AP
Vegas Golden Knights’ William Karlsson (71) is stopped by Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) as Olli Maatta (6) defends during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 | 2 a.m.
The Golden Knights have another chance to finish off the Chicago Blackhawks when Game 5 of the playoff series begins at 7:30 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.
Vegas couldn’t sweep Chicago on Sunday despite a terrific effort and a relentless offensive attack.
Here are three keys to a Golden Knights victory in Game 5, sponsored by Credit One Bank.
More traffic in front
Chicago goalie Corey Crawford was superb in Game 4, making 48 saves and putting to waste a tremendous offense effort by the Golden Knights. If there’s anything to change, the Golden Knights will look to get more bodies in front of Crawford in Game 5. Nate Schmidt said after the defeat that goalies in this league are so good that if they see the puck, they’re going to stop the puck. Vegas’ lone goal came through traffic, with screens keeping Crawford from deflecting it away. About half of Vegas’ goals this series have come when sticks or bodies have driven to the net, so keep an eye on that tonight.
Keep making goalie choice not matter
In the other net, the goalie debate between Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury probably isn’t going anyway anytime soon. The bad news about having two goalies is only one can play at a time. The good news is they have both won games this series, and both are capable of winning a deciding game. The Vegas skaters have made life easier on their goalies. Through about three and a half hours at 5-on-5 play in four games, Vegas skaters have fired off 46 high-danger scoring chances and allowed just 22 coming the other way, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Stay calm, stay the course
The Golden Knights are clearly the better team in the series. One loss doesn’t change that, especially since multiple members of the team said the 3-1 defeat on Sunday was their best game of the series. If the Golden Knights lose another game or two it might be time to get nervous, but not now.
Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.
