Through four games, the Golden Knights have lit the lamp 10 times. Four against Seattle, one against each of the Kings and Blues, and three last night against Edmonton. Only seven teams have scored fewer to this point and there are a combined six wins in 28 games between those teams.
The Golden Knights are understandably struggling to score as they fight through injuries that have $26.5 million out of the lineup. However, in the past two games, head coach Pete DeBoer has been encouraged with the offensive output.
When we take Stone, Pacioretty, and Tuch out of the lineup, we know scoring isn’t going to come easily. Actually, the last two games without those guys in I’ve found that we’ve generated enough chances offensively to score some goals. We got three tonight, could have had four or five. So from an offensive perspective, I feel better about our chances of scoring enough to win with those guys out for however long they’re out but we’ve got to get our goals against down. -DeBoer
The raw numbers bore it out too.
Vegas fired 72 shot attempts last night with 39 of them making it, or through, the goalie. Against St. Louis those numbers were 64 attempts and 43 shots on goal. All plenty enough to score three or four times in a game.
Even digging deeper, VGK came up with 3.64 expected goals vs. the Blues and backed it up with a decent 2.86 against the high-powered Oilers.
12 different Golden Knights have individually generated at least two scoring chances in the last two games helping build a team total of 28 high-danger scoring chances created in 120 minutes.
The Golden Knights are getting dangerous chances in the center of the ice, but just haven’t found a way to beat goalies enough to this point.
Team Goals Scored Above Expected – October 23
As much as one hates to make everything about the Leafs… it's kinda hard not to make this one about the Leafs pic.twitter.com/I8bCBTzBP3
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 23, 2021
At face value, these are numbers you’d expect to turn around for the Golden Knights, but historically, they’ve always had problems in this area. Someone, or preferably multiple people, are going to have to step forward in the finishing department. The Golden Knights need above-average performance from a group of players. To this point, they’ve gotten it in generation, but haven’t in producing the final product.
Finally, and obviously, the power play, which has gone 0 for 9 to start the season and 0 for 27 dating back to last year, has been a huge thorn in the side of the Golden Knights. Failing on a 5-on-3 against Edmonton and two chances to take the lead against St. Louis went by the wayside, any of which could have given Vegas that extra goal to push them over the top. One power play goal per game would massively lighten the load.
DeBoer’s message last night was that the defending must pick up if the Golden Knights are going to turn around this early-season slump. But, no matter what the numbers say, they’re going to have to find a way to stick real pucks in real nets and despite the last two games showing encouraging signs, until they do it, the cause for concern will only continue to grow.
Daryl
Forget offense, the defense looks horrible and the PP is non existant, literally
Shawn
Power play IS offense. Defense is scoring. Thanks, Senior Analyst.
Daryl
Defense is scoring? How many goals do our defenseman have? Thought so. And offense is more than just the PP. And in fact, PP is a specialized unit.
So much for being an analyst of anything
Richard Santomauro
The players who need to begin cashing in on offense are:
1-Kolesar. This guy is a beast on the ice, skates well, is superb along the boards and always seems to have an opportunity to bury at least 2 pucks in the net every game. However, for some reason, like a pro golfer who cannot seem to hit the cup from 4 feet, Kolesar seems to have a mental block when it comes to puck shooting skill. IF, and that’s a big ***IF*** he can get this fixed then VGK’s chances at success on the 3rd line will go way up. Until that happens, Kolesar is a 4th line player at best with Janmark, Patrick, and Roy on the 3rd line.
2- Roy seems to be the best addition to the 3rd line. In fact, he did a better job last night than any of the original Misfits.
3- Patrick actually found the net last night. I’ve watched him since game 1 of the preseason and he has impressed me with his positioning, passing and abilities. He has earned his place on that 3rd line. There is a ton of upside there.
4- I remain unimpressed with Krebs, Dadanov and Howden. Krebs has the most potential but needs to work on his toughness and physicality, both things which are not going to be resolved this season. He’s young and it is going to take some time. There are other players on the HSK roster that I would like to see not the least of which is Jack Dugan and Danill Miromanov.
Any word as to why Miromanov was activated and not played?
Michael Verner Smith
With the injury to Whitecloud he will play tomorrow
THE hockey GOD
i’d call up HAYES instead, because with Russian – no 42, on D it’s going to be a Turkey shoot, worse than it is now. A lot worse.
THE hockey GOD
krebs is 20 years old, this is perfect time to get seasoning in NHL. I say keep playing him, he’s is getting closer to scoring each game. I’d like to see no. 15 back in line up too.
