(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)
The Golden Knights are seven games into their 2023 postseason run and eight different players have scored goals. Two names noticeably absent from that list are Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith.
They haven’t scored at all and we’ve still won five games out of seven. We feel like we have enough guys in the locker room can score goals for us. -Bruce Cassidy
However, Vegas’ offense would look a lot more potent if they were getting offensive production out of the franchise’s #1 and #2 top goal scorers all time. Smith and Marchessault have combined for 274 goals in a Golden Knights jersey not including the 34 they’ve potted in the playoffs. Marchessault’s 28 led the team this year and Smith was just one behind Eichel at 26.
Cassidy’s concern level isn’t exactly absent though. He knows they’ll eventually need more out of those two. At the moment, he believes one is a lot closer than the other to opening their playoff scoring accounts.
Marchessault has been close, the last game he got some good looks. His game is closer to scoring than Reilly. I think Reilly needs to get to the interior ice a little more often. The rush game hasn’t been there that much for them and that’s where he and Karlsson have always been good. The onus becomes on the player when you’re not scoring to put yourself in areas where you’ll see more pucks. That’s usually in the slot and in front. That’s not a natural place for Reilly so he’ll just have to keep playing through it. -Cassidy
The numbers bear that out as well. Marchessault has been directly responsible for 16 scoring chances to Smith’s nine. Marchessault has also posted 2.0 individual expected goals while Smith is 25% behind at 1.5.
The gap is even starker in the two games against the Oilers as Marchessault has generated six scoring chances with five high danger while Smith has accounted for just two chances and zero high danger.
For me, just help us win. The goals will come eventually because the resume says they will so that’s what I believe if we play long enough. -Cassidy
In Game 1, that happened. Game 2, not as much. If the Golden Knights get back in the win column without either 81 or 19 on the scoresheet, no one will care. But if the Oilers take a series lead, the pressure will start to really ramp up on two of the original Misfits.
One significant change the Golden Knights are going to try tonight in order to get these two going is switching them on the PP units. Marchessault now with the Eichel group. https://t.co/SWKrdILmhI
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 8, 2023
Brian Scro
Cassidy needs to get the top line of Eichel, Stone, and Stephenson together, bring the misfit line back, Howden, Barbie, and Amadio for 3, and Roy, Carrier, Kolesar for 4. Either that, or since we literally can’t beat them gooning, drop Carrier and Kolesar for Dorofoyev and Cotter and try to get better scoring potential.
Larry
I’ve been harping on that continuously… unfortunately!!!
Tim
Win tonight or make your vacation plans it’s that simple. All that woulda, coulda, shouda, shit goes out the window. It’s money time no F ing excuses.
THE hockey GOD
Where does the media get off on calling a Hispanic gangster a “white supremacist”?
Roberto
If you ever wanted to dig in and do research beyond what’s found on websites run by the trolls from Olgino, the associations between certain groups of people with others that seem unrelated and uncomplimentary are as troubling as they are wild.
Either that, or just look for the SS tats.
Two goals from Marchessault tonight. Two assists Smith.
Jailbird
LB out! Didn’t look good, probably done. Hillin, Quick back in the picture!
knights fan in minny
the god damm national media better start talking about the vegas golden knights
Sandra L Scheidt
They talked last night. Called Zack Whitecloud name Mc Cloud then just cloud. Said it should be tolite paper. How rude. He was awesome and emotional giving the guy a chance to apologize, which he did. So proud that he kept his cool. I didn’t.