2 years ago
355
The Golden Knights beryllium precisely successful the mediate of the NHL’s standings one-third of the mode done their 5th season.
Their 16-11-0 grounds and .593 points percent ranks 16th, 4th successful the Pacific Division and eighth successful the Western Conference. It’s not wherever the squad wants to be.
It’s disappointing that the Golden Knights, the Westgate SuperBook’s preseason co-Stanley Cup favorite, are hardly clinging to a playoff spot done 27 games.
But it’s besides singular that they would inactive marque the postseason aft the archetypal 2 months they’ve had. Injuries and COVID-19 protocol-related absences person forced the Knights to usage 33 players, 2 disconnected the squad record. They person survived contempt going agelong stretches without cardinal players.
Their start, portion not spectacular, besides hasn’t enactment them successful a heavy spread with 55 games to go. The Knights are lone 5 points backmost — with 3 games successful manus — of the Pacific-leading Anaheim Ducks. All their goals are inactive good wrong reach.
With that successful mind, present are their grades for the archetypal 3rd of the season:
Forwards
Listed by points
Center Chandler Stephenson — His four-assist show Sunday gave him 26 points successful 26 games. His vocation precocious is 35, which helium acceptable past season. He continues to amusement he has arsenic overmuch endowment arsenic anyone connected the Knights.
Right helping Reilly Smith — The pending unrestricted escaped cause is connected gait for a career-high 30 goals. He’s bounced backmost nicely from a down play contempt speculation astir his future.
Right helping Mark Stone — He’s 4th connected the squad successful points with 19 contempt missing 12 games. He’s a point-per-game subordinate astatine adjacent spot unsocial (16 points successful 15 games).
Left helping Jonathan Marchessault — His consistency shouldn’t beryllium overlooked. He has astatine slightest a constituent successful 12 of the Knights’ past 16 games.
Left helping Max Pacioretty — His commencement to the season, despite a breached bony successful his ft that caused him to miss 17 games, has been spectacular. He has 10 goals successful 10 games. That’s 1 disconnected the squad pb and is tied for the 41st-most successful the NHL.
Right helping Evgenii Dadonov — He hasn’t made his people connected the powerfulness play, wherever helium has 3 points. But his 24-goal gait means he’s inactive providing the scoring interaction the Knights were hoping for when they traded for him.
Center Nicolas Roy — He’s already 2 points distant from his vocation precocious of 15. He fared good moving into the apical six for a stretch. That improvement is cardinal for the team’s halfway depth.
Left helping Mattias Janmark — An aboriginal bout with COVID-19 affected his conditioning, but lately he’s looked much similar the speedy subordinate the Knights acquired past commercialized deadline. He has 7 points successful his past 11 games.
Center/right helping Keegan Kolear — He’s been effectual astatine times, but his finishing holds him back. He has 1 extremity connected 39 shots for a 2.6 shooting percentage. The NHL mean this play is 9.3 percent.
Left helping William Carrier — His discourtesy has ticked up with six points successful 19 games. The Knights are plus-three with him connected the crystal astatine five-on-five, which is tied for the fifth-best people among the team’s forwards.
Center Brett Howden — He’s been decent successful the 18 games he’s played with 5 points. He’s injured and apt volition person to combat for a lineup spot erstwhile he’s healthy.
Center William Karlsson — He has played lone 12 games thanks to a breached foot and has 5 points. A cardinal for the Knights is getting him backmost up to speed.
Right helping Michael Amadio — The waiver assertion seems to person recovered a groove connected the 4th line, with 3 points successful his past six games. His changeable has impressed.
Right helping Jonas Rondbjerg — He looked bully his archetypal 13 NHL games and scored 4 points. It wouldn’t beryllium astonishing if the rookie got different look astatine immoderate point.
Center Jake Leschyshyn — He averaged 12 minutes of crystal clip his archetypal 18 games, the astir among players who made their NHL debuts this play and much than respective veterans. It shows the spot helium earned from the coaching staff.
Left helping Paul Cotter — He scored 2 awesome goals successful his archetypal six games. He’s definite not lacking for confidence.
Center Adam Brooks — The waiver pickup has 1 extremity successful 5 games. He’s warring to instrumentality connected his 3rd NHL squad this season.
Center Nolan Patrick — The offseason commercialized acquisition played 4 games and scored a extremity earlier suffering an upper-body injury. It’ll beryllium absorbing to spot however helium fits erstwhile he’s healthy.
Left helping Sven Baertschi — The extent signing appeared successful 1 crippled Nov. 18 against Detroit.
Left helping Peyton Krebs — He played 9 games and didn’t people a constituent before being traded to Buffalo. He has 16 points successful 14 games with the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate.
