Golden Knights Analysis
Golden Knights Smother, Shutout Blue Jackets; Silence Cannon
COLUMBUS, Ohio– When the Vegas Golden Knights (39-19-7) played the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, they couldn’t generate any semblance of sustained offensive pressure. The effort was there; the results were not. On Thursday, they suffered no such problems against the Columbus Blue Jackets (31-26-8) and ground out a hard-fought 4-0 win.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy had a tall order for his team before the game.
“I don’t wanna hear the damn cannon all night,” Cassidy remarked.
When the Blue Jackets took the ice, the cannon crew fired a shot as is custom. But after that, Cassidy got his wish; he didn’t hear the damn cannon for the rest of the night.
Through the first ten minutes of the game, the Golden Knights looked exactly like they did against the Penguins. They weren’t sluggish, but they were out of sync. They struggled to contain the Blue Jackets on the rush; they couldn’t solve the Blue Jackets’ man-on-man defensive system and turned the puck over every time they entered the zone. The Golden Knights didn’t record their first shot— their first attempt— until 12 minutes into the first period.
That first shot came on the power play, and it beat Elvis Merzlikins. Jack Eichel and Nic Roy combined to win a board battle, and Tomáš Hertl worked the puck back to Noah Hanifin at the blue line. Hanifin passed back to Hertl, who rolled left and fed Eichel below the goal line. Eichel one-touched it to Nic Roy for a back door tap-in.
“Special teams was the difference in the first period,” said Bruce Cassidy postgame. “We get a power play goal, make a nice play. And then our [penalty kill] did a great job, actually got some really good looks. That gave us some life and we carried that forward.”
Undeterred, the Blue Jackets continued to press. They had good looks but couldn’t solve Adin Hill. And, oh, they tried. Hill dealt with the Blue Jackets in his crease for the better part of 20 minutes, and he made 14 saves in the first frame alone.
The Golden Knights extended their lead with less than a minute to go in the first period. Nic Roy lost the offensive zone face off, but Brandon Saad pestered Ivan Provorov behind the net, and Reilly Smith corralled the puck. He rolled up and almost lost it, but Roy kept the play alive. He drifted below the goal line, pulled up, and fed Smith, who fired a shot on net. Merzlikins made the save, but Provorov impeded him from covering the rebound. Saad collected the change and roofed a no-look backhand.
“After the first, I thought we tightened it up and clogged the middle,” said Brandon Saad postgame.
Indeed, they did. It was all Golden Knights in the second frame. They only outshot the Blue Jackets 9-7 but controlled 60% of the puck possession. When the Blue Jackets had the puck, they couldn’t do anything with it.
The Golden Knights won a board battle, and Alex Pietrangelo backhanded a pass up to Pavel Dorofeyev. Dorofeyev sent it to Brandon Saad, who tipped it past Zach Werenski. Tomáš Hertl got to the puck, pulled up, curled around Adam Fantilli, and sent a cross-ice pass to Dorofeyev. Dorofeyev picked his spot and snuck it past Merzlikins five-hole.
The Blue Jackets didn’t allow them any clean zone entries in the first period; by the third, the Golden Knights turned the tables on them. The Golden Knights held the Blue Jackets to just six shots on goal; they blocked everything else. It was like the Blue Jackets were skating through mud. They just couldn’t generate any offense.
With just under five minutes remaining in the third period, the Blue Jackets pulled Elvis Merzlikins for the empty attacker. Keegan Kolesar won a puck battle, and Alex Pietrangelo hit the empty net from North Market.
The Golden Knights defended hard in the final four minutes. The Blue Jackets had one final scoring chance before the final horn, but Adin Hill was up to the task.
Game Notes
Jack Eichel recorded the primary helper on Nic Roy’s game-winning power play goal. That gives him a 79-point campaign and puts him in sole possession of the franchise record for points in a single season.
Adin Hill was fantastic tonight. Once again, I repeat that the Golden Knights do NOT have a goaltending problem.
The Golden Knights blocked 21 shots tonight. They had one of their best games of the year in that category. They were aggressive with their sticks defensively, strong on pucks, and didn’t lose many battles in front of the net after the first period.
Pavel Dorofeyev was incredible tonight in both zones. His defensive game has improved by leaps and bounds this season, and it was on full display tonight. He was strong on the puck, finished his checks, pesky on the forecheck, and smart with his stick. Sometimes, hockey is an unfair sport; tonight, he was justly rewarded with a goal.
What a pickup Brandon Saad has been. I don’t think he’s had one bad game since signing with the Golden Knights. It seems like he’s always in the right place at the right time; he’s solid defensively and generates chances with the best of them. He’s up to eight points through 13 games with the Golden Knights.
“I think we’ve been playing well with the puck,” said Brandon Saad postgame. “As a line, I think we’re improving every game, whether we’re scoring goals or not, we’re having a good cycle game, checking well against teams, and we’re getting rewarded for it. It feels good… Obviously, when pucks are going in, you’re going to feel better. But at the end of the day, we’re creating chances and winning hockey games.”
Elvis Merzlikins recorded a .893 save percentage tonight. If you looked at the box score without watching the game, you’d probably think that he played poorly. That is not the case. At least half of his 25 saves were Grade-A chances, none better than this one:
Columbus is a hockey town. The fans are thrilled that their team is playing meaningful hockey in March again; Nationwide Arena was packed on Thursday night. The cannon crew didn’t get to fire the cannon tonight, but when they make the playoffs– be it this year or next– it’ll be the shot heard ‘round the world. Or, at least, the shot heard ‘round the greater Columbus area.
Three stars of the game: Adin Hill, Nic Roy, Brandon Saad
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