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Vegas Golden Knights Fourth Line Shines In Win Over Blackhawks

By Richard Cardinale

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 10: Tomas Nosek #92, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41, Luca Sbisa #47 and Nate Schmidt #88 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate a goal against the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena on October 10, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Theh Golden Knights won 5-2. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 10: Tomas Nosek #92, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41, Luca Sbisa #47 and Nate Schmidt #88 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate a goal against the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena on October 10, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Theh Golden Knights won 5-2. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Vegas Golden Knights fourth line has been the most consistent trio on this hockey club.

Let me start by saying this; no one expected this hockey club to have this kind of success out of the shoot. And no one else thought the Vegas Golden Knights would defeat the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. Not only did Vegas beat Chicago, but they also outworked them in every facet of the game.

From the opening puck drop to the end of the game, the Golden Knights won all the battles and were the more physical team as well. All four lines, three defensive pairs and goaltender Oscar Dansk were outstanding against the Blackhawks. It was the most impressive performance by the Vegas Golden Knights thus far.  But there was one thing that stood out to me during last nights game. The fourth line.

That’s right; the fourth line decided to play the heroes as they were the best-looking line all night long. They produced the most scoring chances and even converted twice against Chicago netminder Corey Crawford.

Let’s start with the goal from Tomas Nosek. Deryk Engelland took a harmless looking wrist shot that broke through Crawford and Nosek was there to crash the net, beat Tommy Wingels for a race for the puck and tap it past the two-time Stanley Cup champion. That play was your prototypical greasy fourth line goal.

Nosek is a pretty big guy as he stands 6’3 and weighs in at 210 lbs. The 25-year-old still owns some potential, but he’s thriving in his fourth line role with the Golden Knights. He can also play either left or right wing which makes him versatile if an injury occurs within the lineup.

The fourth line earned their second goal of the night when Nosek and William Carrier teamed up on the forecheck and forced a turnover. Carrier dished the puck to Nosek behind the net and Nosek beautifully fed Pierre-Edouard Bellemare who slammed it home to give the Golden Knights a 3-1 lead.

In addition, Bellemare is the perfect fourth line player for this Golden Knights squad. I had no issues when general manager George McPhee took him in the expansion draft. Furthermore, the 32-year-old is excellent on the faceoff dot. He’s also the best penalty killing forward on the team by far.

As for Carrier, he’s a power forward who loves to get physical and has great size for the role. He’s still only 22 years old, and he could take another step in his development this year. Carrier can also be a little bit of an agitator on the ice; he just needs to limit the number of penalties he takes.

Next: The Vadim Shipachyov Situation Is Getting Ugly.

All in all, If the fourth line can keep this kind of play up, this will take a lot of pressure off the first three lines.  The fourth unit brings a ton of energy to this hockey club, and it showed against the Blackhawks. They will showcase their talents once again as the Golden Knights end their seven-game homestand when they battle the Colorado Avalanche on Friday evening.

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