Golden Knights likely to stay course in Game 4 of West Final vs. Stars

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2019-20 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Rob Zettler and Rob Cookson will take turns providing insight throughout the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In this edition, Zettler, former assistant with the San Jose Sharks, breaks down Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, including subtle adjustments the Vegas Golden Knights could make heading into Game 4 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Peter DeBoer is a stick-to-his-guns kind of coach, which is perfect right now because the Vegas Golden Knights need to continue with a lot of what they have been doing in the Western Conference Final.
It's working well even though they trail the Dallas Stars 2-1 in the best-of-7 series heading into Game 4 in Edmonton, the hub city for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final.
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars Series Coverage]
Vegas, coached by DeBoer, has controlled more of the puck and the pace in the past two games, particularly in the third period of Game 3 on Thursday, when it outshot Dallas 18-4 and had goalie Anton Khudobin under siege.
However, having coached with DeBoer (with the San Jose Sharks from 2017-19), I know there will be subtle adjustments he'll be examining and potentially implementing before the puck drops Saturday.
One is certainly being more aware of Stars defenseman joining the rush, which has been a big point of emphasis for Dallas since the Stanley Cup Playoffs began and was a key to its success in Game 3, particularly during the second period.
I thought the Stars defensemen were very active. You even saw two of them, Miro Heiskanen and Jamie Oleksiak, leading the rush that led to Oleksiak's breakaway goal at 19:43 of the second period.

They were up in the play a lot and involved in some outnumbered rushes, which doesn't typically happen against the Golden Knights, who pride themselves on their backchecking and tracking.
Vegas is also a physical team that likes to hit, but if the Dallas defensemen can roll off those hits and get above the Golden Knights' forwards, then they're going to create some outnumbered rushes. That's what they did in Game 3, and likely will be a focus for DeBoer.
Vegas got back to its game in the third, controlling the puck and controlling down low, and Dallas had a hard time with it even though a lot of it was on the perimeter.
In addition, it's easy to credit the goalie for a strong performance, which Khudobin had in Game 3, making 38 saves, including 16 in the third period. At times it looked similar to what Thatcher Demko did for the Vancouver Canucks against the Golden Knights in the second round.
Demko allowed two goals on 125 shots in Games 5-7. It was an amazing performance.
But if you look at a lot of the saves Demko made and Khudobin is making, and they are brilliant saves, don't get me wrong, a lot of them are at the bottom half of the net against shots that are on the ice, low.
Look at forward Alex Tuch's chance on Vegas' power play at 14:22 of the third period Thursday. Though he's in tight near the post when the puck comes to him, it would be nice to get that shot up a little bit. If he gets that up at all, then it's a different ballgame.
That's a tough thing and it might be nitpicking, but maybe there needs to be a focus on the Golden Knights trying to elevate the puck.

Look at defenseman Shea Theodore's goal in Game 3; a high shot through a screen, blocker side, maybe off a stick and in. Center William Karlsson's power-play goal in Game 2 was similar.
Khudobin has played well. He has quick legs, quick feet and he's able to go side-to-side and get that pad out. He has made a number of key stops that way, so focus needs to be on getting the puck up. It could be the difference in a game.
I remember back in 1991 when I was with the Minnesota North Stars and we were playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs. Bob Gainey was our coach and we started practice by just basically skating around and every shot had to be bardown.
The whole focus was trying to make sure to get us thinking about shooting high, getting the puck up because Ed Belfour, Chicago's goalie, was down so much and making all kinds of saves on low shots.
Our entire practice was about creating that mindset to get the puck up into the top half of the net.
I'm looking for the Golden Knights to make those subtle adjustments, but overall there is no reason for them to panic. They need to follow the lead of their coach, stick to what works for them, believe it will work again, and be confident going into Game 4.