Vegas Golden Knights: McNabb’s monster shift, other takeaways
Things are really beginning to hot up for the Vegas Golden Knights after they opened 2020 with a win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
After finishing the previous Decade with consecutive wins, the Vegas Golden Knights opened the new Decade by winning their third straight at T-Mobile Arena.
It wasn’t straightforward, however, and it was a crazy and frantic first period that featured no less than six goals.
Claude Giroux got the Flyers on the board first before Shea Theodore made it a tied game, while Max Pacioretty quickly converted on the power play to shift the momentum into Vegas’ favor.
Jon Merrill, playing as a makeshift forward with both Tomas Nosek and Jonathan Merrill out of the lineup, scored his first goal of the year before Travis Konecny made things interesting.
It was an action-packed opening frame and it finished with Pacioretty tallying his second goal of the night.
Cody Glass, who had looked sharp playing on a third line with Paul Stastny and William Carrier, got on the board in the second period to seemingly freeze the game for the Golden Knights.
However, Sean Couturier scored both in the middle frame and in the 15 seconds into the final period to set up a nervy finish for the Golden Knights.
And Vegas had to weather a late storm as the Flyers went 6-on-3 for the final couple of minutes, although the Knights relied on a monster shift from one player in particular to see the game out.
On that note, let’s delve into some takeaways from the Vegas Golden Knights’ 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers…
1. McNabb’s monster shift
Brayden McNabb finished the night with a -2 rating and no points, so that suggests that it was a rough outing for the defenseman.
However, if you delve a bit deeper, then the eye test will suggest that McNabb played a pivotal role in this win.
And it took place in the final minutes of the contest.
With Reilly Smith punished for delay of the game and then Deryk Engelland going to the box for cross-checking, the Vegas gift-wrapped a five-on-three power play and handed it to the Flyers.
That transformed into a six-on-three when Carter Hart was pulled with 1:29 to play, leaving the Golden Knights with a mammoth task ahead of them.
But, thanks in large to McNabb, they got the job done with the defenseman threw his body on the ice to block a shot from Philadelphia defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
Then, after recovering from that, McNabb used his long stick to deflect the puck out of the zone that essentially iced the game for the Golden Knights.
It was two huge plays from Brayden McNabb who put his body on the line in order to ensure that his team held on to the win.
2. Merrill’s odd night
With Tomas Nosek attending the birth of his child, the Vegas Golden Knights were already short on forwards.
Then, on the day of the game, Jonathan Marchessault went down with a mysterious lower-body injury, leaving Head Coach Gerard Gallant in a bit of jam.
However, Gallant has been around for a while and he quickly thought on his feet, opting to use Jon Merrill as a forward.
It was a role the defenseman hadn’t taken on since his college days, although you wouldn’t have thought that by watching Merrill in action against the Flyers.
Slotting in on the fourth line alongside Nicolas Roy and Ryan Reaves, Merrill produced a monster first shift to help settle into the game.
He was all over the ice and he capped an impressive first period off in the best way possible with a goal.
and then this one 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/OgzvpzuHPf
— 🏆 - Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) January 3, 2020
After Nicolas Roy battled hard along the boards behind the goal before circling the net and putting the puck on Carter Hart, Merrill was in position to seize hold of the puck before beating Hart on the rebound with a backhander.
It was an experiment that paid off handsomely for both player and team, and using Merrill as a forward in the future could be an option.
After all, the New York Rangers have found success with using veteran defenseman Brendan Smith as a fourth line grinder (we’ll have more on that this week), and Jon Merrill has now shown that he can be plugged in as a bottom six forward and play an effective role.
3. Golden Knights hotting up
It was far from perfect and a lack of cool heads at the end of the game could have cost them, but there was plenty to like from the Vegas Golden Knights in their win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
After closing 2019 with consecutive wins, the Golden Knights opened a new year with a third straight victory, setting the tone for what will hopefully be a strong second-half of the 2019-20 regular season.
And all the signs are there that the Knights are starting to approach the peak of their powers.
Marc-Andre Fleury seems locked in again following a couple of rough outings prior to the Christmas break, while Shea Theodore is evolving into the high-end offensive defenseman the Knights always thought he was capable of being.
Then there is the potent top six which has produced all year and they are really starting to click collectively.
Granted, the lack of secondary scoring is a concern although the third line of William Carrier, Paul Stastny and Cody Glass really impressed against the Flyers, and that could be a line worth keeping together.
After carving out a superb 9-4-2 record in December, the Vegas Golden Knights are primed to go on a run now and seize full control of the Pacific Division.
Fleury out of All-Star Game. dark. Next
They have all the pieces in place and it would shock me if the front office wasn’t active at the Trade Deadline, which is rapidly approaching.
And, after navigating a tough test against a Philadelphia Flyers team that looks destined for the postseason, there is a lot to be encouraged about this Golden Knights team as we hit the midway point of the season.