This has become the most mesmerizing element of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Las Vegas Golden Knights have not been able to score, it’s become a glaring problem at the absolute worst time. The Golden Knights have scored one goal against a goalie in the last three games. In the first four games of the Second Round, the Knights averaged 3.75 goals per game, since then they have scored four total goals (including the two that were scored in game seven VS Vancouver on an empty net) which average to one per game. What happened to the Golden Knights and are they doomed?
Game one can’t be a knock on Marc-Andre Fleury. The established veteran got the nod in net to give Robin Lehner the night off. The first shot Fleury saw resulted in a goal but after that, Fleury saved the next 24 shots and kept Vegas in the game. Unfortunately for Fleury, the goal by John Klingberg two and a half minutes into the game was all the Dallas Stars needed since Vegas could not find any rhythm or momentum on offense.
The highlight (or lowlight) of the Vegas offense disappearing was in the second period when the Knights had 4 total shots. One has to question how the Knights sunk to a low where they couldn’t even create scoring opportunities. It is an established cliche that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take (a quote that has expanded into ever yearbook and The Office for some reason), but specifically, Vegas wasn’t able to create many opportunities and fell into the hands of the Dallas style of play. Dallas was able to control the pace of the game and in essence, slow the game down. The second period was the pinnacle of hard-hitting, loose-puck-winning, and fighting in the corner for the puck type of hockey. The Stars have shown this advantage and might spell doom for the Golden Knights for the rest of the series.
Las Vegas feasts on speed and creating space. The difficulty of playoff hockey that they are experiencing is that defense is better and the hits are harder. Dallas does not have a good defense (not inherently) but they were aggressive on the boards both offensively and defensively which allowed them to control the game. What intrigues me and anyone who watched the Stars in the previous round, is their ability to score five or even six goals in a game, something they didn’t do in game one but was constantly achieving in the Second Round against the Avalanche. This only adds to the worry and sense of urgency for Vegas, Dallas only scored one goal and didn’t have their offense clicking either, yet they still won, imagine what will happen when they are scoring.
Of course, at the end of the day, we have to give credit to Anton Khudobin. Khudobin wasn’t even the initial starter for the Dallas Stars (Ben Bishop usually controls the net but has been dealing with injuries) but has been just the goalie they need as the Stars continue their run. On Sunday night Khudobin saved the 25 shots he faced and earned his first career playoff shutout. If the first period was highlighted by the only goal of the game and the second period was highlighted by the lack of an attack by Vegas, the third period was highlighted by Anton Khudobin which saw the Golden Knights playing with the sense of urgency that was missing from the previous 40 minutes but Khudobin ended any hope of a comeback.
The Golden Knights will likely shuffle the lines for game two. More importantly, the Knights will get a much-needed night off, after playing four games in six days the day off will allow Robin Lehner to be ready in net and the Kights offense to have the adjustments to equalize the series.
