The Golden Knights are on a bit of a skid. After the loss in Utah last night, they’ve now lost 10 of the last 15 games while amassing a record of 5-5-5.
What has made the last 15 games so tricky is that there isn’t exactly one problem plaguing the team. Puck management, goaltending, and finishing are the three that have come to the forefront most often, but digging deeper, there are plenty of areas to place the blame.
Here are some troubling facts about VGK over the past month.
- VGK have not scored more than 4 goals in any of the last 12 games after doing it 4 times in the first 10 games
- Jack Eichel has been on the ice for 19 of the last 37 goals VGK have allowed
- VGK have a shooting percentage of 7.61% since October 30th, the 7th worst in the league
- Pavel Dorofeyev has not scored an even-strength goal in November
- Just three players (Saad, Korczak, Lauzon) have a + rating over VGK’s last 12 games
- VGK have drawn 50 penalties while taking 39 in the last 13 games, but have scored just 1 more goal than their opponents on special teams
- The 4th line has not contributed a single goal in the last 15 games
- Noah Hanifin is a -6 and has been on the ice for 10 goals against at 5-on-5 since returning from injury
- Mitch Marner has scored 11 points in the last 15 games, a 60-point season-long pace
- A VGK goaltender has recorded a save percentage of better than .900 in 3 of the last 13 games
- Tomas Hertl has 9 points in the last 12 games, but has been on the ice for 11 goals for and 11 goals against at all strengths
- VGK have not won a game in which a defenseman failed to score since November 4th (10 games)
- Keegan Kolesar is a -6 and has been on the ice for 8 goals against in his last 120 minutes at 5-on-5.
- Jack Eichel is tied for 2nd in the league with 44 giveaways in 22 games
DeezNutz
Shooting percentage of 7.61% tells you everything you need to know about this team’s piss poor shot quality/accuracy. Pond hockey they should be embarrassed. Practice shooting!
trade
Vgk possible trade target….hey McCrimmon
tough, gritty, fast, and he can skate and score on any line.
Vancouver winger Kiefer Sherwood. Signed to a modest $1.5MM salary this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent, Sherwood has styled himself as an ideal playoff performer. Over the last two years with Vancouver, Sherwood has scored 31 goals and 56 points in 101 games, averaging 15:32 of ice time per game, while also delivering a whopping 560 hits.
knights fan in minny
Take a shot on the guy he’s got 12 goals He’s got 12 goals for a crappy team like Vancouver he could do pretty good here I guess they would want to pick or two then we can dump saad
trade
exactly right. He has more goals than any Knight, more than Doro, and almost as many goals as Eichel and Marner combined.
trade
Vgk 13th highest NHL franchise value. $2.1 Billion
13% increase over last year
$243 million revenue
$69 million net profit
#1 franchise value is Toronto 4.3 Billion
#2 is NyRangers 3.8 Billion
Emmanuel
Ive read about a third of teams are losing $, but the owners make it up when they sell……maybe its creative accounting.
Kevin Gullette
Cannot count how many times I am yelling at my TV, “Someone get in front of the damn goalie!” Very little traffic consistently! And last night guys were being a little too unselfish down low.
vgk21
if they shoot low most of the time, like Vgk unfortunately does, it is a guarantee of getting a low shooting %. right into the goalie pads
you gotta put the puck upstairs to score in the NHL.
or at least over the pad and under the glove, the 7 hole
vgk21
Vgk are 3 pts from 12th place in the conference, and they are also 3 pts from 2nd place in the conference.
so, a mediocre stretch in late Nov and into Dec is simply not advisable.
Pistol Pete
Not saying shot accuracy can’t improve but shot % can be misleading such as with teams with high shot totals. Plus you see dogs high on the list and high placing teams towards the bottom. Can be pretty misleading.
https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/best-shooting-percentage-nhl-team
Pistol Pete
VGK #13 in shots on goal. Can their shooting % improve? Yes course it can but will always be lower with a higher shooting team and VGK is in the upper half in shots on goal.
https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/shots-on-goal-nhl-team-leaders
Jake
The team is heartless without Stone.
