"Hey! Don't I know you from somewhere? You look familiar!"
That's probably something Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights would say on Thursday. They're playing the St. Louis Blues in a home-and-home mini-series. The action starts at 5:00 PM PST at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. What a good time for Ivan Barbashev to say "hello" to his old team, eh?
The Golden Knights hope to avenge their 5-4 shootout loss on Monday, where Jack Eichel nearly put the game-winning goal away on a rush. The loss made them losers of six of their last seven games, although they're still atop the Pacific Division with 62 points. As they always say, there's a silver lining in everything (bye-bye, Connor McDavid! See you next week).
But enough about McCrossCheck and back to the Golden Knights. They can get some distance from their rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, in the Pacific Division. That's done by avenging Monday's loss against the same team they're facing on Thursday: The Blues. Do remember that St. Louis is one point behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. Therefore, they'll look to stay competitive and send the Golden Knights back to their losing ways.
So what can Vegas do to prevent that from happening? Who are the key players to watch as the Golden Knights try to right the ship? The good news is there's plenty of season left for the boys to get back on track. So don't fret, Las Vegas. Thursday will be a good night to stand up and win a hockey game. Here's how.
Breaking down what the Golden Knights must do to beat the Blues
One disturbing trend that popped up in Monday's game was when the St. Louis Blues scored within the last minute of the period--twice. Nathan Walker scored with 17 seconds left in the first period, putting the Blues up, 2-1. The next period saw Cam Fowler score on the power play with 31 seconds left, putting St. Louis up by a score of 4-2.
If the Vegas Golden Knights played a full 60 minutes on Monday, they would've walked away with two points. Instead, it took a late push with the goaltender pulled to salvage a point. The Golden Knights had every opportunity to win it in overtime as well, including a "golden" chance for Eichel to win on a rush. Therefore, Vegas can't rest until the horn sounds. Otherwise, the Blues will burn them as they did on Monday.
The good news is Vegas is taking baby steps toward scoring on even strength again. This season, the Golden Knights have an expected goals percentage of 51% in five-on-five situations entering Wednesday, according to MoneyPuck. The unit showed that number should be higher, scoring three times on even strength on Monday.
Another nice bit to watch for is how efficient the Golden Knights have been at drawing penalties. It doesn't matter if it's Brett Howden baiting a player into tripping him, Mark Stone fishing a hook out of an opponent, or Jack Eichel doing Jack Eichel things. When you're feeding the sixth-best unit in the NHL (27%), you're expected to goad the opposing team into making mistakes. It's what makes Bruce Cassidy's team one of the best, specifically when your expected goals percentage is 94%.
Finally, here's hoping Ivan Barbashev finally gets on the board since he returned on January 11. Part of the Golden Knights's woes have centered around the Russian winger's lack of production. If he can get a transition opportunity on a strong forecheck, watch for him to finally break out of his slump. It would be the reverse "revenge" game, where the Vegas player gets one up on his former team. How cool would that be?