Bad Vlad
Ba ha ha ha. He is the exact opposite of ready. Every single game he gets at least 1 goal scored on him when he’s on the ice. And usually more than one.
He’s not even ready for the AHL.
You could stick any HSK player in the line up for Krebs and they would do as least as good. Any player!!
jason mason
Aren’t you the same guy that was complaining Krebs was nowhere near ready for the NHL just a few months ago when I took a puck to the jaw? You had absolutely nothing good to say then, and now you’re in the keep playing him camp? Maybe it’s simply because they don’t have much choice but play him.
I’m also a little worried that he haven’t complained about the bad ice lately, but you’re probably drinking everything “neat” now, so it’s less of an issue for you.
THE hockey GOD
yes- situation has been over come by events.
Which proves I have an open mind and willing to see things in real time, unlike some of the vegas degenerate gamblers and losers that post hate here 24/7.
And shows that I don’t always trash the FO or stick up for them.
Richard Santomauro
The FO deserves the trashing as does the coaching staff. But, I will credit this FO and coach for giving Krebs time to develop even if he isn’t ready. I also like the Nolan Patrick acquisition.
Richard Santomauro
Pavel Dorofoyev (sp) needs a legitimate shot. Why not? Krebs is not ready for this level, but he’s getting good experience. Just call it a rebuilding year and call it what it is. Dump anyone over the age of 32 and let’s get on with it.
Vlad
How quickly mcrimmon, the former junior hockey coach now nhl gm (yup that is laughable) ,dismantled this team is remarkable. Coach gone. Quality players gone. Culture gone. Work ethic gone.
NOTHING has improved since mcrimmon swindled his way into this mess
John W
Until the PP is fixed (or improved), teams will continue to take “liberties” with our forwards, especially Krebs.
This is a detriment that goes above and beyond the missing 2 or 3 goals that a functioning PP should have scored by now.
Probably 2-2 even with the injuries, if Deboer and Spot designed and coached the right systems here.
It is embarrassing that this gap continues, and has been made worse by un-looked for weakness on the PK.
Hdbiker7851
Apparently time has not run out on Spott which is a mystery at best. He was supposedly the PP “fixer”. He needs to go along with a few others. Zero for 9 this yr and zero for 27 in total going back is a joke. Had that been fixed they may have had the chance to raise the Cup. PP goals can ibe the difference between winning and loosing. Worse than no goals is the opportunity of being hurt as the consequence of the other team being penalized is ZERO. This situation has been going on way to long. Foley make a move you don’t need to put up with this.
THE hockey GOD
maybe it’s the players, and not the PP coach? What happens if they switch PP coaches and the PP still sucks ???
Other than Max Patches, VGK does not seem to have PP type players. Or a cohesive PP unit.
You see how Oilers execute on their PP ?? Does VGK have any players that can execute like that ?
Vlad
Exactly why you don’t want or need players like Krebs in the line up
He’s taking up space and doesn’t even do that well.
In fact Krebs isn’t even ready for the AHL
knights fan in minny
your ready for the nut house high crier
THE hockey GOD
krebs hasn’t played much on the PP, again you don’t know what team you are looking at half the time, more coffee please.
Richard Santomauro
Does it matter if Krebs is on the PP or not? Of course not. He wouldn’t make a difference. He has upside but maybe next year.
Hdbiker7851
Thg – let’s change and see what happens, certainly couldn’t be any worse.
Daryl
It’s possible, but we’ve used differ t players for the past 3 years and it’s still not fixed. At some point, you just have to accept that he isn’t a very good coach and needs to go
let's go McCrimmon
the perpetual, horrible, game-losing PP is just glossed over by most media. Where are the critical articles about Spott?
Where are the media demands for accountability for McCrimmon, who added 3 guys who have done ZERO to improve the PP ? he could fire Spott, but then DeBoer would cry over his SJ buddy getting canned
Tim
Number one problem the non-existent Power Play Number two problem non-existent Power Play. You play your ass off 5 on 5 and you stay close then the dreaded Power Play. Most teams will make one on occasion not us I think were 0-27 now whats a harsher word then pathetic. DeBoer and our PP players are out latest excuse but everyone was there for Montreal and 0-16.
Henderson One
The team played a fairly good game last night. Having said that, the team being put on the ice is somewhere between an AHL team and an NHL team. The team, due to the noted injuries, is not an NHL caliber team overall. This has been noted in the attendance and the depressed price of VGK tickets.
The Power Play is non existent. They looked very confused last night and did not seem to be able to even handle a 5 on 3 PP. The Coach responsible for this should be relieved since he has not been able to fix it for two seasons.
Hopefully, those injured will be able to return before the season is lost. PDB now has a built in excuse for his poor coaching.
