10 observations as Golden Knights set to play their 10th game

The Golden Knights will play their 10th game of the season tonight when they host the Anaheim Ducks at 7 p.m., which is deeper into the season than you might have realized.

In a 56-game season, the Golden Knights will go to bed tonight with almost 18% of their schedule already finished. Ten games is simultaneously a good chunk of the season. Here’s what we’ve observed:.

No fans, no problem

The Golden Knights have long credited their stellar home record with the energy they get from feeding off the fans’ excitement. Of course, they miss the fans. But the record hasn’t changed.

The Golden Knights are 6-0-1 at T-Mobile Arena, the only team in the West Division without a regulation loss. The Golden Knights are one of seven teams in the NHL without a regulation home loss, but none has played as many home games as Vegas has.

Play the schedule in front of you

Part of that home record comes with playing a lot of home games. The Golden Knights have played eight of the nine at home, and until their trip to Lake Tahoe next weekend, will play 11 of their first 13 at T-Mobile Arena.

They also haven’t had the toughest schedule. Vegas is a combined 7-1 against the Ducks, Coyotes and Kings, three teams from which not much was expected. The Ducks are in a playoff position as of now, but have won just five of their 11 games against non-Vegas opponents.

A 7-1-1 record is terrific. That’s 15 points in the bank, and in a shortened season, those will be very important.

The road does get rockier soon, as the Golden Knights get the Avalanche for four in a row next week and hit the road for six in a row next month.

We know the Golden Knights are good, we just don’t know how good quite yet until they’ve been tested more against some of the top teams in the West.

Young players getting a chance

Dylan Coghlan has made his NHL debut, and Cody Glass, Nicolas Hague and Keegan Kolesar have all been regulars at different points. The Golden Knights have long been a veteran-heavy team and are turning to the kids more this season. Kolesar is the oldest of that group at 23.

The maturation of Glass in particular has been fun to watch. He put on weight in the offseason and has shown off his new muscle, allowing him to better battle for pucks in the corners and win net-front battles, particularly on the power play. He has four points in five games after 16 points in 44 games last year as a rookie.

Hague has also been off to a great start. He had a three-point night on Friday against the Kings while taking on greater defensive responsibilities. He’s playing with a swagger he didn’t have last year, particularly in the offensive zone, where he has not hesitated to unleash his booming shot this season.

Stone on historic pace

Mark Stone has 14 points in nine games this year, a pace of almost 128 points over 82 games. In a 56-game season, that sets him on pace for 87 points, which would still be a career-high (he had 73 points in 77 games in 2018-19).

Stone also started hot last season with 19 points in his first 15 games. When the season paused in March, he finished with a 63 points in 65 games. He didn’t get a chance at a career-best mark last season, but seems to be making up for that this year.

Pacioretty right there with him

Max Pacioretty also had one of the best seasons of his career last year, with 66 points. That was one off his career best in nine fewer games, meaning he almost certainly would have set a new mark had the season not been cut short.

This year he and Stone are forming one of the league’s most lethal tandems. He is second to Stone with 11 points and leads the team with six goals, and has already recorded a hat trick and an overtime winner.

In fact, Stone and Pacioretty have combined for nine goals this season, and have assisted each other on all but two of them, including all three of Pacioretty’s goals on Jan. 26.

Fourth line struggling

Not everyone is playing well, though. William Carrier, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves, the line that lovingly calls itself the “meat grinders,” have appeared to take a step back from last season.

Reaves assisted on a Nosek goal on opening night, and through nine games, those are the only two points the line has registered. They’re all near the bottom of the team’s possession analytics, and on Friday against Los Angeles the trio was out-attempted 12-0 when on the ice together.

That line isn’t expected to go out and score every night, and there are reasons to be optimistic about a turnaround (the expected-goals and shot attempt numbers aren’t terrible), but they’ve struggled in the early-goings of the season.

Defense getting it done

The Golden Knights were without Brayden McNabb and Alex Pietrangelo for two games and you hardly noticed.

That’s a credit to the defensive depth, where only half of the six defensemen last weekend have played every game. Nick Holden, Hague and Coghlan have filled in when needed, and Shea Theodore, Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud have all started the season well. Pietrangelo is close to a return, coach Pete DeBoer said, while McNabb will be out until at least March.

As a unit, the Vegas defense has allowed just under 25 shots per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, the third-best mark in the league, and the seventh-fewest expected goals per game. No matter who is playing on the blue line, they’re getting the job done.

Fleury starting hot

It helps a defense look good when the goaltender shuts the door. After four games, Marc-Andre Fleury has a .944 save percentage and just five goals allowed.

DeBoer said Monday he thinks the goalie rotation has something to do with that, allowing the 36-year-old future Hall of Famer to stay fresh between his starts. He’s expected to start tonight, just his fifth start in 25 days (though a weeklong pause played a factor as well).

Lehner not

Fleury’s counterpart, meanwhile, has started slowly, both in terms of the season and in terms of games. Robin Lehner has allowed 15 goals in five games, and nine have come in the first period. That includes his last two outings, when he has allowed five goals in the first period.

The good news is after that he’s been dynamite. He’s allowed just two goals in the third period or overtime and they came in the same game. Still, Lehner is sitting at just an .890 save percentage and minus-3.26 saves above average, well below his career marks.

Picking up from the bubble

Two of Vegas’ best players in the postseason were Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch, who both have played this season like the playoffs haven’t ended.

Entering tonight’s game, Theodore (nine points) and Tuch (eight) are third and fourth on the team in points, and both have netted three goals. They’re playing at or near a point-per-game pace and seemingly nearing the peak of their powers.

Theodore comes as no surprise. He finished sixth in the Norris Trophy voting as the league’s top defensemen, and continues to quarterback the power play as well as anyone in the league. His development has been linear, and its trajectory upward.

Tuch isn’t exactly a surprise, but he’s bouncing back from a disappointing regular season last year. He was hurt for much of it, but he’s back to showing the potential he flashed in the 2018-19 season when he scored 20 goals.