Golden Knights win again as fourth line delivers against Lightning

By Justin Emerson

Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 | 11:15 p.m.

The Golden Knights have been insistent on starting their fourth line lately. They’ve done it in all 10 games since the All-Star break, and expect it in the next game, too.

In most games it hasn’t been that much of a factor. Against the Blues on Saturday though, St. Louis started its top unit and Vegas countered with its fourth of William Carrier, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves. The Blues scored, and it was fair to second-guess the decision.

But coach Peter DeBoer stuck with it. He did it the next game against the Islanders, the game after that against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, and again on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. And on Thursday, he got the result he was looking for, albeit not to start the game.

DeBoer tossed out that unit to begin the third period, and the Golden Knights couldn’t have drawn up a better shift than the one they got. Reaves scored 10 seconds into the period, then Carrier drew a penalty and Vegas scored on the ensuing power play, the coup de grace in a 5-3 win over the Lightning at T-Mobile Arena.

“We’ve been trying to draw some energy, but it’s always nice to chip in on the scoreboard,” Reaves said. “Our confidence is as high as it’s been all year.”

What’s ironic is the first shift to open the game wasn’t all that good. They were trapped on the ice for 1:11, far longer than planned and gave up two shot attempts without registering one. It set Tampa Bay up for a hot start, as the Lightning had nine of the first 12 shot attempts in the game.

DeBoer didn’t waver though. After that line played just three shifts in the second period, he sent them over the boards to take the opening draw of the third. Reaves intercepted a pass and went the other way for a goal 10 seconds into the period to make it 4-2. Then Carrier drew a holding call against Brayden Coburn, allowing Max Pacioretty to score seven seconds into the power play and extend the lead to 5-2. The two goals came 47 seconds into the period.

It was precisely what DeBoer wants from his fourth line, to bring that energy into the game. Even when they gave up a goal to the Blues on the first shift and allowed an early Ovechkin early shot attempt four nights later, DeBoer never thought about changing up his game-opening plan.

“The positives of what they bring and have brought us at the beginning of games far outweigh the one or two times that might happen (a poor first shift),” DeBoer said. “There was no hesitation and I think those guys are relishing that role of setting the tempo for our night.”

Overall it was one of the better nights of the season for the Golden Knights. They snapped Tampa Bay’s 11-game win streak and brought their own streak to four wins in the process, all against teams above them in the standings. They coughed up the first goal of the game but responded with two in a row and didn’t trail again.

And of course, the first Golden Knights goal of the game was courtesy of their newest player. Alec Martinez was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday and made his Vegas debut against the Lightning. About two and a half hours before the game, he took a moment to digest the experience, sitting on the home bench and admiring his new home arena.

He scored, had an assist, and blocked a team-high four shots, contributing a team-high 17:18 even-strength time on ice (20:10 total).

“I was pretty emotional at the beginning there — feeding off the fans I had to tell myself to settle down a little bit,” Martinez said. “I kept on saying on the bench that this is a fun group to play with.”

The game turned into a blowout late, which is a welcome return for a team whose results have not matched expectations so far this season. Even when they fired coach Gerard Gallant and hired DeBoer in January, the Golden Knights had the underlying numbers of an elite team but the results of a mediocre one.

In the current four-game win streak, Vegas has dominated possession in all of them and has been rewarded with four good wins. It’s been a long time coming for a team that ranks No. 1 in expected goal percentage (55.4%) but just 18th in actual goal percentage (50.2%) at 5-on-5.

“We’ve done, for the most part this year, a good job of limiting chances and creating chances, and we also know if we stick to that and that recipe and worry about the process it will start to go in,” Pacioretty said. “Right now, at the right time, they are going in.”