I know, I can't believe it, either. The Vegas Golden Knights have been on an offensive heater in the past four games. They've scored 18 goals in that span, making fans forget about Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore being absent. It's like they never existed in the hockey world.
When you nearly defeat the Colorado Avalanche without much of a hockey team, that inspires hope in the Las Vegas masses. They suddenly forget about the team dealing with a gazillion injuries at once, feeling like there's hope for the later months. Fans love feeling hope and the Golden Knights love handing it out like candy.
While that sounds nice, there's a small problem that they face on Monday. The Minnesota Wild come to town as one of the best teams in the NHL. They're playing solid defense and forechecking well, making life easy for their stud goaltenders. That's bad news for a Golden Knights team looking to carry over its offensive momentum...
...Or is it? You see, there's a way that Vegas can defeat the Wild. It's more plausible than people realize, especially if they duplicate Saturday's performance against the Colorado Avalanche. Let's dive into the X's and O's of Monday's matchup and see how Vegas can win, shall we?
How the Vegas Golden Knights can score in bunches against the Minnesota Wild.
Let's be honest. The Wild have arguably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL (team GAA of 2.59, third in the NHL entering Monday). Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson have held the fort down for Minnesota, turning away every shot possible. Certainly, that should be a problem for the Golden Knights, right?
The same thing was said about the Colorado Avalanche heading into Saturday's matchup. Mind you, Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore were just a couple of the many injuries that plagued the Golden Knights. So, what happened?
Well, they put up five goals in a shootout loss. The Golden Knights did an excellent job of boasting their scoring depth, whether it was Alexander Holtz scoring his first goal or Ben Hutton being on an offensive heater. Part of that was seam-to-seam passing that helped Vegas get some good looks off against Colorado.
Sure, there might've been those darned turnovers that continue to plague the Golden Knights. However, another aspect helped the Golden Knights get another point: maneuvering. That included Colton Sissons getting the open spot in the slot to fire off a backhanded goal.
That will come in handy for the Golden Knights should they be involved in yet another nailbiter. The lower lines and the blue line have done excellent work in picking up the slack without Eichel or Theodore. With Mitch Marner, they've attacked the net more and created more offensive zone time, keeping their opponents on their toes.
Fans might be worried about the Wild having a dynamic goaltending duo in net. However, they can come through in the clutch if Vegas repeats its performance on Monday. It could inspire hope for the franchise, especially since fans don't know when Eichel will return.