Golden Knights could turn season around with stretch of divisional games

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018 | 2 a.m.

A number of NHL teams have already played eight or nine divisional games.

The Golden Knights have played two. In a year that’s largely gone sideways through the first month and a half, Vegas’ saving grace might be that a surplus of its most significant regular-season games are still to come.

“You want to get the out-of-division points, but you have to take care of the in-division points,” Vegas winger Ryan Reaves said. “Those are big games. You’ve got to set the standard … you’ve got to make sure you’re climbing against those teams.”

The Golden Knights have a chance to begin such a climb when they host the Anaheim Ducks at 7:30 tonight at T-Mobile Arena. It’s the start of a 17-day stretch where Vegas will play eight of its next 10 games against Pacific Division opposition.

The only divisional team the Golden Knights won’t encounter during the span is the Los Angeles Kings, and they start their season series with that rival shortly afterward on Dec. 8 at Staples Center. The Golden Knights (7-10-1) are currently tied for the third-worst record in the league with 15 points, and they sit only ahead of the Kings in the Pacific, but their positioning could fluctuate drastically.

“Everybody goes through ups and downs through the course of a year,” Vegas Assistant Coach Mike Kelly said. “The teams that get through it, stay with it. I think that’s more of what the focus is. I think guys look at the standings and know we’re not too far back.”

Also working in Vegas’ favor is the perception that the Pacific is the weakest division in the NHL, and the only team that was considered a non-contender has sat in first place for much of the last week. Vancouver was 100-to-1 to win the Pacific coming into the year, but has gotten off to a hot start with a 10-7-2 record for 22 points.

Preseason favorite San Jose, which comes to Vegas on Nov. 24, took over the top spot in the division but isn't even too far out of Vegas' striking range with a 10-6-3 record for 23 points.

“This is definitely a good time to get on a streak here — that’s for sure,” Vegas’ leading scorer Jonathan Marchessault said. “We need to get out of the hole and work the right way. I think we’ll be fine. We have the right players to be successful.”

A dominance of divisional opponents contributed greatly to Vegas’ historic success last season. The Golden Knights went 20-6-3 against the Pacific, trailing the Sharks by one game for the best divisional record in the NHL.

They’ve played well in two contests so far this year, picking up three points combined against the Ducks and the Canucks.

A 3-1 win over the Ducks last month was arguably the Golden Knights’ most complete performance of the year. They lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Canucks, but controlled most of the action including an 11-8 edge in high-danger scoring chances.

That’s been a recurring trend of the season, as Vegas sits fifth in the league in high-danger scoring chance percentage and has outshot its opponent in 16 out of 18 games.

Metrics measure Vegas as an outlier for how unlucky it’s been throughout the year.

“You can take a little bit of hope in it,” Kelly said of the numbers. “We’re doing a lot of things very well and guys are working very well and we’re on the puck a lot as it would suggest. It’s just a matter of, it’s not an easy league.”

The Golden Knights were lively as they practiced Monday and the mood in the locker room was unchanged coming off a road trip where they went 1-3. Marchessault said it was because the team has already put the losses behind them, and are only looking toward what’s ahead.

And what’s ahead is a number of season-defining games against familiar teams.

“We know them, they know us,” Marchessault said. “We’re just looking forward to meeting all of them. It’s going to be big battles, and it’s time for our big players to come up.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.