Vlad
Rangers score 3 goals in 4 minutes with last goal scored with 2 mins left in game. Beat Ottawa 3-2
Gallant and reeves smiling from ear to ear
And what does Vegas have. NO wins. Da Bore and mcrimmon. Not to mention that pylon Krebs who gets jammed into the line up every night making a bad situation worse
knights fan in minny
blah blah you spew the same old crap go out and get some air or find a tall bridge mr bitter
LVsc
Edmonton Oilers 5 0 0 10
San Jose Sharks 4 0 0 8
Calgary Flames 2 1 1 5
Vancouver Canucks 2 2 1 5
Anaheim Ducks 2 3 0 4
Los Angeles Kings 1 2 1 3
Seattle Kraken 1 3 1 3
Vegas Golden Knights 1 3 0 2
dead last place. and 10 games from now it won’t likely be any better.
Bad Vlad
Too bad Vegas fans have to witness the destruction of such a good team by simply hiring a junior hockey coach as gm with no nhl experience. The good ol days in Vegas are nothing but a distant memory I’m afraid
knights fan in minny
are you related to doc bitter mild vlad
D Grannen
As I told my wife last night, there was a small bright side to the power plays last night.
At least we didn’t give up any short handed goals.
PS
For the last year or so I have called it the NV ENERGY POWER OUTAGE.
THE hockey GOD
@grannen you could have called it the climate change pledge power play
dun
dun dun dun
dun
dun dun dun dun dun
Bad Vlad
Penguins without 5 of their 6 top players tonight and still spanking the leafs
They are lucky they don’t have Krebs! Ha ha ha
knights fan in minny
you should go to docs new site and boar those people vlad the bitter
Big Bad Vlad
Sounds like someone needs a safe space… back to mommy’s basement
knights fan in minny
i have my own basement stupid i need a safe place explain yourself you bitter piece of crap
Vlad
No you don’t momma’s boy. Mommy still probably wipes yur ass for you
Daryl
Don’t be talking about my Pens
Blitz
I thought last night was the best game of the season so far for vgk. That’s not saying alot, but easily the best game by both Krebs and Patrick and more gelling of the lines that were put out there. VGK was pretty sound defensively….at times. The flow of the team was much cleaner and the play less erratic. I am guessing Deboer let up on the amazing neutral zone attack that shit canned this teams top defense over the summer.
None of this makes any one feel better, but I feel like the team last night would have beat STL from the game before or other teams not as dangerous as the Oilers. Before last night I couldn’t even envision how this team was going to beat *anyone* during this injured stretch. After last night I see a team that can put together a few wins and is making improvements. Just stop with the fucking injuries already.
Pistol Pete
$8m/yr. VGK former prospect Nick Suzuki off to a sluggish start for Montreal this season:
six games: 0/1/-4
Cole Caufiled not doing much either:
six games: 0/1/-2
It’s early.
Pistol Pete
$8m/yr. for Suzuki is speculative, potentially an overreach IMO. 41 pts each of first two seasons (second was 41 in 56 games which is stronger) averaging .62 pts/game and -24. Playoffs are stronger @ .72 pts/game -3. After all this was a VGK prospect with some talk that it was a poor play to move him. Kind of doubt he’ll be a Pacioretty.
T.S.
Coach can talk all he wants about how team is improving. Scoring is improving. All is good in the Knights’ world. I’M JUST NOT BUYING IT. Our team is woefully depleted. So many early injuries setting us way back. PP is NOT improving. Scoring is lacking. Again.. Sorry to say, but it lands with COACH. I believe the FLEURY trade has contributed mightily to the downward trend— if MGMT had no problem throwing Fleury away, then the other players are ALSO under the knife…BAD WORKING ENVIRONMENT, I’D SAY.
Blitz
I agree with this. People want to down play how much Fleury and guys like Schmidt brought to the locker room. Some shit about being professional and this doesn’t matter. It matters a whole lot. A season is hard for a NHL player. Do you look forward to doing it with your buddies as a kick ass collective or are you in the USSR and you just exists for a purpose of playing? I have been on lots of teams over the years and it even relates to work, if you like and have fun with your teammates you achieve more and get much better effort. Call it chemistry. Add in GMs and coaches you don’t respect, shit goes dark.
Richard Santomauro
100% agree. Without chemistry, it matters not how much talent you buy. And therein lies the McCrimmon problem.
ulf
“When we take Stone, Pacioretty, and Tuch out of the lineup, we know scoring isn’t going to come easily” says DeBoer. “This is the best forward group I’ve ever played with” says Stone (apparently forgetting about his Team Canada roster and a couple of seasons with winning Sens teams).
