It’s going to take more of what Mark Stone supplied on Monday afternoon and from players other than just the captain.
The Vegas Golden Knights are wounded right now. Missing two of their top centers, their most dynamic defenseman, a punishing power forward and half of their vaunted goaltending duo.
Most teams would crumble under these circumstances. The Golden Knights have been braced and they’ve stumbled.
But a ray of light has begun to shine underneath this door of difficulty as Vegas has won three of its last five.
The next bit of the story is whether they can keep their feet underneath them and withstand this torrent of injuries. With six games left before a nine-day break surrounding the NHL’s All-Star game, the Golden Knights need to tread water and hopefully more.
All that will take, as Stone recently said: “Twenty guys have to be better.”
Stone stepped up with a hat trick on Monday and breathed life into a Vegas offense which at times has gone quiet. Monday’s lineup featured 11 skaters who had failed to score in seven games or more. Stone and Jonathan Marchessault ended their goal droughts but the rest of the current roster needs to chip in as well.
With 55 points through 44 games, Vegas sits second in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference. Vancouver leads both the division and conference with 62 points. The Golden Knights are certainly still in the hunt for both of those regular season titles.
Edmonton holds the final wild card spot in the West with 47 points. Seattle also has 47 points but sits outside the playoff picture as of this writing and Calgary is close behind with 45 points. Things have tightened up in the West.
The Golden Knights are among the league leaders in man-games lost this season. Vegas sits second in salary cap on the sidelines and first in the average minutes of injured players category.
Adversity has hit the Golden Knights. Having Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, William Carrier, Adin Hill, Ben Hutton, Toby Bjornfot and Jiri Patera injured has strained the organization’s depth.
The last week, however, has seen the team stabilize and produce a formula which can lead to wins despite the hole that has been torn into the lineup’s hull.
Those wins have featured solid to spectacular goaltending from Logan Thompson and greater attention paid to team defense. A 5-2 win over the New York Islanders, a 2-1 defeat of the Boston Bruins and yesterday’s 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators manifest what the Golden Knights can still get done.
Vegas limited the Grade A chances against Thompson in these games and the goaltender did his part, buying his team time while they searched for offense.
When fully loaded with its Stanley Cup champion roster, offense can be generated in a number of ways. In their three recent wins, Vegas has simplified operations and focused on keeping things clean in the neutral zone. If a transition zone entry isn’t there, they have more often than not dumped the puck in and worked on establishing a forecheck. Not pretty but effective.
As always, the Golden Knights will look for the good in this adversity. If they can find a way to continue to pick up points, at some juncture health will hopefully return to this squad. Inserting healthy players like Eichel, Karlsson, Theodore, Hill and Carrier who are also rested and fresh can give a team a turbo boost.
The Golden Knights have consistently played deep into the spring and last season won the last NHL game played. There’s a price to be paid for all this winning in wear and tear on players.
It isn’t an excuse or narrative, it’s reality. But in hockey, like in life, timing is everything.
Perhaps these injuries have come at the right time and will allow the Golden Knights to recover, refresh and reset before the postseason arrives.
And a healthy, confident and hungry VGK squad remains among the most dangerous in the NHL.
