Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) slips while chasing after the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena Monday, April 18, 2022.
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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The Golden Knights didn’t change their offensive approach overnight. There wasn’t a need to after scoring six times against the Calgary Flames six days ago.
To go from that onslaught to consecutive duds in a two-game span has brought back horror stories from yesteryear of the offense drying up in must-win games.
As the Golden Knights ready themselves for a stretch of five games, which they’ve conceded they need to win all of to have a chance at a fifth straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’ll hope to reverse that fortune tonight against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m. PST, ATTSN-RM).
“That’s the NHL,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “We hit two hot goalies, and we have to help ourselves out, too. I think it’s a combination, but it was the same plan offensively that we had against Calgary when we scored six that we had in Edmonton and we had [Monday].”
The Golden Knights poured it on against Calgary by screening goalie Jacob Markström through almost two periods. Vegas’ goals came from an average 14.8 feet away, and two of them were deflections. It was the perfect recipe for rewarding strong defensive play.
The Golden Knights had 16 high-danger chances in all situations, including 11 in 5-on-5, against Calgary.
The good vibes evaporated quickly these past two games. Vegas put 39 shots on 41-year-old goalie Mike Smith on Saturday in a 4-0 loss to the Oilers, with the average shot distance at 46.39 feet in 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. That equates to a shot from slightly above one of the faceoff circles.
Against the New Jersey Devils on Monday, it was more of the same. Devils goalie Andrew Hammond saw more high-danger chances from the Golden Knights, particularly in the first period, but still saw an average of 42.2 feet in shot attempts at 5-on-5.
“There’s a fine line between always wanting to put everything on net, but also at the same time, you’re making the goalie feel good if you’re just throwing it on net from everywhere,” forward Max Pacioretty said. “I’d say more it’s have that confidence, make that extra play and make the goalie get out of position, make him go lateral, give yourself a better opportunity to score rather than just put it in his pillows from every angle.”
The Golden Knights had five deflections (two goals) in the Calgary game alone, whereas they had seven combined against Edmonton (two) and New Jersey (five) with nothing to show for it. While the Golden Knights put 44 shots on Hammond and had numerous chances, they also missed the net 23 times.
“I think, for me, just trying to make a perfect shot I think more than anything,” said DeBoer on what attributed to missing the net Monday. “For this time of year and the playoffs, a lot of times it’s shot-and-rebound action that results in a goal, so we’ve got to get a little more of that mindset.”
Strong defensive play has at least kept the Golden Knights in the last two games, but they’ve run out of gas by the third period, getting outscored 5-1 in their last two final frames.
It’s not an exact science, but it’s something the Golden Knights are also trying to figure out on the fly with different line combinations. The return of captain Mark Stone has been a welcome adjustment, but it’s clear Stone is still not 100 percent from his ongoing back injury. Pacioretty has two points since being away for a month due to a lower-body injury.
The problem for Vegas is there’s not enough time to figure things out. The Golden Knights are welcoming a Capitals team that’s won six of seven with Alex Ovechkin scoring six goals in that span.
Forget about trying to score. The Capitals are averaging 5.29 goals per game in their last seven. Vegas is going to need its most complete game to give itself a chance.
“We know we can win five games, but it’s not going to be easy,” Pacioretty said.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
