Vegas Golden Knights: Schmidt’s struggles, other takeaways from Pens loss
Despite their best efforts the Vegas Golden Knights were unable to dig themselves out of a three-goal hole after dropping a 4-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
It was a mouthwatering clash of two titans at T-Mobile Arena and the Vegas Golden Knights dominated large chunks of the game, although they were made to pay for a sluggish start.
Nate Schmidt‘s errant pass was picked off in the neutral zone and Evgeni Malkin backhanded the rebound past Marc-Andre Fleury after Vegas failed to clear the zone.
Patric Hornqvist then took advantage of another rebound as the Penguins scored right off the draw, with the Golden Knights suffering a case of deja vu after also putting up a stinker in the first period against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
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It only got worse for the Knights, too, as Dominik Kahun made it a three-goal game early in the second, with the forward converting on the power play.
Credit where credit is due, though, because the Knights, as they did against St. Louis, refused to cave in and they fought their way back into the contest.
And the fightback started thanks to Max Pacioretty who continued his stellar year by wristing a shot beyond Tristan Jarry.
It was then a one-goal game thanks to Paul Stastny who positioned himself well to redirect a shot from Shea Theodore past Jarry on the power play.
However, any comeback came to a grinding halt after Brandon Tanev collected a pinpoint stretch pass from Kris Letang, before crashing to the front of the net, swinging the puck around the pokecheck of Fleury before putting the puck in the net.
Reilly Smith did dispatch a nifty pass from Chandler Stephenson past Jarry, but it was too little too late as the Pittsburgh Penguins ended the Golden Knights’ four-game win streak.
Let’s delve into some takeaways from the Vegas Golden Knights’ 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins…
1. Schmidt’s slump
It is safe to say that Nate Schmidt isn’t playing his best hockey right now, and he endured another rough night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It all started in the opening minutes of the first period as Schmidt failed to execute a pass, resulting in it being cut out in the neutral zone before Evgeni Malkin mopped up a rebound.
And the game never really settled down for Schmidt who finished with a -1 rating in 20:09 minutes of total ice time.
Unfortunately, this has been somewhat of a trend for Schmidt this year, with the defenseman having racked up 24 Giveaways already in 2019-20.
His errant pass that led to Malkin getting the Penguins on the board epitomized Schmidt’s recent struggles, and it has got to the point where maybe action needs to be taken.
Would it help if Schmidt was a healthy scratch for a game or two? Of course, every player will react differently to being scratched, but Schmidt is a veteran and it would give him the opportunity to study game tape and work out a solution to his recent struggles.
But, one thing we know for sure, Schmidt needs to find his game and soon because you can’t afford to have a top four defenseman off his game during the postseason.
2. Blame the defense, not Fleury
I’ve seen in some places that Marc-Andre Fleury hasn’t quite been vintage Marc-Andre Fleury as of late.
Granted, the future Hall of Famer has had a handful of rough outings but every single netminder on the planet will go through rough stretches.
And, let’s not forget, Fleury lost his father in November and that is bound to have taken an incredibly emotional and physical toll on the goalie.
But I personally think Fleury’s struggles have been somewhat overstated. He’s still 18-9-3 this year with a 2.84 Goals Against Average and a .908 Save Percentage.
While the GAA isn’t stellar, it hasn’t helped that the defense in-front of Fleury has been less than perfect to say the least.
And that was evident against the Pittsburgh Penguins. From Nate Schmidt’s turnover to a lack of help after making a save, Fleury was left exposed time and time again.
Now, again, I’m not excusing Fleury from all of the blame because he did allow four goals on 16 shots, but I don’t think it is fair to lay all of it at his feet.
After all, he has had some big moments over the last few games and the eye test backs up the fact that Fleury hasn’t been helped by his blueline, especially against the Pens.
I do think he would benefit from more rest down the stretch but that is more to do with age and wear-and-tear than anything else.
So, although Marc-Andre Fleury isn’t maybe hitting his usual heights this year, a defense that coughs up a plethora of giveaways has a lot to answer for and it is only a matter of when until Fleury figures it all out.
3. Keep Stastny on the second line
It is no secret that Paul Stastny has struggled this year with just 20 points (12 goals, eight assists) in 46 games.
There is no easy answer as to why Stastny has struggled so much, although I have mentioned before that the veteran probably hasn’t been helped by the fact that he’s been used up and down the lineup all year.
And Tuesday night provided us with solid proof that it is best for all parties concerned to keep Stastny on the second line.
Because, after being reunited with Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, Stastny played his part in that dynamic second line being absolutely lights out against the Pens.
All three were dominant with both Pacioretty and Stastny getting on the board, with the latter converting on the power play in the second period.
It was also Stastny’s second goal in as many games, while Stone tallied a secondary helper on Stastny’s goal.
The trio were buzzing around all night and, with Cody Eakin now back healthy and in the lineup, it makes perfect sense to keep Pacioretty, Stastny and Stone together on the second line.
Stastny clearly flourishes on that line between two elite wings, and his presence also helps both Stone and Pacioretty.
Plus, at one point, the second line had a Corsi of 22 shots for six against, compared to seven for and three against for the top line.
You need that potent top six to be firing on all cylinders come the playoffs, so keeping that second line intact has to be a priority for Vegas Head Coach Gerard Gallant.
4. Praise the Penguins
It isn’t often that I dedicate a whole section in my Takeaways piece to the opposition, but I wanted to give some love to the Pittsburgh Penguins today.
They were one of the teams of the last Decade after building a true dynasty, while they entered this year with many wondering if the glory days had passed.
Those claims were only getting louder after key player after key player went down with injury, including Captain Sidney Crosby.
However, despite losing a boatload of talent and firepower, the Penguins have resembled the little engine that could and they have kept on rolling.
Entering the contest tied second in the Metro Division with the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh jumped out to a three-goal lead against the Knights without Crosby and Jake Guentzel, who leads the team in points with 43 (20 goals, 23 assists) but will miss the remainder of the regular season with an upper-body injury.
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However, the Pens have been getting contributions from up and down the lineup with 16 players having hit double figures in points this year, and that is really getting the job done by committee.
It really is a perfect illustration of the culture that has been carefully cultivated in Pittsburgh, and they are the standard bearers in the NHL when it comes to building a Stanley Cup winning team.