Vegas Golden Knights: Three key ingredients for postseason success
There are three key ingredients the Vegas Golden Knights will need for postseason success.
Thanks to the NHL’s Return To Play Plan, we are on the cusp of having Vegas Golden Knights hockey back at some point this summer.
And, thanks to the NHL, we will be treated to postseason hockey straight away with the Golden Knights diving straight into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Granted, they will have to contest a three-game, in-conference round-robin tournament against the St. Louis Blues, the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars first in order to determine seeding, while the 16 other teams battle it out in Play-In games.
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But we know Vegas will be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs no matter what happens, as long as hockey can return this year, and it gives the Golden Knights a chance to finish what they started in 2019-20.
Boasting an elite one-two punch between the pipes, a solid and balanced blueline led by rising star Shea Theodore and an explosive forward unit packed with star power, the Knights are built to win now.
However, during a gruelling postseason run, you need more than just a collection of stars in order to go the distance and lift the greatest prize in all of sports.
We saw it last year when, despite the likes of Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty absolutely going off in the Western Conference First Round, they couldn’t find a way past the San Jose Sharks.
So, we decided to map out the three key ingredients the Vegas Golden Knights will need this summer in order to be crowned 2019-20 Stanley Cup Champions.
Let’s delve in…
1. Luck
You need a lucky bounce every now and again in every walk of life, but especially in the sporting world.
That was never more apparent than in the Western Conference First Round matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks in 2018-19.
You know the story so we don’t need to delve into great detail but, holding a three-goal lead heading into the third-period of Game 7, the Golden Knights collapsed after Cody Eakin was given a five-minute major and a Game Misconduct for cross-checking Joe Pavelski.
It was a punishment that didn’t fit the crime and it swung the momentum firmly in the favor of the Sharks, who scored four straight power play goals to absolutely stun Vegas.
Now, granted, there was no excuse for the Golden Knights to give up four straight goals and then allow the Sharks to deliver the final knockout blow in overtime after Jonathan Marchessault had made it a tied game late in the third.
That was firmly on them.
However, it was a shocking call and one that absolutely had a huge image on the tide of the game and its eventual outcome.
It should have been a minor penalty at most but instead the Golden Knights lost a skater and they could never quite recover.
So, the Golden Knights will need to avoid another bad bounce of the puck if they want to embark on a deep postseason run in 2019-20.
Luck can play a key role and the Vegas Golden Knights will need it on their side in their quest to lift the greatest prize in all of sports this year.
2. Elite Goaltending
You can’t win championships without elite goaltending.
That statement rings just as true today and you only need to take a look back at the 2018-19 Stanley Cup Playoffs for proof of that.
Jordan Binnington, playing in his rookie year for the St. Louis Blues, posted a .914 Save Percentage and a 2.46 Goals Against Average in 26 games, including making some clutch saves in the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins to help the Blues win their first championship in franchise history.
Go back to 2014 when the LA Kings rode the hot hand of Jonathan Quick, who had a .911 Save Percentage and a 2.58 Goals Against Average in 26 games to help the Kings become the first-ever No. 8 seed to win the Stanley Cup.
So, in a nutshell, you need to have hot goaltending throughout the postseason, coupled with a goalie that can come up clutch time and time again.
That’s where the Golden Knights are in luck.
Not only do they boast a future Hall of Famer in Marc-Andre Fleury, they will also have the services of Robin Lehner for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
You can make a very strong argument that no team has a better goaltending situation than the Golden Knights heading into the postseason, and that lethal one-two punch between the pipes could pay absolute dividends.
Fleury, despite having an up and down regular season with a 2.77 Goals Against Average and a .905 Save Percentage, is a cold-blooded killer in the Playoffs and his resume speaks for itself.
Then there is Lehner who, despite only having eight postseason starts under his belt, has been one of the more elite goalies in the NHL over the last couple of years and was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2018-19.
While Fleury will no doubt be the undisputed starter in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it will be invaluable to the Golden Knights to have Lehner waiting in the wings should they need him.
Time and time again it has been proven that you need hot goaltending in order to succeed in the postseason, and the Golden Knights will enter the most important time of the year with two elite netminders at their disposal.
3. Depth Scoring.
Everyone knows that the Vegas Golden Knights are loaded with firepower and boast one of the most potent top-six forward units in the entire NHL.
Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and Paul Stastny – name me a better group.
Those six are at the peak of their powers and they should have no problem rising to the occasion during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
They will need their support team to step up to the plate, however.
And, by support team, we are of course talking about the bottom-six forward unit who will need to pull their weight in the postseason.
Ranked 13th in Goals For Per Game (3.15) in the regular season, the Golden Knights need to spark their secondary scoring into life.
Stone, Pacioretty and the rest of the top six will get the job done, but it takes a complete team effort in order to win the greatest prize in all of sports.
Just look at the Washington Capitals team who beat the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017-18 Stanley Cup Final.
While the usual suspects in the ilk of Alex Ovechkin went on a tear, they also had huge contributions from up and down their lineup, including from bottom six-forwards Lars Eller and Devante Smith-Pelly who had 18 and eight points respectively.
The Golden Knights will need similar contributions from the likes of Alex Tuch, who is a year removed from a breakout 52 point (20 goals, 32 assists) season and Chandler Stephenson who really found his offensive game after being acquired from the Washington Capitals.
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If Tuch, Stephenson and the likes of Ryan Reaves and William Carrier can chip in with offense and also come up clutch in key moments to take the heat off the stars of the team, then that should only help the Vegas Golden Knights achieve their ultimate mission.
Along with a dollop of luck and elite goaltending, of course.