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Vegas Golden Knights: DeBoer really needs to stop starting his fourth line

By Andrew Steele-Davis|
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 03: Ryan Reaves #75 and William Carrier #28 of the Vegas Golden Knights talk during a stop in play in the second period of their game against the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena on March 3, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Devils 3-0. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 03: Ryan Reaves #75 and William Carrier #28 of the Vegas Golden Knights talk during a stop in play in the second period of their game against the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena on March 3, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Devils 3-0. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

We have approached crunch time in the regular season and there is an alarming trend that is really starting to stifle the Vegas Golden Knights.

With a new Head Coach comes fresh ideas and we have certainly seen that from Peter DeBoer since he has been behind the bench for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Chief among those new ideas has been a tendency to start games with the fourth-line of William Carrier, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves.

Now, let’s preface this by stating that I have no problem with that line because, let’s face it, they carry out their role to perfection and they absolutely pummel their opponents.

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But, let’s be clear, they should not be starting games.

So, listen up, Peter DeBoer, please cut out this bad habit of starting games with your bottom guys.

It doesn’t work and it blew up in your face in the ugly shutout loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Friday.

Opting to once again throw Carrier, Nosek and Reaves out on the ice for the opening faceoff, the Golden Knights lost the draw that set the tone for what was to come.

Nikolaj Ehlers was allowed to burn past Zach Whitecloud before tricking Marc-Andre Fleury to lose his post and leave the net wide open, leading to Patrik Laine jamming home the puck after it had bounced off Reaves.

It was dreadful goaltending combined with woeful defense, not to mention that Winnipeg had some of their big hitters on the ice including Laine and Ehlers.

The Jets began the game with real star power out on the ice while the Golden Knights attempted to set the tone by starting with their trio of human wrecking balls, but it backfired horribly.

Personally, sending out your bottom-line grinders for the opening faceoff just sends out the wrong message, and it probably played into the psyche of the Jets who are a desperate hockey team as they try to claw their way into the postseason.

Plus, talent and skill reigns supreme and, nine times out of 10, those qualities will trump sheer brute force, which is exactly what happened in the opening seconds of the game on Friday.

Given what was at stake for both teams, DeBoer should have rolled out either the first or second-line to start the game, thus pitting some of his most potent weapons against Winnipeg’s big stars.

Starting the game with the likes of William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault on the ice would have been a far more productive option because, after all, you should start a game looking to land the first blow on the scoreboard rather than focus on setting the tone.

Furthermore, this is an experiment that hasn’t worked and the sample size is there for all to see.

And it makes for ugly reading.

The Golden Knights have given up a goal on the first shot in three of the last four games, while they have started slow in the first period in 11 of their last 12 outings.

That won’t fly down the stretch and it especially won’t fly in the postseason when games are tight and goals are harder to come by.

Plus, when you consider that the trio of Carrier, Nosek and Reaves allowed seven shots in 2:55 of even-strength time in the first period against the Jets, that should tell you why starting a game with your fourth-line is not a good idea.

Granted, it is a tactic DeBoer has used since his days coaching the New Jersey Devils but, when you’ve got the firepower at the top of your lineup that the Golden Knights can boast, you shouldn’t be putting your bottom-line in that kind of situation.

I cannot stress enough that starting the game with your fourth-line, as good as they are at what they do, isn’t conducive to flying out of the traps and getting off to a strong start.

There was plenty of evidence before to back that up but we saw more than enough in Winnipeg on Friday to know that Peter DeBoer must end his fourth-line experiment and instead start games with the best players at his disposal.

Because, if he carries on as he is, then the Vegas Golden Knights will be made to pay for it in devastating fashion sooner rather than later.

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