It’s appropriate heading into Easter weekend that the Vegas Golden Knights have doubters. Just as fitting is the opportunity the team has on Saturday night to make believers out of their faithful.
A win over the Edmonton Oilers will have a lot more people waking up Sunday to greet the Easter Bunny with good feelings about their hockey team.
Beating the rival Oilers, who have reeled off five-straight wins of their own, will go a lot further than the victories witnessed this week over the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames.
Not impressed with wins over two of the worst teams in the NHL? One could argue that winning any game in the NHL comes with its own set of unique challenges and should be celebrated. But it is understandable to point at the records of the Canucks and Flames and scoff. Lots of folks are standing back right now and wanting the Golden Knights to show them more, and a win over the Oilers will be a significant step in the right direction.
Putting too much stock into one game just six days after a new coach was installed is also a dicey proposition but this is the position Vegas finds itself in right now.
An unexpected skid coming out of the Olympic break saw the Golden Knights slip from first place in the Pacific Division to third and put the team’s playoff hopes in peril.
GM Kelly McCrimmon felt his team had lost its spirit and was lacking energy. McCrimmon also believed his roster was underperforming.
Not doing something to get his group back on the right course would result in a missed opportunity and a failure to do his job properly. McCrimmon made the difficult decision to make a coaching change on Sunday afternoon and bring in John Tortorella.
The success of the decision can’t be fully measured for some time. But prior to the change, Vegas had lost six of its previous seven games and had just four wins in its last 16 games. They were in a downward spiral. The playoffs had become a question mark and there was a prevalent gloom around the team.
Energy and spirit are intangibles that are difficult to grasp from the outside, but today’s NHL player isn’t a robot. Feeling good, having confidence and enjoying going to work are all legitimate factors which contribute to success. Conversely, negativity drains a person and a group while becoming a roadblock to positive results.
In the wins over Vancouver and Calgary this week, Vegas has received winning goaltending from Adin Hill and Carter Hart. The club has also scored 10 goals over its last two games putting distance between itself and the opponent in the final third of both matches.
It hasn’t been perfect in terms of process but the results are unassailable. Wins are paramount right now.
Vegas gave up three goals on rush opportunities created by turnovers against Calgary on Thursday. The turnovers largely happened as a result of defensemen being aggressive up the ice. Tortorella says it’s fixable but also found a positive in the trend.
“We have emphasized so much as far as checking forward, playing aggressive, moving the puck forward, pressuring, so you get aggressive. It’s our job now as coaches, and this always happens, to coach them to an area where we’re not crazy as far as some situations without playing safe. You have to find that happy medium,” he said. “I would rather coach a team that is over-aggressive rather than trying to get a team to play aggressive. We have good people. We’ll get there.”
Turbulent is a good way to describe the week that was. But it’s accurate to say the vibes and the results are much more positive than they were a week ago.
Belief is a funny thing. Once it sets in, it can be difficult to dislodge. Once it’s gone, equally hard to get back. Well, belief has stuck a foot into the doorway. Let’s see if it can walk right through it and take a seat in VGK land.
