**Steve Carp’s twice-weekly column publishes every Wednesday and Sunday during the Golden Knights season.**

Nate Schmidt’s return to the Golden Knights’ lineup is exactly a week away. Suffice to say, he has been missed more than anyone ever realized.

I’m not going to get into the 20-game suspension the NHL meted out to the defenseman after testing positive for a banned substance prior to the season. We’re never going to learn the real circumstances as to what happened or what the substance was.

But if NHL Players Association executive director Don Fehr is smart, he’ll demand that transparency be built into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. It will benefit the players to not have to hide behind a bunch of legalities when and if someone gets popped.

It would have been nice if Schmidt could have come clean and told the world exactly what happened. But what’s done is done. And as we look ahead to next Sunday and beyond, Schmidt’s return is not only welcome, it is critical to the team’s breaking out of its early-season morass and get itself into contention in the Pacific Division.

You all know the numbers. Schmidt leads the team in time on ice. He will help give Vegas’ anemic power play a boost. He’ll help make the penalty killing unit stronger as part of the second unit (Deryk Engelland and Brayden McNabb are the top D pair on the PK).

Then there are the intangibles that come with having Nate on the ice. He usually is skating against the opposition’s top forward and does a very good job of limiting the opponent’s chances. He will help the Knights’ transition from defense to offense because he is such a good passer and he sees the ice so well. He also will join the rush and support the attack.

I’m sure his teammates will be glad to have him back. He was warmly received in Ottawa the other day as he practiced with the team. He probably regaled the boys with stories of his time in Austria and how he helped the Vienna Capitals maintain their grip on the top spot in the Austrian League by his presence on the ice at the Caps’ practices.

That’s all well and good. But now is the time to step in, produce and lift up the Golden Knights. They sure could have used him Saturday at the Bell Centre. To cough up leads of 2-0 and 4-3 and lose to Tomas Tatar and the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 and come away with zero points should have left the players angry.

The Knights wrap up the four-game road trip tonight in Boston. They’re two games below .500 (7-9-1) with 15 points. When you’re swimming upstream and you have a chance to get to .500 and you let it get away, it’s the kind of night that come the off-season, you’ll look back on it and say, “How the hell did we let that one get away from us?”

And while you can say the Knights didn’t have Schmidt, Engelland, Paul Stastny and Erik Haula Saturday in Montreal, the fact is they had control of this game and there are no excuses.

Read More

**Steve Carp’s twice-weekly column publishes every Wednesday and Sunday during the Golden Knights season.**

At first glance, it looked like a typical hockey play.

Erik Haula had just released the puck and Patrick Marleau was finishing his check on the Golden Knights’ center just over five minutes into the third period of what would be a 3-1 Toronto Maple Leafs win. But Haula landed awkwardly, clutching his right knee.

Obviously, this was serious.

Haula was stretchered off the ice at the Scotiabank Centre and it’s likely he’s going to be out for a while. Gerard Gallant said he’ll know more today, but even he admitted after the game it didn’t look good.

So what do the Knights do?

They can call someone up from Chicago of the AHL. They can play one of the current members of the 23-man roster, Ryan Carpenter perhaps. Or maybe general manager George McPhee works the phones and trades for someone. That would likely depend on the length of time Haula is out.

Paul Stastny is still a few weeks from returning to the lineup. Max Pacioretty returned to the ice Tuesday after he missed four games. He actually looked O.K. playing on the line with Haula and Alex Tuch.

I’m tempted to call that trio “The Jinx Line.” Tuch was out at the start of the season with an injury. Then Pacioretty missed some time. Now, it’s Haula’s turn.

Read More

**Steve Carp’s twice-weekly column publishes every Wednesday and Sunday during the Golden Knights season.**

We’ve all had the flu. And what happens? We’re in bed. We’re lethargic. We essentially feel like crap.

And here’s what else that happens. There’s no magic cure. You’re not going to instantaneously get better. The doctor says you have to let it run its course.

Which brings us to the Golden Knights.

Think of your favorite team as a flu-ridden patient that is trying to get better. Right now, the Knights have the bug, and I’m not talking the infamous “Vegas Flu.” They lack consistency. They are lacking focus in certain areas. Some of the team’s top players are in a funk while others are simply struggling (we see ya, Jon Merrill!).

Coach Gerard Gallant is doing everything but provide chicken soup for the hockey soul. But he is limited in the number of remedies he can use. He benched the struggling Merrill in St. Louis Thursday for Brad Hunt. He returned Marc-Andre Fleury to the crease against the Blues. He continues to juggle his third line in the hopes of finding a spark.

But the team dropped both games on the brief road trip to Nashville and St. Louis earlier in there week. However, they bounced back with a solid effort Saturday to beat Carolina 3-0 at home with Hunt scoring the game-winner in the first period.

How big was the win? For starters, it snapped the modest two-game losing streak. It also pulled the Knights to within a game of .500 at 6-7-1. The 13 points ties Vegas with Anaheim for sixth place in the Pacific Division and they’re just five points out of first place, a number that’s hardly insurmountable on Nov. 4.

Finally, it gives the team some positive momentum going into the upcoming four-game road trip which begins Tuesday in Toronto. Pick up a few points on the East Coast swing and suddenly the sky isn’t falling.

“I thought we played three or four really good games and this one was in the mix for sure,” Gallant said of the consistent effort his team gave over 60 minutes Saturday. “I hope it carries over and continues on the (road) trip.”

We all know this team is missing some key pieces. Not having Nate Schmidt on the blue line has impacted the Knights far more than anyone could have imagined and his return is still a couple of weeks away. Paul Stastny is out for another month or so. Max Pacioretty will return soon, but his absence has been noticeable.

Combined, that’s three players who would be making a major impact on any given night.

However, you knew what the reality was, especially with Schmidt. That 20-game suspension, which Gallant said he treated like an injury, has really hurt this team. Unlike a year ago when Fleury missed 29 games with a concussion, the Knights managed to hold together their goaltending situation. The defense has not been able to do that this year with Nate out of the lineup.

Read More