The Golden Knights are scoring more despite averaging three fewer shots per game in the past 11 than in the first 22 (30.4, down from 33.4), but they felt the offense was bound to click eventually.
"I think our team was a little bit snakebit earlier in the year," Pacioretty said. "We knew that eventually pucks would go in."
The Golden Knights are scoring 3.73 goals per game in their past 11 games while shooting 12.3 percent in all situations and 10.5 percent at 5-on-5. They scored 2.59 goals per game while shooting 7.8 percent in all situations and 6.4 percent at 5-on-5 in their first 22.
Essentially, Vegas is shooting and scoring its way closer to the League averages. The Golden Knights are up to 2.97 goals per game; they are shooting 9.17 percent in all situations and 7.64 percent in 5-on-5 with both goalies in the net. The NHL averages are 3.07 goals per game shooting 9.75 percent in all situations and 8.26 percent in 5-on-5 with both goalies in the net.
"You can fall into that trap of putting pucks on net and saying we deserved better," Pacioretty said. "But when the puck starts to go in, you have the confidence to make the extra play, maybe get the goalie moving, make that extra pass where you're able to get a grade A chance instead of a B chance. Having that confidence as a group, it's been part of the turnaround."
The Golden Knights are holding leads and coming back when they fall behind.
They've won six of their past seven games when they've scored first and three of their past four when they've allowed the first goal. Through 22 games, they were 6-5-1 when scoring first and 3-7-0 when allowing the first goal.
Their special teams have improved too. The power play is clicking at 25.0 percent and the penalty kill is at 86.2 percent since Nov. 21; before that, the power play was at 17.8 percent and the PK at 82.1 percent.
"We got back to what made us successful before," Schmidt said, "skating, moving the puck and being simple."