Carrier solidifies Golden Knights forward depth heading into 2nd round
Return in Game 5 win against Jets elevated Barbashev to top line
Carrier returned for Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Winnipeg Jets, playing for the first time since March 3, when he sustained a knee injury against the New Jersey Devils.
Not surprisingly, the Golden Knights won 4-1, playing their best game of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and one of their most dominating games of the season.
"This is probably as close as to how we would've designed it if we were fully healthy down the stretch," Cassidy said. "I like the way it looked."
That depth will be a boon in the second round, when the top-seeded Golden Knights play the Edmonton Oilers, who eliminated the Los Angeles Kings with a 5-4 win in Game 6 of that series on Saturday.
Carrier, who had 25 points (16 goals, nine assists) and was a plus-15 in 56 regular-season games, slotted onto the fourth line in Game 5. Ivan Barbashev, a 2023 NHL Trade Deadline acquisition from the St. Louis Blues, went from the fourth line to the first line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault and helped that line dominate at 5-on-5.
It also resulted in the surprising scratch of Phil Kessel, who has played in 1,064 consecutive regular-season games, an NHL record.
Kessel, who signed as a free agent with Vegas in August, has played in every regular-season and playoff game for which he has been eligible since Nov. 3, 2009. He won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Kessel, whose ironman streak remains intact because it only includes regular-season games, had two assists and was plus-2 in the first four games of the first round.
"It was very difficult," Cassidy said of the decision to sit the 36-year-old, who has 83 points (34 goals, 49 assists) in 100 Stanley Cup Playoff games. "Phil will tell you he wasn't happy and didn't agree with the decision. I have to always make a decision that is good for the team and that is what I did.
"I just felt the guys who we kept in deserved to stay in and I will keep it as simple as that."
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Kessel isn't the only forward unable to crack the healthy top 12.
Veteran Teddy Blueger, another trade deadline acquisition from the Penguins, last played April 13. Rookie Paul Cotter, who had 13 goals in 55 regular-season games, has not played since April 8. Rookie Pavel Dorofeyev, who saw top-six minutes and scored seven goals in 18 NHL games this season, was made excess to need upon the return of veteran forward Mark Stone for the start of the playoffs.
Stone had eight points (three goals, five assists) in the five-game series.
"That [depth] is a good thing to draw upon," Cassidy said. "[Stinks] for those guys [left out] because they have earned the right to be in there. But you can only dress 12."
Vegas needs look no further back than the just-concluded series against the Jets to see the importance of forward depth. The Jets played without top forward Nikolaj Ehlers until Game 5 and lost top goal-scorer Mark Scheifele (42) for the series in Game 4. Cole Perfetti, the promising 21-year-old, never got healthy.
Not surprisingly, the Jets had no answers after a surprising win in Game 1 and scored nine goals in the final four games of the series.
It was also no surprise that Carrier had an immediate impact upon his return despite missing almost two months.
His simple, physical, north-south game fits the mission statement of the fourth line, which also features Keegan Kolesar and Nicolas Roy.
Carrier played a team-low 9:36 on Thursday, but had a team-high six hits. He repeatedly targeted defenseman Neal Pionk, who was the linchpin to the Winnipeg attack after Josh Morrissey was injured in Game 3.
"The hitting part is easy," Carrier said, joking that it will take longer for his hands and timing to come back.
Carrier said he was happy to be in the lineup and help. There was fear at the time of the injury that Carrier would be out until the start of the next season.
He believes he can be a part of whatever the Golden Knights accomplish in the postseason.
"Like I said, the hitting is pretty easy for me, it always has been," Carrier said. "You know, chipping pucks, playing pretty smart. That is what the fourth line has been doing. We would like to be a bit more offensive, so we will keep working on that."
