Minus Pacioretty, Golden Knights urgently looking for right lineup mix

By Justin Emerson

Tuesday, May 18, 2021 | 2 a.m.

The Golden Knights will spend however long Max Pacioretty is out trying to find the best way to replace him. Their chances of coming back in their first-round series against the Wild might depend on it.

With their top goal-scorer out of the lineup, the Golden Knights have needed to be creative in finding a partner for the top line of Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson. 

It was Tomas Nosek to start Game 1, and Alex Tuch by the end of it, as Vegas fell 1-0 in overtime.

Who will it be in Game 2? 

That’s a question Vegas will need to find an answer to when the puck drops against the Wild at 7 p.m.

“Regardless of who plays with whom, we’ve got to get scoring and we’ve got to get depth scoring and we’ve got to be dangerous throughout our lineup,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “I think that’s a strength of our team, so we’ve got to find those combinations.”

Pacioretty’s status for tonight’s Game 2 is unclear. He has not skated publicly with the team since he left the May 1 game against the Coyotes early. Vegas held an optional practice Monday, and Pacioretty did not take part in the portion viewable to media.

DeBoer listed him as “day-to-day” and that “we won’t know until (tonight) whether he’s in or not.”

And his absence was felt Sunday. He led the team with 24 goals in 48 games — an 82-game pace of 41 goals that would rank among the best in his career. He is without question Vegas’ best finisher, tying for the team lead with six power-play goals.

So it caught many by surprise when Nosek lined up next to Stephenson and Stone on Sunday. He’d never played in the top-six under DeBoer, much less on the top line. He had a strong regular season, but his playing profile is vastly different than Pacioretty’s. Tuch, who jumped into the top line in the second period, made more sense on the surface.

There was, of course, a reason Nosek started there instead of Tuch. As DeBoer explained after practice Monday, putting Tuch on the top line makes that unit better but it comes at the expense of the third line. 

Once Tuch moved up in the lineup, the new third line of Mattias Janmark, Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar did not generate a shot attempt together in more than three minutes of ice time.

“They’re set up with a lot of depth,” DeBoer said of the Wild. “The idea about keeping (Tuch) on our third line was in order to keep some of that matchup depth. But with (Pacioretty) out, it’s tough. It’s tough to find guys to put in that No. 1 hole that complement (Stephenson) and (Stone). So I thought (Nosek) did a good job last night, but it was a lot to ask for where he was coming from. We went back to (Tuch) and I think we’ll look at other options.”

So what can the Golden Knights do? If Tuch is on the top line, it allows the Wild opportunities to pounce against a depleted bottom-six. DeBoer wanted Tuch to stay on the third line as a top-six talent, in part to counter Minnesota’s version of Tuch: Kevin Fiala, who had 20 goals and 20 assists and played on the Wild’s third line.

“I try to play hard defensively, I try to score goals and make plays and make it hard on the other team, I try to use my speed and size to my advantage,” Tuch said. “I need to do more of that than I did (Sunday). Doesn’t matter who I’m playing with.”

If DeBoer wants Tuch on the third line, there are options, though it could shake up some chemistry. Vegas’ second-best left wing behind Pacioretty is Jonathan Marchessault, who for four years has thrived on the “Misfit Line” with William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. While they’ve played well overall, they’ve actually struggled against the Wild this season.

Could a top line of Marchessault, Stephenson and Stone do the trick? That would allow Karlsson and Smith to play with Janmark and create arguably the best defensive line Vegas has ever had. The Golden Knights could deploy that unit in the defensive zone when Minnesota sends its top line over the boards. It also keeps Tuch on the third line to play with, presumably, Kolesar and Roy.

Vegas could also try a whole game of Tuch with Stephenson and Stone. After a team loses 1-0, it’s going to do whatever it can to put the puck in net and there’s no doubt those three make a dangerous scoring unit, even if it comes at the expense of other lines.

“As far as our team goes, I think we have good depth,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “If (Tuch) is up on the first line, we believe in our guys to add depth and add scoring and be reliable defensively on our third line. So for us I don’t think it’s much of a difference.”

As long as Pacioretty is out, the Golden Knights don’t have an easy decision. Take any team’s top scorer out of the lineup and suddenly it becomes less potent. But injuries are part of the game this time of year, and Vegas can’t let Pacioretty’s absence serve as an excuse for not scoring.

The next two games are on the road, meaning the Golden Knights already are nearing must-win territory. Such is life in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And in order to win, they’ll need to score. Whether it’s Tuch or Marchessault on the top line or it’s a lower-lineup forward or someone from the blue line, the Golden Knights will need to find a way to cure their scoring woes. It threatens to be a short run in the playoffs if they don’t.