Four-game road trips aren't meant to be easy, even for the Vegas Golden Knights. They're a gauntlet of weary proportions, filled with opposing crowds screaming in your ears. It can drain your soul like a nagging spouse, leaving you without a pulse.
On paper, it appears that Mark Stone and company have an easier trip this week. Teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins will invite them to their house with two points on the line. Let's not forget that these aren't the Penguins of old with Marc-Andre Fleury in net. Instead, you have turnstiles stopping pucks. That's not winning you games any time soon.
The inability to kill penalties effectively is also not winning you games. Pittsburgh is middle-of-the-pack regarding the penalty kill (17th in the league at 78.9%). While that might not stand out, the night-and-day difference between home and road statistics is.
Pittsburgh Penguins penalty kill | Penalties killed and rank |
|---|---|
Home | 54 (tied for sixth-fewest) |
Away | 84 (fourth-most) |
Somehow, the Penguins are worse at killing penalties at home than on the road. That leaves a wide-open opportunity for the second-best power play in the league (28.5%) to strike. Tomas Hertl wants to own a franchise record on this trip, so why not strike while the iron's hot? Those turnstiles aren't going to miss pucks themselves.
How does this affect Stone and company? Well, it starts with using the Captain to make opposing teams pay. That includes Pittsburgh, who might not cover him while on the unit. Let's break down an effective strategy and see how the Golden Knights can benefit.
How the Vegas Golden Knights can exploit the Pittsburgh Penguins at home
Most teams have left Mark Stone uncovered on the penalty kill. They've made a willing concession to leave him open and see if he'll do anything. That hasn't been successful in the past five games. The Vegas Golden Knights scored six goals in that span, making them pay for their mistakes.
You can bet that the Pittsburgh Penguins will try the same thing and tackle Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl. The only problem is both players are bigger bodies, making them tough to defend. They can simply turn away and deter any oncoming defenders, setting up scoring chances on their own.
Another issue with leaving Stone open is it's not always effective. If you keep a loose perimeter around his area, he'll find the open man regardless of what happens. This power play goal on Sunday is a perfect example of this scenario.
Stone makes a defender fall down and feeds Hertl for the open shot. Of course, the WInnipeg native was left open in this scenario with all four Kings concentrated around the net. Once that defender falls, it leaves Hertl open in front, where he buries the wrister home. Such plays like this are crucial to winning Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh.
That goes back to drawing defenders out and making them slip up, whether it's falling on the ice or going in the wrong direction. The Penguins have struggled in this aspect at PPG Arena throughout the season, getting led astray by incoming attackers. If the Golden Knights can exploit that weakness throughout the game, they can get two points on Tuesday.