Vegas Golden Knights: Smith, Marchessault And Gallant Battle Former Team
The Vegas Golden Knights take on the Florida Panthers, and a couple of players and a coach knows them all too well.
When Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach Gerard Gallant was coaching the Florida Panthers, he brought the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. He coached them to the playoffs in 2016 but lost in the first round to the New York Islanders in six games.
In the 2016-17 campaign, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Gallant. In fact, the Panthers ended up firing Gallant and assistant coach Mike Kelly. And not only did they can both of them, but they also left them out on the street waiting for a cab in Carolina.
Fast forward one year later, and Gallant and Kelly are now coaching the expansion Golden Knights. Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers remain at the bottom of the NHL standings in 29th place. Not only did Vegas take two knowledgeable coaches away from them, but they took two critical players of their offense for next to nothing.
Back in June, the Golden Knights took both Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith at the expansion draft. Let me remind you, the Knights only had to trade a fourth-round draft choice in 2018 for both players. As of now, this looks like general manager George McPhee’s best move of the expansion draft.
Smith is the best two-way player on the Golden Knights and plays in all situations. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gallant talked to McPhee about acquiring Smith in the expansion draft. He’s always productive when he’s on the ice and also plays with Marchessault on the team’s first line.
Smith’s been having a solid year offensively registering nine goals, 14 assists and 23 points in 31 games played. The 26-year-old averages the second most ATOI on the team among forwards with 18:21. He’s been hands down one of the most reliable forwards not just on the Golden Knights but in the league.
As for Marchessault, he’s been having a dynamite campaign with his new club. He’s shown no signs of slowing down since scoring 30 goals for the Panthers last season. Marchessault remains one of the top offensive weapons on the team despite his small stature. He’s also versatile and can play any forward position on the ice.
The Cap-Rouge, Quebec native has ten goals, 16 assists and 26 points in 28 games played this year. His 26 points ranks tied for first on the team with his other linemate William Karlsson. Marchessault also loves generating shots and rebound opportunities as he ranks first on the Knights with 95 shots on goal.
Gallant hasn’t made a call on who the starting goalie will be Sunday night. But the feeling I get is with only three games left before Christmas; this would be an excellent chance to start Malcolm Subban. And with two eastern conference powerhouses such as Tampa Bay and Washington coming to town later this week, you may want Marc-Andre Fleury against those teams he used to play against on a regular basis while he was with Pittsburgh.
Next: Vegas Golden Knights: Marc-Andre Fleury Outduels Matt Murray.
Overall, this should be an enjoyable game tonight. It’ll be interesting to see how Smith and Marchessault perform for the first time against their former team. I think the Vegas Golden Knights will push hard to get this win for Coach Gallant tonight because it may mean a little extra for him. Catch puck drop at 5 PM PT with Dave Goucher and Shane Hnidy on AT&T Sportsnet.