Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press / AP
Toronto Maple Leafs center Mitchell Marner, back, watches as a goal by center John Tavares, goes in for an overtime goal past Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban during an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in Toronto.
Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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The Golden Knights have more losses than wins with almost a third of the season already gone. Let’s go holiday shopping — it’s Black Friday, after all — with the Golden Knights for what they are going to need to turn the season around.
Backup goalie consistency
Until Wednesday night in Nashville, the Golden Knights had yet to get a win from a backup goaltender. Malcolm Subban and Oscar Dansk had combined to go winless in seven starts before Subban stopped 31 of 34 shots against the Predators.
It's still a problem. The Golden Knights can only rely on starter Marc-Andre Fleury so much. He already leads NHL goalies in games played by appearing in 20 of Vegas’ 27 contests, and this coming after team officials said they plan to rest him more. Fleury is on pace for 61 games, which would be a career-high for the 35-year-old — tying a mark all the way from last season.
Had the Golden Knights won even two of those seven games, they would would be comfortably in a playoff position in the Pacific Division instead of fighting for a Wild Card spot. Wednesday was a big game for Subban, who entered with an .883 save percentage that was fourth-most among goalies with as many starts as him. Vegas wants its backup goalie to be Subban and not have to make a move. His performance Wednesday will help calm some fears.
A top-end defenseman
Maybe Shea Theodore continues his upward trajectory and the need for a No. 1 defenseman becomes moot. The Golden Knights have top-end forwards, forward depth, defensive depth and a future Hall of Fame goalie. What they haven’t had in three seasons is a Norris caliber defenseman.
In fairness, most teams don’t have a player like that. But it’s rare that playoff-caliber team with eyes on a Stanley Cup run — and in Vegas’ case has even made a Cup Final recently— to not possess that lock-down player.
The Capitals have John Carlson. In the Western Conference alone, the Sharks have two of them, the Flames have the reigning Norris winner, the Blues have Alex Pietrangelo and the Predators have Roman Josi. The Golden Knights don’t have a player like that.
Could the Golden Knights get a top defenseman at the trade deadline? There aren’t many options.
Pietrangelo is in the last year of his contract but the Blues aren’t going to trade their captain while hunting for a second straight Cup. Jared Spurgeon of the Wild and Justin Faulk of the Blues may be a tier down, but they were intriguing possibilities this summer before signing long-term extensions.
Vegas is tight up against the salary cap but has been sending players like Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague up and down between Vegas and AHL Chicago to accumulate cap space. If the Golden Knights make a splash at the trade deadline — and they have the last two years — it will most likely be for a defenseman.
Answers on the third line
The Golden Knights have yet to find consistency with its third line.
The third line started the year with Brandon Pirri, Paul Stastny and Valentin Zykov. Then Cody Eakin got healthy, Cody Glass shifted to the wing and Pirri and Zykov took turns. Then Alex Tuch returned from injury and it looked like Tuch, Eakin and Glass would be the line going forward.
That trio has struggled with possession, scoring chances and expected-goals numbers, which are each in the negative in 10 games together. So Paul Stastny and Eakin flipped spots centering the middle six, though that experiment lasted just a few games.
So what can they do?
On paper, Tuch, Eakin and Glass are the most talented forwards outside the top six, but it just hasn’t worked. If they don’t want to break up the top six for the long term, maybe they give Glass a shot at center, where he started the year between Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone? Maybe William Carrier gets a look on the wing? There are options, and Vegas has too many good forwards for the problem to persist all season.
An overtime victory
It’s hard to believe, but Wednesday's win over Nashville was the Golden Knights' first victory in the 3-on-3 overtime in their last 13 tries, dating back to Jan. 12. Four of those games have turned into shootout victories, but they have lost their last six decision at 3-on-3.
It’s hard to pinpoint why Vegas hasn’t won more in overtime. The personnel is there with William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore bringing the kind of speed that plays well in an open-ice game.
The shootout has been kind to Vegas, and despite some tiebreaking implications it really doesn’t matter when or how the game is decided after regulation. But it sure would be nice to win a few more at 3-on-3.
Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.