If you take 3 of the top scorers out of the lineup any team will have a harder time, but at least now the illusion is outed – this is not a very deep Vegas team after all. The sooner we understand that the best.
Pistol Pete
There are not many rosters out there where you remove three top forwards and depth is not significantly impacted unless one is dreaming on it (and/or bashing the VGK fan base).
Actually VGK has decent depth remaining, it’s a question of getting everything working including two way defense and the PP.
ulf
oh I agree, although recent examples like Pittsburgh show that even with losing half your team (Crosby, Malkin, Letang included), if you have the right systems and players that buy into that system you’ve got a good chance to win against many teams.
Pacific is the worst division in hockey – or at least it was. Edmonton is coming together, LA is on the rise and even SJS are playing decently. But we need a more in-synch plan with the players and the systems (including PP strategies) to take advantage of this weakness and win a few games while we can.
Daryl
My Pens ate doing just fine while missing half their lineup… Just hope it continues
ulf
yeah well done to them – proof of systems + the right players = competitiveness, no excuses
LVsc
Schoen twitter—-
The Golden Knights enter tonight’s game against the Islanders on a 3-game losing skid. They haven’t lost four consecutive games in regulation since Jan. 7-14, 2020. (Gerard Gallant was fired as coach the next day.)
Daryl
So what you are saying is there is still a chance???
THE hockey GOD
gallant didn’t have half his team and his best players on LIR !! Plus there isn’t a better coach out there, unless you like the old/used up ex Toronto and ex Wings coach (babcock) or maybe bring in 90 year old Scotty Bowman ?
who is your choice ???
no one. Ok , got it.
Daryl
There were choices when they took PDB
Blitz
Jets/preds game last night. Schmidt (3 excellent 1st assists), Stasny (2 goals), and Cousins (1g 2a) all had great games.
Schmidt has 6 assists on the season and is +5. Pietrangelo has 0 points and is -6.
We needed a center. We needed a damn center.
Blitz
Actually let me rephrase. We needed a center. We didn’t need a coach, we didn’t need a new goalie, we didn’t need a high dollar d man. We needed a solid puck distributing center.
ulf
that’s exactly right. Spending so much on other things and just not getting that 1C deal done is a big F. It’s not like there weren’t options out there…management just wasn’t willing to pay the price. The window on this group is smaller than we think….Foley’s win in 6 years is coming up fast, and after that with not much top-of-the-line talent on the farm, it’s going to be a slow decline.
THE hockey GOD
i liked 88 his first two years with VGK, then he went down hill rapidly the next two years. His 20 game suspension due to drugs didn’t help his case either. Strat had him as a 3 / 5 , o/d. 5 ‘s are given out very rarely. Last two years he went down to a 2 on defense. My lasting memories of him in VGK uniform are repeatedly being face planted in front of his own net by bigger opposing forwards in the semi finals. His time with the knights was shaked, baked, done, and burnt. Over. EVen a blind squirrel finds a nut, or seeds in the dead of winter, at midnight, in middle of snow storm, thirty below, locked out of your car, with dead battery, and no cell phone coverage, 10 miles from nearest farm.
Get back to us all in April, when it really counts.
knights fan in minny
when will the backup keeper get a start
Tim
Like Gene Hackman stated in Hoosiers this is your team. If your not happy you have 31 other flavors to choose from. If all the players are out long term maybe the experience of the young players will help us down the road. The next three games are going to test our metal so continue playing hard and maybe we’ll have a little puck luck.
Bad Vlad
Mcrimmon has gutted the team. See it for what it is
Gallant
Reeves
Schmidt
Fleury
Perron
Etc
He ripped out the heart and culture out of the team
Now it’s just excuse after excuse.
No stone no pac. But let’s not forget they were in the line up in the playoffs and what did they do? N O T H I N G
Penguins missing 5 of their top 6 and still dominate. Why? Cause the team isn’t built like the house of cards mcrimmon has cobbled together.
And sooner or later someone will wake up and end the infatuation and obsession mcrimmin has for Krebs and realize he is nothing more than a minus player who gets few if any shots and no goals. While the coach sits on the podium crying he needs players to score more goals
Sadly the injured player excuse will be ridden like a rented mule by da bore and mcriminal
knights fan in minny
the little bitch is back crying again make yourself feel good go kick your dog mr bitter
THE hockey GOD
ignore the troll, he’s sobering up and looking for another bottle of vodka
knights fan in minny
your right THG i will be done with the complainer
The BIG, The BAD, The Vlad
deny deny deny… the VGK record and results speak for themselves