Vegas Golden Knights both beauty and the beast in Blues win

All of the Vegas Golden Knights’ strengths and weaknesses were on show during their wild win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, highlighting a very clear need.

In a game where the power play and some of the Vegas Golden Knights’ big hitters stepped up to the plate, they were also hurt by a defense that needs some serious work.

It was very much a case of beauty and the beast against the Blues, with an explosive offense just about bailing out a blueline that continues to lurch from one disaster to the next.

The Knights really did play at opposite ends of the spectrum against St. Louis, and it epitomized the true one big flaw of this team.

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After all, defense wins championships, as does goaltending, and as many potent weapons as the Golden Knights have at their disposal, they won’t have a short, celebration-fueled summer unless they drastically improve in their own zone.

They have now allowed 15 goals in the last three games and it is the nature of some of those goals that is most concerning.

From leaving players in open ice to allowing Malcolm Subban to be exposed against the Blues, the Knights suffer breakdowns in their own zone on far too many occasions.

They also struggle with the transition game which leads to turnovers, as seen against St. Louis, while the goaltending has been subpar to say the least.

For example, Marc-Andre Fleury has a Save Percentage of .904, which is his lowest since 2005-06, while Malcolm Subban has also been suspect when coming in for Fleury.

It is frustrating too given that the Golden Knights rank high in a number of metrics, including allowing just 18.9 slot shot attempts, which is the fewest in the NHL.

But bad decision making coupled with a lack of puck-moving defensemen who can get the puck out of the zone quickly has hurt this team on a consistent basis this year.

As a result, it puts pressure on the offense and particularly the top six forward unit to produce the goods.

They certainly did that against the Blues and, with players like Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault on the ice, the Knights can crush teams at will.

However, you can argue strongly that the Golden Knights should have a better record than 29-22-8 given that they lead the entire NHL in even-strength expected goals percentage with 55.35.

But, again, a lack of secondary scoring coupled with the 15th ranked defense when it comes to Goals Against Per Game has this team punching below their weight.

And all of the Vegas Golden Knights’ beautiful brilliance and their ugly shortcomings were on full display in one messy work of art against the Blues.

From high-octane offense on the power play to more cringeworthy turnovers in the defensive zone, Thursday night’s game did a good job of summing up the Knights’ year in a nutshell.

It is a talented roster that can trade punches with the very best, but they also have a few warts that need popping sooner rather than later if they are to really unlock their true potential.

And that is the main caveat here.

Because, as thrilling and as big a statement win as Thursday was, it can’t cover up some of the issues that still continue to haunt the Knights.

That would simply be papering over the cracks which is never a good idea and, instead, the win against the St. Louis Blues was another sobering reminder of that as good as the Vegas Golden Knights can be, they have plenty of work to do if they are to avoid another early postseason exit.