21 Thoughts With Gary Lawless

We'll call this Father's Trip Edition of 21 Thoughts, your semi-regular trip around the world of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas hit the road last Thursday morning with 21 relatives, mostly fathers and a sprinkle of close friends or relatives, for games in Nashville and Dallas.
The week began with home victories over Arizona and Anaheim and concluded with road wins over Nashville and Dallas.
The two victories over Central Division powerhouses combined for what must be viewed as a big boy road trip. Not many teams go into Nashville and Dallas playing on back-to-back nights and get four points. As one member of the traveling media said late on Saturday night: "When does this team begin to get consideration as one of the best in the West? They've won 19 of 29 and have killed inside their conference.
Vegas is 16-4 inside the Western Conference. With a point tonight they would have 40 points in 30 games.

1. Au revoir, for now, Max Lagace. Lagace was re-assigned to the AHL's Chicago Wolves on Sunday but not before he put an indelible stamp on the Golden Knights season. Lagace stacked up seven wins despite posting an .872 save percentage during his six-week stint with Vegas. If this team makes the post-season it can look back to Lagace keeping the club afloat after the top three goalies in the organization went down to injury. Lagace stepped in and refused to blink. There were some tough games early on during a six-game road trip but he just kept coming to the rink with a smile on his face and battling to keep the team in games.
   "His numbers haven't been great and usually the numbers tell the story," said goalie coach Dave Prior. "But I've been real happy with the way he's played. There has been lots to like about his game."
   2. Another week, another streak. Vegas will go into Tuesday's game against Carolina on a four-game heater. A win over the Hurricanes would give the Golden Knights their third five-game winning streak of the season. Chew on that for a moment. They would have hit the 20-win mark after just 30 games. If you say you had that in the office pool, well, can we head down to the Strip with all my nickels?
   3. Clones in the desert. Meeting the dads of the Golden Knights and seeing them interact with their sons was a rewarding experience. From Peter Neal's constant chirping to Karl Subban's rumbling laugh to Andre Carrier sitting down at the hotel lobby piano and entertaining the assembled guests, there was lots of fun with the papas in the house. The conversation quickly shifted to the fathers scheming to get a repeat trip next season. The thinking, according to the dads of the Golden Knights, went something like this: If the fathers were to go undefeated during the time around the team - GM George McPhee would want to bring them back rather than the players' mothers. To wit, another dad trip rather than a mom trip. Sure, enough, when Vegas won in Dallas on Saturday night - the fathers were beating their chests and pleading their case.
   As for what kind of trip the Golden Knights will be planning for next year, all quiet on the McPhee front. No one, even the GM it would seem, is interested in messing with the moms.
   No word from McPhee at this juncture.
   4. Brad Hunt has been a healthy scratch in five of the last six VGK games. Hunt has never been handed a job in the NHL and has earned every GP. His take on being a scratch: "It's part of hockey and I love hockey. You deal with it. Work hard to be ready and keep your attitude positive."
   5. Celebrity sightings. Canadian born comic Tom Green took in a Golden Knights game last Tuesday and got to crank up the air raid siren before the game and grabbed the mic: "I'm Tom Green, I'm from Canada, I play hockey and you guys are awesome."
   6. Karl Subban was a busy man on the Father's Trip with his son Malcolm playing goal for Vegas in Nashville and another of his son's P.K. playing defense for the Predators. A third son, Jordan, is a defenseman with the Ontario Reign of the AHL.

"On nights when all three are playing it's hectic. We have picture in picture on our TV so we can watch two NHL games at once and then we have the AHL game on the computer," said Subban. "And if any of the technology isn't working - it's my fault. Not the cable company or the broadcaster - mine."
7. Some things never show up on the stats sheet. Vegas was killing a 4-on-3 penalty in overtime against Anaheim last week. Deryk Engelland and Brayden McNabb started the penalty on defense and they stayed out for the duration. At one point, there was a whistle in the Vegas zone about one minute into the PK. Neither player even looked at the bench which was a clear message to the coaching staff - 'leave us out here, we got this.' And they did. Vegas won in the shootout.
8. Friday night in Nashville the game was tied 2-2 in the third period when Shea Theodore lost his handle and the puck bounced to the Preds. Viktor Arvidsson pounced on the turnover and Nick Bonino converted for a 3-2 Predators lead. Fortunately, Erik Haula tied the game at 3-3 with 40 seconds left in regulation.
Up in the suite with all the fathers in attendance, Shea's father Cam Theodore went through a gamut of emotions.
"Karl Subban came up to me and said, 'don't worry about it. We'll get another goal. I've been in your spot a bunch of times,''' said Cam. "The other fathers were great. Hey, it happens. It's a team game and no one felt worse about their third goal than Shea."
Haula's goal resulted in an eruption in the fathers' suite second only to the craziness which unfolded after Reilly Smith scored the shootout winner.

