Should the Vegas Golden Knights qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs and go on a lengthy run – fans may very well look back to Saturday night’s 5-3 win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings as a seminal turning point.
Saturday’s victory was not ordinary. The two points came at a time when they were desperately needed. The urgency, resiliency and execution were reminiscent of a VGK squad from happier days than the 0-4 stretch the team found itself in prior to the win.
“It was a bit more of our identity. Putting people on their heels. We have the personnel to do that and you have to have the mindset to want to do that and it’s up to me to keep pushing for that,” said VGK head coach Bruce Cassidy. “I liked the way we won. Forecheck was good. We were getting inside. We were creating chances by going to the net. We had good discipline for the most part. We did a lot of things well and got the win as a result of that. Playing the right way and getting the win and dealing with some adversity, you’re checking a lot of boxes that we hadn’t checked in a while.”
GM Kelly McCrimmon had a massive week at the trading table. He added the two best position players of any team who was actively trying to better itself. Tomas Hertl is the best forward acquired and Noah Hanafin was the top defenseman changing jerseys. Anthony Mantha provides middle six scoring which is so coveted come playoff time.
Players within the Golden Knights dressing room quietly marveled at McCrimmon’s work. They realize ownership and hockey operations has done its part and more. What happens next will be a combination of Cassidy, his staff and the players.
Cassidy’s formula is a proven winner. The players got on his page and he in turn trusted in them last spring and the result was a Stanley Cup.
For whatever reason; injury, physical and mental fatigue, the Golden Knights have not been themselves for quite a stretch now. The team went 20-5-5 to open the season but over the next 34 games have recorded a 14-18-2 mark.
Winning in the playoffs requires a selfless and detailed approach. Vegas has seen the winning method. The players and coaches know what it looks like. Playing the kind of hockey which results in playoff wins requires ingrained details. The instincts to manage the puck, back check, block shots, set aside the urge to retaliate must be automatic and unfailing.
Coaches say, “you can’t flip a switch and start playing the right way.” Correct. Details must be built into a game and reinforced.
Vegas has enough time to find its game and build it into playoff form. But there is no longer any time to waste.
Saturday night was the start. The first step.
Vegas woke up Sunday sitting in the last wild card spot in the Western Conference but with an eight-point edge over the pack of teams hoping to catch them. Vegas is also tied in points with the LA Kings for third in the Pacific Division and four back of the Edmonton Oilers for second in the division.
There is lots to play for down the stretch. Winning the Stanley Cup is a massive undertaking. Defending adds a lot of intangibles and is an even larger task. The chase has been on since the debris from last spring’s Stanley Cup parade was swept off Las Vegas Blvd. McCrimmon likes to say, “every team runs its own race.” His Golden Knights showed their pace on Saturday night. Now they need to consistently live up to it.
This and that: There is no such thing as salary cap circumvention. It’s a conspiracy theory invention. The CBA, agreed upon by ownership and the players, sets out the rules by which the NHL and the salary cap system are governed. There are no loopholes. They rules are clear and must be followed. They can’t be skirted or whatever specious verb one wants to apply.
All teams must follow the rules in the same manner. What does vary, from club to club, are the resources managers have at their disposal as well as the skill of a team’s cap management staff.
Owners determine how much money they are willing to spend on their team. Cap managers look for opportunities and ways to use the CBA to their advantage.
There are no convenient injuries in the NHL. The league can and does ask for injury information on a regular basis. The use of Long Term Injury Relief is closely monitored.
Unfortunately no one has sustained more injuries than the Golden Knights in the past three seasons. The CBA stipulates a team can replace injured players but must be cap compliant when they come off LTIR. So, for Shea Theodore, his 38 games missed happened earlier in the season. Vegas had to make sure they had cap room for him to return. Mark Stone’s lacerated spleen happened later in the season. Stone’s return from an internal organ injury is an unknown but certainly it won’t be in the regular season. So Vegas, within the constraints of the CBA, acted accordingly in replacing its captain who suffered a dangerous injury.
NHL ownership is a competitive club of billionaires. They all want to win and are used to winning. They have legions of lawyers. They don’t let anyone get over on them. It just doesn’t happen.