How long has he been out?
Tim
Jake your right without Mark Stone this is a rudderless ship. He definitely is the engine which makes them go. In baseball a fractured hand your usually for about 2 months so he should be back pretty soon. I hope
Emmanuel
Stone is a factor but the teams structure is SEVERELY flawed.
No production in the bottom 1/2 of the roster.
Too many guys just got old, too many guys are bubble players.
Considering the talent @ goal & D the team overall defense is solid.
Solution: a G scoring LW.
TS
Jake, He’s BACK!! Hoo- rah!!
JB
To me Jack is the mystery. Many nights he just doesn’t seem to be there. Just skating around. He’s made it known he is really looking forward to the Olympics ! Maybe too much? Not engaging as much so he doesn’t get hurt? Just a thought. I too am looking forward to the Olympics, but I’m just a fan not a player. You still have to all in for your NHL team! I don’t know . But yea, we sure do miss Stoney. Wild Bill too!
TS
Jb, Jack just got married, so maybe his focus is divided right now. Not saying a woman can distract, but…..
JB
Finally married the girl huh!
Vic
Ken stated what most of us have seen with our eyes without looking at any stats. Jack needs to take a deep breath and return to the two-way player he was. Assists and goals will come, even when his focus is on winning and thinking two-ways first. I never liked him on the PK as he loses faceoffs and doesn’t stand out as a PK guy. The VGK is on the verge of being passed up by the younger, faster and hungrier teams. Look out when the Sharks come. Coach has to turn this malaise around asap. Can it happen? Of course, but the way the team is structured, the best we can hope for is playoffs and maybe winning a series. OT is another story. Pretty soon we will be asking, which is worse, the VGK OT play or the Raiders OL and Geno?
Emmanuel
Eichel is solid to slightly above avg defensively never understood all the Selke talk.
NAM
Eichel is the best defensive center on the team with Karlsson out. I think Karlsson being out is being over looked in this. I didn’t think Karl was having a great start to his season, but I felt he was starting get his grove right before the injury. I have long thought he is the center piece to this team, certainly defensively, even though Eichel gets pointed at a lot. Hertl is a boat anchor, he made the PP better, but made the team worse overall. Roy not being here is a big problem with the 4th line. They were always good for at least a goal every couple/few games. I feel like the 4th line ability right now is zero or near zero.
Emmanuel
Karlsson is a checker at this point, maybe a 35pt player which is OK, not a knock, every team needs a 3C like that. He is a bargain at that cost.
I was thinking maybe the 1 st line woes are because they may be lining up against top lines but im not sure.
Leonard Wise
There are many problems with this team. Turnovers leading to goals against. Lack of bottom six scoring. Average at best goaltending. Eichel and Marner struggling to score as well as making costly turnovers. Falling behind early in games. Bowman has been a bright spot and we can only hope Hart brings excellent goalie play. But the 4th line has yet to score. Maybe just not a good mix of players. There’s still time to right the ship but it may require trades or bringing players up to replace those not producing.
Emmanuel
The team hasnt been the same since the do-nothing 2025 trade deadline.
Re-acquiring Smith was a sop to the fanbase.
VGK will be a playoff threat in a terrible division but its 1 & done from now on for a few years, they wont be able to beat a legit power from another divsion.
FG
The upcoming four game homestand features teams that are either young, fast, or some combination of both, similar to the Ducks and Mammoth. It will present a challenge for a team that looks slow and not aging gracefully. In the previous years, it would be a Thanksgiving holiday feast of bumslaying, but the fight is being taken to the VGK.
To win, VGK needs some combination of bottom six, defensemen, and PP goals. If not, they will find it difficult to win.
JB
This four game homestand could be the forecaster to the rest of the season. We must win at home, period! We get 6-8 points, we are back in business. We don’t it’s going to be a tuff ROAD ahead!