Vegas Golden Knights
Golden Knights Preseason Takeaways: Fourth Line Rebounds, New First Line
Preseason hockey has wrapped up for the Vegas Golden Knights. They defeated the Arizona Coyotes in Boise, Idaho, on Saturday night 5-1.
Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault, Jack Eichel, and Alex Pietrangelo all scored for the Golden Knights. Travis Boyd scored the Coyotes’ only goal.
Eichel finishes the preseason as the team’s leading scorer with four goals, three assists, and seven points in four games. He had an interesting third-period goal.
Given that it was the last game of the preseason, the Golden Knights iced a close-to-NHL lineup Saturday evening.
Alec Martinez and the Golden Knights projected third line of Phil Kessel, William Karlsson, and Michael Amadio did not play. Both Logan Thompson and Adin Hill split time in goal.
Golden Knights Takeaways
Congrats Sailor! You’ve Made The Team
This could change in a heartbeat, but by how things currently look, both Paul Cotter and Kaedan Korczak have presumably made the Golden Knights roster out of camp.
Injuries to Will Carrier and Zach Whitecloud, plus the contract status of Nicolas Hague, have paved the way for these players. Both players have had impressive camps and deserve to get a look in the NHL.
Cotter continues to hit everything that moves and be a force on the forecheck. He likely has the best shot at remaining on the team, even when Carrier returns.
Korczak is a good young two-way defenseman who can eat up minutes and play defensively sound in his own zone. He is just another example of the Golden Knight’s stellar young defensive pool.
Added Depth
With Cotter and Korczak potentially making the team, Jake Leschyshyn, Jonas Rondbjerg, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jake Bischoff, and Sakari Manninen all miss out on a roster spot fresh out of training camp.
However, their preseason play cannot be overlooked as they all had parts of their game impress. These guys were simply beaten out by better players in the system.
Having them in the organization is a big plus for the Golden Knight’s overall depth. Expect to see some of them in the regular season when the Golden Knights inevitably go through some injury trouble.
Fourth Line Rebounds
The last time the Golden Knights played a preseason game against the Coyotes, head coach Bruce Cassidy called out his fourth line. I don’t think he had any problems with how they played Saturday.
The line of Cotter, Roy, and Keegan Kolesar greatly improved their game and were arguably the team’s best line in the win. Their forechecking game was stellar, and they got a couple of quality offensive chances, with Roy getting a first-period goal.
New First Line
Cassidy shuffled up the Golden Knight’s forward lines during Friday’s practice. From this, the new first line of Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith was formed. These three had a strong game Saturday as well.
Smith and Eichel continue to have strong chemistry, and Marchessault obviously knows Smith’s game well. This could be the team’s new-look first line for Tuesday.
Up Next
The Golden Knights finish the preseason with a 3-2-1 record. Season six for the VGK will begin on Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Kings at 7:00 pm.
Here are the lines from Saturday night.
Reilly Smith- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault
Brett Howden- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone
Paul Cotter- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar
Sakari Manninen- Jake Leschyshyn- Pavel Dorofeyev
Ben Hutton- Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore
Jake Bischoff- Kaedan Korczak
Logan Thompson (first half)
Adin Hill (second half)