Left helping Ben Jones — He played 2 games acknowledgment to the team’s absences but averaged conscionable 8:03 of crystal clip per game.
Left helping Pavel Dorofeyev — He stuck connected the opening-night roster and played his archetypal NHL crippled acknowledgment to immoderate salary-cap maneuvering by the Knights. He played lone 4:07.
Grade: Five retired of 5 sticks
The Knights person scored the fourth-most goals per crippled successful the NHL (3.48) contempt having 4 members of their apical six successful Stone, Pacioretty, Karlsson and Marchessault miss 5 oregon much games. That’s a testament to this group’s extent and the fig of players up and down the lineup (or adjacent successful Henderson) who were capable to grip expanded roles.
Defensemen
Listed by points
Alex Pietrangelo — He had zero points and was minus-6 astatine five-on-five the Knights’ archetypal 7 games. In their adjacent 20 helium scored 19 and was plus-10. There’s a crushed helium was one of Canada’s archetypal 3 picks for its Olympic roster.
Shea Theodore — He’s remained effectual contempt switching betwixt playing connected the near and right. One quirk: He hasn’t scored a power-play extremity since March 1, 2020.
Nic Hague — He’s played alongside Pietrangelo astir of the play and mostly held his own. He has taken 14 insignificant penalties, tied for the astir among NHL defensemen.
Zach Whitecloud — He missed 12 games acknowledgment to a manus country but is tied for the squad pb successful goals among defensemen with five. He lone had 2 goals entering the season.
Brayden McNabb — He is tied for 4th successful the NHL successful blocked shots (61) and his open-ice hep checks stay devastating. He’s continued to beryllium a coagulated antiaircraft beingness connected the bluish line.
Dylan Coghlan — The second-year skater has six points successful 19 games and is minus-1 astatine five-on-five. He’s 1 of lone 2 defensemen connected the squad beneath even.
Alec Martinez — He has played lone 11 games aft signing a declaration hold successful the offseason due to the fact that helium took a skate to the look Nov. 11 against Minnesota. The Knights miss him successful each situations.
Ben Hutton — The midseason free-agent signing is minus-3 astatine five-on-five successful 10 games. He’s shown immoderate wound by warring doubly successful his little clip with the team.
Daniil Miromanov — The onetime guardant successful inferior continued an awesome rise by playing his archetypal 3 NHL games. He got an assistance but was lone trusted to mean 11:21 of crystal clip per game.
Grade: Three retired of 5 pucks
Many of the Knights’ mainstays person been solid, but the extent hasn’t been arsenic awesome arsenic it’s been up front. This isn’t each connected the bluish line, but the squad does fertile 25th successful changeable attempts, 27th successful scoring chances and 30th successful high-danger scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes. There is inactive enactment to bash to tighten up defensively.
Goaltenders
Listed by starts
Robin Lehner — He’s been decent overall. His 3.7 goals saved supra expected ranks 19th successful the NHL, according to MoneyPuck.com. But it’s hard to look past his allowing 3 goals oregon much successful 4 of his past 5 starts.
Laurent Brossoit — His archetypal six starts person been interesting. He’s been large successful 4 (save percentages of .923 oregon better) and not truthful large successful 2 (save percentages of .862 and .840). It’s apt been tricky for him to negociate a sporadic workload.
Grade: Three retired of 5 nets
Lehner said it champion Sunday. “It’s been excessively galore goals,” helium said aft a 6-4 triumph against the Minnesota Wild. “End of story.” The Knights’ defence has been leaky, but their .901 squad prevention percent ranks 23rd successful the NHL. They ranked 2nd astatine .920 past season. They are going to request much saves from their goalies moving forward.
Special teams
Power play — The questions astir this portion won’t spell away. It ranks 28th successful the NHL astatine 15.9 percent and has lone scored successful 7 of 27 games.
Penalty kill — The league’s top-ranked portion a twelvemonth agone has tumbled into a necktie for 22nd astatine 78.8 percent. The Knights’ six short-handed goals, tied for the astir successful the NHL, mean they’re minus-11 connected the PK. That’s tied for 10th-best.
Grade: Two retired of 5 punishment boxes
The Knights, erstwhile they got adjacent to afloat health, became 1 of the champion five-on-five teams successful the league again. But excessively often they’re not getting assistance from their peculiar teams.
They’re tied for 19th successful special-teams extremity differential astatine minus-2. That’s propped up by their plethora of short-handed goals. They could beryllium successful existent occupation if those adust up and everything other stays the same.
Contact Ben Gotz astatine bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz connected Twitter.
English (US) ·