3. Spark up the offense
What is going on with the Vegas Golden Knights offense inside The Bubble?
While they rank 6th in the NHL in Goals For Per Game with an average of 3.27, they have really endured a slump in the last few games.
Vegas scored just one goal combined in Games 5 & 6 against the Vancouver Canucks in the Second Round, laying a goose egg in Game 6.
Granted, they generated 91 shots in those two games but that doesn’t tell the whole story on its own.
One of the most worrying aspects of the series against the Canucks was the fact that the Golden Knights struggled to produce another dangerous shots to really trouble Thatcher Demko.
And, when they did they couldn’t generate enough second chances in front of the net which is going to lose you hockey games.
The Golden Knights have struggled with deflecting shots on goal, which doesn’t help, and you have to get traffic to the front of the net if you want to win hockey games.
That’s just a simple fact of life.
The Knights have struggled to generate offense at 5-on-5 as well, scoring just one goal at even strength in the last 160 minutes.
The power play hasn’t been much better, which we covered in a previous slide, but there is no excuse to be laying goose eggs when you have the likes of Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith in the line-up.
On the flip side, it would be stunning if these offensive woes continued given the amount of potent weapons that the Golden Knights have at their disposal, but you get what you deserve.
And, going into this series against the Stars, the Golden Knights will need to work harder and they will need to work smarter if they are to break out of this funk and get back to being an offensive juggernaut.
If they don’t, well then this could be a short series.