense Wins Championships
With guys like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner on the roster, the Golden Knights have a lot of offensive talent. However, at their core, they are a defense-first team. They always have been, and they probably always will be.
“Vegas has always been one of the best defensive teams,” said Tomáš Hertl postgame. “We did the same thing [tonight]. We kept them to the outside, didn’t allow many shots.”
Tonight was no exception– the Golden Knights allowed just two shots in the first period, and three in the second. They allowed more shots in the third period– 12 in total– but very few were dangerous. The Golden Knights allowed only five high-danger scoring chances throughout 60 minutes, and generated 10.
2. Right Recipe, Wrong Results
Although the Golden Knights didn’t win tonight, they feel like they have a winning recipe. They did a lot of things well both defensively and offensively, and the general feeling is that, if they play that way all season, they’ll come out on the right side more times than not.
“We did a really good job of putting pucks behind their D,” said Nic Dowd postgame. “When we had opportunities to make plays through the neutral zone, we did. We hung on the pucks in the neutral zone and put pucks into good areas, and we were getting them back. And, you know, the best recipe is to go play in the ozone.
“And line changes,” Dowd continued. “Like, we out-changed them multiple times. We had one-to-two minute shifts in the ozone. Pucks didn’t go in, but that’s just how it works in the NHL. At times, those are going to go in, and maybe you win the game 4 or 5 to 1, 5 to 2. We didn’t tonight. But again, I think we have a lot of good things to build on.”
For the most part, the Golden Knights played well tonight. They made very few defensive mistakes, and though they didn’t convert on many of their scoring chances, they had no problem generating them.
“We had a lot of looks,” said Tomáš Hertl following the loss. “If we bury a couple of them, it goes the other way. Sometimes, that’s how it goes.”
3. Next One Counts
Most teams don’t go undefeated in the preseason. Sure, some do– the 2015-16 Colorado Avalanche and the 2016-17 Arizona Coyotes, for example– but preseason is all about teaching moments.
“I actually thought we did a lot of really good things today,” said Nic Dowd following the loss. “Mistakes are gonna happen, but the good thing about that is that those are learning opportunities, right?”
The Golden Knights veterans have played in the last two preseason games, and they look ready to go. They’ve shaken off the rust and improved in the areas they wanted to.
“The things we wanted to clean up or see improvement on, especially through 40 minutes today, I thought we did,” said head coach Ryan Craig postgame. “I thought our defending, our checking habits, our break outs, all those things that we touched on yesterday, were good. And it led to the o-zone and to the offensive chances that we created. I thought those things were a real positive as we move forward here.”
The NHL season kicks off for real on Tuesday when the Golden Knights host the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. PST.
