Vegas Golden Knights: Four takeaways from Arizona victory

Hockey is back! The Vegas Golden Knights finally returned to our lives on Sunday after opening their preseason schedule by beating the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 at T-Mobile Arena.

Over 17 thousand people were in attendance to see the return of the Vegas Golden Knights and they were treated to a lively first exhibition game, which was highlighted by Max Pacioretty‘s hat trick and an assist for a four point night. Cody Eakin and Reilly Smith also helped themselves to a tuck each, while Brayden McNabb put the gloss on the victory with an empty netter.

But, as we are all well aware of by now, winning is the least important thing in preseason with blowing off the cobwebs, tinkering with systems and lines and getting a closer look at a slew of prospects the order of the day in any exhibition game. That was certainly the case for the Golden Knights who were able to take plenty of positives from the matchup against the Coyotes.

So, as a result, we have put together a list of four takeaways from the 6-2 win against Arizona, starting with a positive showing from a high-end rookie who is surrounded by high hopes and has a big couple of weeks ahead of him…

1. Cody Glass ready for his chance

We have spoken plenty about Cody Glass this off-season and for good reason too. The rookie forward is without doubt the most prized asset in the Vegas Golden Knights farm system and, after dominating at every single level he’s played at, the time is right for Glass to now make the leap to the NHL.

That is why these next few weeks will be crucial for Glass in terms of proving to Head Coach Gerard Gallant and the rest of the coaching staff why he deserves to be on the opening night roster against the San Jose Sharks on Oct, 2. And it all started on Sunday afternoon when the 20-year-old was put on the top line between veteran forwards Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith.

It was a huge opportunity for the two-way center and, despite a non-eventful first period, he passed his first big test with flying colors and recovered well from a few noticeable mistakes in the first frame. There were a few blots on his copybook but that is only natural for a rookie trying to impress and you could put a few of those errors down to a case of the butterflies.

However, as already mentioned, Glass grew in confidence the longer the game went on and he showcased his treasure chest of skills, his vision for a pass and his high hockey IQ, which is extremely impressive for someone so young. His skating needs some work but he has plenty of time to work on any flaws in his game and iron out any kinks.

Without doubt though, Glass’ finest moment of the day came in the second period when he fed defenseman Dylan Coghlan who unleashed a shot on net and Pacioretty was there to mop up and complete his hat trick. It was a sublime combination between the two rookies and it highlighted Glass’ creativity and ability to make things happen with a single pass.

What was also impressive was Glass’ hunger to atone for an error. Late in the game he made a mess of a zone entry on the power play which gifted Arizona the puck and the chance to claw a goal back, but the prospect displayed raw speed to get back in the defensive zone, lift a stick and more than make up for his mistake. Rookies are going to mess up every now and then but it was noteworthy to see the hustle from Glass to ensure that his slip up didn’t cost his team.

All in all, it was a solid outing from Glass who can be pleased with how he equipped himself, but there is still plenty of hard work ahead for the forward who will need to work on certain aspects of his game and tidy up around the edges if he wants to be on that opening night roster.