Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson (20) stretches for the puck in front of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) during the third period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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The Golden Knights are just past the halfway point of the season in first place of Pacific Division, and going into last night’s game were fifth in the Western Conference and 10th in the NHL.
“Despite all the injuries, all the adversity we’ve faced as a team, we’re not in a bad spot right now,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said.
The first 41 games are a good sample to pull out some observations. Here are five thoughts:
Chandler Stephenson is a top-line center
Perhaps the biggest story of the Golden Knights’ season has been the play of former fourth-liner and Washington castoff Chandler Stephenson.
Going into Monday’s game against his former team, Stephenson was leading the Golden Knights with 26 assists and 38 points in 40 games, already having surpassed his previous career-bests. He had a legitimate case for the All-Star team as arguably Vegas’ most consistent forward.
And he’s doing it mostly without his star wingers, Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. The trio has managed just 15 games together this season, while Stephenson continues to produce no matter who is playing on his line.
Just last week, he centered the top line with William Carrier and Evgenii Dadonov, and he scored the Golden Knights’ opening goal in a 4-3 overtime victory over Montreal.
Stephenson has played so well in fact, it will pose an interesting question once Jack Eichel eventually joins the Vegas lineup. The thought of where to put Eichel is a fascinating one, as Stephenson has played so well with Stone and Pacioretty it might make sense to put Eichel on his own line.
But if you can overload a line with three stars and feel confident Stephenson can anchor his own line, would that not make sense too?
Defense trending in the right direction
The Golden Knights are about a middle-of-the pack defensive team. At 5-on-5 this season they’ve allowed the 14th most expected goals (2.49) and ninth most high-danger scoring chances (11.85). They have the 23rd-ranked penalty kill (77.5%) and have given up the 15th most goals per game (3.02).
It’s far from the defensive standard the Golden Knights set in their first four seasons, but it is a massive leap from where they were earlier this season.
At the end of November they were bottom of the league in expected-goals allowed (2.90). Since Dec. 1, they’ve been the best (2.05). Much of that is due to stability in the lineup, but Vegas has still been without Alec Martinez and Nicolas Hague on the back end.
There was so much upheaval in the early season between injuries and COVID-19 that Vegas struggled to execute its systems. Now that those are coming along, so too are the defensive results we’ve all expected.
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) makes a save against Washington Capitals center Lars Eller (20) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, in Washington. At left is Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Goaltending, not so much
Even as the defense has improved, the amount of pucks that have gone in the net hasn’t. Through November, Vegas allowed 3.05 goals per game and since then they’ve allowed 3.00.
Essentially, the goaltending has played inversely to the defense in front of it. In October and November, Robin Lehner was stealing quite a few games for the Golden Knights, registering 8.96 goals saved above expected (GSAx), which ranked seventh in the NHL, according to stats site Evolving Hockey.
That basically means based on the quantity and quality of shots in front of him, Lehner prevented nine more goals than would be “expected” from a generic goalie. Laurent Brossoit just played five games for Vegas, but even he made 1.5 GSAx.
Since Dec. 1 though, both Lehner and Brossoit have struggled. Both are underwater — Lehner at -2.36 GSAx and Brossoit at -1.30.
If you prefer more traditional stats, Golden Knights goalies this season — 29 games of Lehner, 14 of Brossoit and one of Logan Thompson — have combined for a .902 save percentage. For comparison, last season it was .922.
“I thought our goaltending was exceptional early in the season when we needed it to be,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “As we’ve gotten healthier our game has tightened up a little bit, and everybody’s got to be better here. I think the bar for everybody in the second half here is higher.”
Pacioretty’s torrid pace
It’s a shame we haven’t seen a healthy Pacioretty all season, because he was scoring at borderline historic rates when he was in the lineup.
Pacioretty has been limited to just 16 games because of a broken foot and then wrist surgery, but he still has 12 goals, or 0.75 per game that ranks as the best in the league. He also has nine assists. Over a full season of 82 games with those rates, he would finish 62 goals and 108 points, shattering his career-bests.
It’s unlikely Pacioretty would hit those marks, but it shows how much the Golden Knights miss him. Since he was traded to Vegas in 2018, he leads the team 90 goals, six more than second-place Jonathan Marchessault despite playing in 38 fewer games.
Pacioretty also leads Vegas in power-play goals and game-winning goals too, and he has been the Golden Knights’ unquestioned best finisher for parts of four seasons now.
The good news is he may be returning soon. He traveled with the Golden Knights on their current road trip, and DeBoer said there was a chance he could play.
They haven’t played their best
Their defense is improving, their goaltending hasn’t clicked yet, and offensive players are on the shelf with injuries. And yet the Golden Knights sat in first place in the Pacific Division at the halfway point, three points clear of the second-place Kings.
At the midway point, the Knights had exactly 50 points, a 100-point pace, that right now would not have them in a playoff spot in any other division. But they don’t play in any other division, and being better than the Kings, Ducks and every other Pacific team would guarantee home-ice advantage in two playoff series.
Sooner than later, they will get back to full strength. And when Stone, Pacioretty, Eichel, Martinez and Hague return to the lineup, the Golden Knights could produce a memorable end of the season.