"We were all hugging and going nuts. It was amazing," said Carl Tuch, father of Golden Knights winger Alex Tuch.
9. Speaking of Haula, he's on fire. He had four goals and two assists in five games last week and now has 11 goals and 19 points on the season. The opportunity for Haula to skate between James Neal and David Perron has put him in a position to produce and he's taken full advantage.

10. Vegas is 4-1 since the return of Luca Sbisa to the lineup. He's been steady all season and he and D partner Nate Schmidt often draw the toughest matchups. Both can skate and Sbisa likes to bang. Schmidt can lug the puck and looks for offense. They've been strong killing penalties and they log a lot of ice time. Sbisa averages 20:20 per game and Schmidt leads Vegas at 22:36.

11. William Karlsson now has 15 goals through 29 games and is on pace for 42 goals and 74 points. His shooting percentage sits at 24 percent which is likely to regress. Even if it drops to the league average of 11 percent, he's still on pace for close to 30 goals.
    12. Vegas has seen its Corsi For % consistently climb. The club started with an 8-1 record but lots of stats folks pointed to the team being ranked near the bottom of the league in shot generation as a sign the bubble would burst. The wins have kept coming and the club's shot share has risen to 50.54 percent which is 13th in the NHL. Over the last month, Vegas owns a 53.4 per cent shot share which is 4th in the NHL over that period.
    13. More on the numbers front. Vegas had a PDO (combination of save and shooting percentage) of 106-plus early on but has regressed to 97.82 which ranks 27th in the league. Most of that regression is due to a dropping save percentage as Vegas has run through five goalies. With the return of Malcolm Subban and Marc-Andre Fleury, the save percentage should begin to rebound. Combine an improved save percentage with strong shot generation numbers and the analytic picture is positive for Vegas.
    14. Vegas is tied for first in the league in penalty differential having drawn 25 more minor penalties so far this season than they've taken. Coaches love this stat as it indicates a team which is both disciplined and hard working. If a team moves its feet, it draws penalties rather than take them.
    15. More on Max. He was thrown into a sink or swim situation with the pressure of an entire expansion franchise on his shoulders and with no safety net. Vegas was on its fourth goalie went it got to Lagace with the fifth being emergency callup 19-year-old Dylan Ferguson of the WHL's Kamloops Blazers. The pressure, however, never got to him. Win or lose he arrived at the rink the next day with a smile on his face. His last start was in Dallas on Saturday night and Marc-Andre Fleury was on the trip. After a 5-3 win, Lagace reflected on his moment in the sun.
    "This was probably it for me. Flower is ready and he has to get back in," said Lagace. "So I really tried to enjoy the moment. I learned a lot over this stretch. It was so fun. The guys played hard in front of me and made it easy most nights. I'll never forget it."
    Sure, enough, Lagace was assigned to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL the next morning.
    16. An ownership group for Seattle has been told the NHL will accept an expansion application and they have been given permission to execute a season ticket sales drive similar to what took place in Vegas. Seattle looks like a lock at this stage (unless their ticket drive flops) and they would likely be added to the Pacific Division so some realignment would be expected. Vegas is on Pacific time and it would make sense to leave them where they are but the teams in the Mountain time zone (Calgary, Edmonton and Arizona) would be candidates to shift to the Central.
    17. David Perron bounced back into the lineup and looked just like his old self. Friday night in Nashville he picked up an assist and then he scored Saturday against Dallas.

18. Brendan Leipsic remains goalless but now has 10 assists through 21 games. Saturday in Dallas he had maybe his best game to date with Vegas picking up two primary assists and drawing two penalties.
    19. Schedule watch 1.0: The Pittsburgh Penguins are in town on Thursday and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury played 13 seasons with the Pens and won three Stanley Cups there.
    "It's going to be weird for sure to see the jersey on the other side of it; my friends and guys I've played with for many years now," said Fleury. "Guys I got to see every day. I think it will be a little different. I think on the ice, to play against so many guys I've played with and practiced with a lot. I know a bit of their tendencies. But they know, I know. So, I feel like it can be a little tricky."
    20. Schedule watch 1.1: The Florida Panthers are in Vegas on Sunday. Head coach Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly were with the Panthers last season before being fired in November. Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault came over to Vegas from Florida as part of the expansion draft process.
    21. Schedule watch 1.2: George McPhee as GM of the Washington Capitals for 17 seasons. The Caps roster still has McPhee's fingerprints all over it. Nate Schmidt came to Vegas from Washington in the expansion draft. The Caps are in Vegas a week from this Saturday.