Vegas Hockey Knight
Fansided

Vegas Golden Knights: Three kinks to iron out for Western Conference Finals

By Andrew Steele-Davis

Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights attempts a shot on Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period in Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights attempts a shot on Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period in Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores a power-play goal against the Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks
Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores a power-play goal against the Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks at 2:13 of the second period in Game One of the Western Conference Second Round. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

1. Fixing the Power Play

The Golden Knights need more from their special teams.

Both the power play and the penalty kill has been inconsistent throughout the postseason so far, but it is the PP that concerns me the most.

When you are as loaded as the Golden Knights are and are able to stack both units with potent weapons, then the man advantage should be doing a lot better.

As we begin the Western Conference Finals, the Vegas power play is ranked 8th in the NHL, operating at a 20.4% tilt.

That isn’t nearly good enough.

They went a combined 5/23 on the power play in the Second Round against the Vancouver Canucks, including a poor 1/10 in the final three games of that series.

While it didn’t ultimately matter against the Canucks, similar struggles on the man advantage against better and more postseason-hardened teams could prove costly for the Golden Knights.

How they go about fixing the PP is a good question given that they already have all the pieces there, including an elite power play quarterback in Shea Theodore and a plethora of stars who can really exploit the open ice.

But Head Coach Peter DeBoer will need to spend extra time on special teams and on the power play in practice if the Knights are to have a chance against the Stars.

And, with Dallas ranked 10th on the penalty kill (82.3%) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there is an opportunity for the Golden Knights to really feast out on the power play if they can figure this thing out.

Home/Analysis