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Vegas Golden Knights Gearing Up For Western Canadian Road Trip

By Richard Cardinale

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 6: Colin Miller #6 and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41 of the Vegas Golden Knights watch for an incoming shot along with Dominic Moore #20 and James van Riemsdyk #25 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on November 6, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Golden Knights 4-3 in an overtime shoot-out. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 6: Colin Miller #6 and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41 of the Vegas Golden Knights watch for an incoming shot along with Dominic Moore #20 and James van Riemsdyk #25 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on November 6, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Golden Knights 4-3 in an overtime shoot-out. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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In division matchups on the road will be a crucial test for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The first road trip of the year to start off the season went very well for the Vegas Golden Knights. They earned two wins in two consecutive days in Dallas and Arizona, both in comeback fashion. However, when Vegas went out on their long eastern coast road trip, they didn’t do nearly as well.

The NHL’s newest franchise went 1-4-1 out east and didn’t produce a ton of offense as they did at home. Even the win against Ottawa was pretty ugly after nearly blowing a three-goal lead with less than 10 minutes to go. The Knights impressed me the most in the shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, a perennial Stanley Cup contender.

The Golden Knights stuck with the Leafs every step of the way, and they came back from a two-goal deficit, so the team proved that night they never quit. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well losing in the shootout and losing the next night in Montreal after a solid effort.

After a massive win against the Winnipeg Jets at T-Mobile Arena on Friday night, the team will look to improve their road record starting Tuesday in Edmonton. The Oilers have struggled mightily out of the gate, so the Golden Knights have to take advantage. It obviously won’t be easy containing superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatl. Edmonton is strong offensive club no doubt, but there are ways to exploit their weaknesses.

One of those ways is special teams. Entering Sunday’s action, the Oilers are ranked dead last in penalty kill percentage at 69.8 %. Players like William Karlsson, James Neal, and Colin Miller could feast on those man-advantage opportunities against a weak penalty killing club. And not to mention maybe playing Shea Theodore is a possibility to boost the power play units.

Two days later the team travels to Vancouver for another big division meeting versus the Canucks. Opposite to the Oilers, the Canucks are a weak offensive club only averaging 2.53 goals per game good for 27th in the NHL. And like the Oilers, this team also struggles on the penalty kill ranking 24th in PK % at 78.1%. So needless to say, getting the Knights power play going on is a major key in these two games.

On the other side of the puck, the Golden Knights cannot afford to head to the box. The Golden Knights rank fifth in penalty minutes per game with 8, and that number needs to go down drastically. Penalties on the last road trip doomed this team way too many times. It’s best to stay out of the box even though Edmonton and Vancouver are ranked 25th and 27th in power play percentage respectively.

Next: William Karlsson Has Been One Of The Vegas Golden Knights Best Players.

All in all, this is a critical trip for the Vegas Golden Knights. Getting back on the right track at home was significant but now its time to carry it over on the road. When this team comes back from Canada, the first place Kings will be waiting for them when they come home. And who knows, perhaps first place could be on the line by then.

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