LAS VEGAS — Following their commanding 5-0 win over Calgary on Monday night, the Golden Knights’ dressing room was overflowing with good vibes.
Players stepped around Halloween-colored plastic flamingos that had been ceremoniously chucked onto the ice by fans at the final buzzer. Young MC’s “Bust a Move” played on the team iPad, the bass reverberating through the dressing room doors and into the hallway outside. Rookie Cole Schwindt was all smiles after recording his first multi-point game of his career, against his former team. Adin Hill heaped praises onto his teammates following his first shutout of the season.
Things have gone incredibly well for the Golden Knights through the first 10 games of the season – particularly at home, where the team is a perfect 7-0-0. Vegas has the best record in the Pacific Division at 7-2-1, the third-best mark in the Western Conference.
It’s still early, but we are already a little more than 12 percent of the way through the regular season, and have learned plenty about this team. Here are the biggest takeaways to this point.
Vegas is shooting at a historic rate
Golden Knights scorers have been so hot to start the year, it’s a wonder how their sticks haven’t burst into flames. The team shooting percentage of 15.9 leads the NHL by a good margin. Here are a few numbers to put it into perspective.
The highest shooting percentage for a season in franchise history was 10.4 percent, in 2020-21. The highest for any team since the Golden Knights entered the NHL in 2017-18 was the 2021-22 St. Louis Blues, at only 12.4 percent.
The result is that several players are off to great scoring starts, on pace to shatter their career bests. Mark Stone leads the NHL with 18 points. Ivan Barbashev is tied for seventh league-wide with seven goals, already more than a third of the way to his total from last season (19). Those two, along with Jack Eichel, make up the highest-scoring line in the NHL thus far.
All for a team that was expected to struggle in the scoring department after losing a lot of forward depth to free agency this summer. Coach Bruce Cassidy does admit that some regression is likely coming.
“Sometimes your team gets hot at certain times, and we might be going through one of those (stretches),” he said after Monday’s win. “I can’t imagine (it will continue at this rate). I mean I’d love to keep this pace, don’t get me wrong, but things are going in for us.”
The shooting percentage will inevitably come down as the season progresses, but the Golden Knights are uniquely built to score at a high rate because of the way they generate offense. The roster is filled with pass-first players who are usually looking to set up the perfect backdoor one-timer rather than volume-shooting their way to offense. That leads to higher-quality looks from closer to the net.
“I think we’re executing the last pass very well,” Cassidy said. “We’re making those plays that lead to high-end shots. That last pass for us is clicking right now.”
Tomas Hertl is fueling a surprisingly-efficient power play
It was genuinely concerning how slowly Hertl started the season. He didn’t record his first point at even strength until the seventh game, and considering his age, contract and injury history, there were legitimate reasons to wonder how it would work out for Hertl on a new team.
Those concerns have faded over the last few games, as Hertl is looking better and better at even strength while fueling the league’s fourth-ranked power play. Scoring with a man advantage has been a problem for the Golden Knights for several seasons, but that unit has looked better than ever through the first 10 games – largely because of the work Hertl is doing in the low slot.
“He gets lower than most,” Cassidy said of Hertl. “He’s below the hash(marks) a lot. Once he gets underneath the forwards on the kill, or maybe the strong-side defenseman, he’s a tough guy to get around and influence the shot. … He’s a big man, so he’s getting a good amount of lumber, or whatever the sticks are made of these days, on the puck.”
Hertl leads the team with three power-play goals, all coming from right in front of the net. Aside from his scoring, Cassidy also believes Hertl’s ability to recover loose pucks has led to the Golden Knights spending far more time attacking in the offensive zone rather than chasing pucks back into their own end.
“He’s done a really good job of puck retrievals and recoveries after off-net shots or loose pucks,” Cassidy said. “He’s pretty determined to get a puck back, and that’s been one of the biggest keys of our power play this year compared to years past.”
Brett Howden has leveled up
Howden’s career high for goals in a season is nine, and he’s already scored five through 10 games. His step up in development has been a much-needed boost to the Golden Knights’ middle-six after the losses of Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio and William Carrier this summer.
Howden hasn’t just elevated his offensive production. His impact has been noticeable all over the ice, and his skating in particular has made him a valuable addition to Hertl’s line.
“We put him with Hertl because we felt we needed more pace on that line,” Cassidy said. “He’s going to do a lot of the work for the 200-foot game. Tomas’ ability to control pucks down low in the o-zone, when it doesn’t work out you have to get back to your end… Brett can really assist Tomas in some of that.”
Cassidy’s system is heavily reliant on centers getting back defensively when the puck changes possession. Because Hertl does his best work deep in the offensive zone, below the goal line, and he’s not the fleetest of foot, that can make transition defense a bit of a challenge. By putting Howden – a quick-skating, defensively responsible player who has plenty of experience at center – on Hertl’s wing, it allows him to commit to puck battles behind the net without fear of getting caught in transition.
The defensemen are pushing for more offense
Last season, the Golden Knights didn’t have a defenseman inside the top 30 in scoring league-wide. That was due to a combination of Shea Theodore missing nearly half the year, and Cassidy’s system not asking for as much offense from the blue line.
Entering this season’s training camp, Cassidy said they were hoping for more offense from their defensemen, and they’ve gotten it. Alex Pietrangelo is second among NHL defensemen with 12 points, trailing only Colorado’s Cale Makar. His 10 assists at even strength lead the entire NHL, including forwards. No other player has more than seven.
“I think this year he’s timing his aggressiveness better,” Cassidy said of Pietrangelo. “By that, I mean he’s on time with his pinches, he’s on time when he decides to join the rush. He seems to be there at the right times to have time to make a play, and he’s making good decisions with the puck.”
Theodore is off to a strong start as well, with a goal and seven assists. Noah Hanifin has only three assists, but has been noticeably more impactful offensively over the past few games since moving to the top pairing beside Pietrangelo.
Everything is clicking offensively for the Golden Knights, including on the blue line.
(Photo of Tomas Hertl: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
