Vegas Golden Knights: Pros and Cons from loss to the Bruins

Pros: Top Line Clicking

One of the biggest question marks looming over the Vegas Golden Knights heading into 2019-20 was whether or not Jonathan Marchessault–William Karlsson-Reilly Smith could rediscover their magic touch from 2017-18.

Granted, last year wasn’t that bad a year for the trio given they all still reached the 50 point plateau, but they set such high expectations for themselves the year before that 2018-19 felt somewhat of a disappointment.

However, with some of the pressure having been eased off due to the fact that they have a genuine second line behind them that can rack up points like nobody’s business, Vegas’ potent top line has looked like their old selves in the early throes of 2019-20.

And we were treated to the type of highlight reel play we have come to expect from that dominant line in the first period last night, Karlsson letting a shot fly at Tuukka Rask before Marchessault recycled the puck and fed Smith on the backdoor with a gorgeous dish.

It was a stunning play and highlighted just how dangerous that top line can be when they are all clicking and firing on all cylinders.

Through three games so far this year Karlsson has recorded four points (four assists), Smith also has four (three goals, one assist) and Marchessault has one goal and one assist for two points.

Cons: Lack of depth scoring

After Tomas Nosek stole the show against the San Jose Sharks on Friday with a three-point night (two goals, one assist) and William Carrier, Brandon Pirri and Valentin Zykov all registered a point, Vegas’ depth forwards were brought back to earth with an almighty bump last night.

Secondary scoring was a genuine concern for the Golden Knights heading into this year and, despite some hope in the opening two games, that fear reared its ugly head on Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins.

Vegas’ top two lines were stellar, contributing eight points, but they got no help from their bottom six who were nowhere to be seen for the majority of the night.

Valentin Zykov was absent for most of the game and it was a night that reminded us all while he hasn’t lived up to his potential yet, while Brandon Pirri also failed to get going and couldn’t provide a spark the Knights so desperately needed in the second and third periods.

William Carrier, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves were all -1 on the night and they couldn’t get anything going, which led to the Knights recording just seven shots on goal in the third period when they were chasing the game. It wasn’t good enough.

And, perhaps most telling is the fact that Vegas’ bottom six failed to generate any high-danger scoring chances against the Bruins, and they combined for less than 10 scoring chances altogether.

If the Golden Knights are going to embark on a deep postseason run this year then they are going to need consistent offensive production from their bottom six, and not a repeat of last night.