3 keys for a Golden Knights win in Game 6 at San Jose

By Jesse Granger

Sunday, May 6, 2018 | 2 a.m.

The Golden Knights are back in San Jose to face the Sharks at 4:30 p.m. in Game 6 of their best-of-seven second-round Stanley Cup playoffs series.

Vegas holds a 3-2 series lead, but neither team has won two straight games in the series.

Could the Knights break that trend and advance to the Western Conference Finals? Here are some keys to ending the Sharks’ season:

1. Third line production

The third line has arguably been a weakness for the Golden Knights all season. Coach Gerard Gallant has juggled many different combinations trying to find one that works, and he may have found a solution in Friday night’s 5-3 win.

Alex Tuch scored two goals — although the first one was on the power play — and the third line had its best performance of the playoffs.

“I thought that line was excellent,” Gallant said. “I thought (Oscar) Lindberg played really good and had a lot of chances. (Cody) Eakin probably had his best game. He played solid hockey both ways, and Tuch when he uses that speed against the defense he gets an opportunity and it was his best game by far.”

The eventual game-winning goal came on a great play by the three where Lindberg found Eakin streaking up the ice, then he dished to Tuch who tipped the puck over Sharks goalie Martin Jones’ glove and into the net to give Vegas a 4-0 lead.

“They had an outstanding game and Tuch had two real nice goals going to the net hard,” Gallant said. “That’s the way he plays when he plays a top game.”

The Golden Knights hadn’t received production from that line in the previous four games, so expect Lindberg, Eakin and Tuch to be together again tonight.

“I don’t care who scores, and I don’t think anyone does this time of the year, but it was important that we got some goals from those guys,” Gallant said.

2. Pressure the Sharks with the forecheck

During the first two-game trip to San Jose for Games 3 and 4, the Golden Knights struggled to pressure the Sharks’ defenseman down low.

After averaging 20.5 takeaways per game at home the Golden Knights managed only nine total in the two games in San Jose. This is likely partially due to different scorers adding up the stats (takeaways are a particularly erratic stat due to the subjective nature of scoring them), but the difference was noticed by Gallant as well.

“We weren’t happy with our effort (in game four) and that’s the biggest thing,” Gallant said after Friday night’s win. “When there are 20 guys working, competing and skating hard it’s going to be real good. I think that’s what you saw tonight from our group.”

Vegas responded by turning the Sharks over 18 times in a 5-3 win in game five.

If the Golden Knights want to end the series tonight they will need a similar effort on the forecheck, which is something they have yet to do at SAP Center.

3. Stay out of the penalty box

In their three wins this series the Golden Knights have averaged 12 penalty minutes per game. In their three losses they’ve averaged 22 minutes in the box.

San Jose has already scored five power play goals in five games, with another goal coming just as the player stepped out of the box and hadn’t joined the play yet.

In game two Vegas had an early 2-0 lead, but watched it slip away in the second period while committing six penalties and trailed 3-2 entering the third. The same thing nearly happened again on Friday, as the Golden Knights’ 4-0 lead was quickly cut to 4-3 after four penalties in the third period.

“It doesn’t matter what San Jose does, we have to make sure we are playing disciplined and playing smart,” Gallant said.

With 11 goals this postseason the Sharks have one of the most dangerous power play units in the NHL. Staying out of the box is the single most important factor to the Golden Knights winning tonight’s game.

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.