Lawless: Observations on Season's Start for Golden Knights
VGK Insider breaks down early successes for team
The Golden Knights have lost games to the division-leading Calgary Flames and defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Vegas is winning the games it should and while the loss to Calgary was clearcut the VGKers came very close to getting the Colorado game to OT.
Cassidy's defensive system has shown it can be effective when properly deployed but it remains a work in progress as the players adjust and change habits. The power play is showing signs of life for the first time in forever, but the PK is currently struggling. New structure and systems have resulted in an adjustment period, but the team is still winning.
The priority in Cassidy's system is to limit the opposition's High Danger Chances and that's working so far. Vegas is eighth in the NHL in limiting HDC against with 10 HDC against per 60 minutes of play.
This improvement has Vegas operating at 2.21 xGoals against per 60 minutes of play which is 7th in the NHL.
Vegas has only lost the xG against and HDC against battle at 5v5 in one of its six games which was a loss to Calgary.
Here are some early observations:
Crisis what crisis? Vegas was supposed to have its season ruined by a goaltending crisis when it was announced Robin Lehner would miss the season due to hip surgery.
GM Kelly McCrimmon traded for Adin Hill who along with Logan Thompson has combined for a team save percentage of .929 that ranks sixth in the NHL. The duo has allowed just 13 goals through six games and the goaltending has been good enough in every game to give Vegas a chance to win. Team save percentage at 5v5 is .949 well above the league average of .919. Great start for these two young goalies.
The schedule: Three of the next four games on the schedule for Vegas are against teams which missed the playoffs last season. After that it's a five-game road trip and three of those five games are also against teams which failed to qualify last season. If Vegas continues to win the games it should win, there's a chance the team could build a nice early record prior to Thanksgiving and find itself well inside the playoff picture.
The record: Phil Kessel, barring unforeseen circumstances, will tie the record for consecutive regular season games played on Monday at 989. Then he'll have a chance to break it on Tuesday when the team travels to San Jose to play the Sharks. Kessel hasn't shown any outward signs of pressure but one has to think he'd like to have this behind him so he can solely focus on producing and winning games with his teammates.
Stone revival: Mark Stone is off to a solid start and his game continues to build following offseason back surgery. Stone now has one goal and five points through six games and has gone to the coaching staff and asked to be involved in the PK unit. He's an elite penalty killer but in limited action last year due to his back injury he didn't see much shorthanded time. Stone wanting to take a larger bite of the action is a very positive sign for Vegas.
Triple threat: Jonathan Marchessault leads the Golden Knights in goals, shots and shooting percentage as he looks to chase another 30-goal season. Marchessault already has five goals, 21 shots and owns a 23.8 shooting percentage. Marchessault has been playing on the third line with William Karlsson and they've been very effective to date creating matchup issues for opposition coaching staffs. Karlsson ranks third among Vegas forwards with an average time on ice of 17:11 while Marchessault is fifth at 16:13 per game. Karlsson already has two goals and four points on the season. It took him until Dec. 10th last season to hit four points.
PK blues: The penalty kill started the season very well but has taken on some water of late. Over the last three games VGK PK has allowed four goals and the season average is now 68.75 percent. Vegas took six consecutive minor penalties in the second period vs. Calgary and eventually the wall broke as they allowed two PP goals against. Vegas only took one penalty vs. Winnipeg and was perfect on the PK but then gave up two more PP goals vs. Colorado on Saturday night. The Avs have the best PP in the NHL with an astounding 53 percent success rate.
Power surge: Cassidy continues to tweak his power play personnel and alignments. Recently he flipped Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore to different units as well as moving Stone into the middle of the ice. Stone set up Marchessault on Saturday with a nifty backhand from the center of the slot.
PP before changes:
44.19 chances/60 (26th)
PP after changes:
74.88 chances/60 (5th)
Stevie in the circle: Chandler Stephenson is developing into one of the premier faceoff men in the NHL. Stephenson is 63.5 percent on faceoffs which is 6th in NHL among players with 50 faceoffs, 3rd in the more elite category of centers with 100+ faceoffs this season.
