Isaac Brekken/AP
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Alex Tuch (89) and Anaheim Ducks left wing Nicolas Deslauriers (20) reach for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Las Vegas.
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 | 2 p.m.
The Golden Knights were only on the power play one time in the initial game of the season on Thursday. But it was intriguing to see how Vegas lined up, particularly the second unit.
That was when winger Alex Tuch took the faceoff — a task traditionally handled by the center. But the unit does not have a true center on it, which isn’t problematic throughout the flow of the game, but not ideal on the power play.
The Golden Knights will look to perfect their overloaded power-play units in tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
“I don’t know if we’re comfortable. It’s not the optimum situation obviously,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “Right now we’re trying to put our two best units together. We’re hopeful that the faceoff situation, guys will dig in, guys will help each other, some guys will become better at it that it won’t be an issue, but it’s something that if we can’t get fixed with the personnel we have, we might have to look at some different options.
“But right now we love the feel of the two units when they get the puck and get set up, so we’re willing to give up a little in the faceoff department.”
Also keep in mind that Vegas did not have a preseason because of the pandemic, and Thursday’s contest was the first opportunity to work on special teams in a real game. Special teams evolve throughout the year, so it’s unlikely the units we saw Thursday will be the same ones even tonight, much less at the end of the year.
It was interesting though to see Tuch take a faceoff, something he did only 20 times last year, almost exclusively when his center was ejected from the circle. He lost the draw on Thursday, the Ducks cleared the puck and Vegas lost a good chunk of its power-play time retrieving the puck. Faceoff wins are from far from a determining factor in winning games, but that one play did expose a weakness in the unit, if only a minor one.
“I was working after practice (yesterday) and watching video and working with both (assistant coaches Steve Spott and Ryan Craig) on different techniques and where success has come for me in the past,” Tuch said. “0-for-1, but hopefully I’ll get better from there.”
It’s a good thing to add elite players to a power play, but Alex Pietrangelo’s arrival did complicate things a tad. Fellow defenseman Shea Theodore carved a nice spot for himself manning the point as the only defenseman on Vegas’ top unit during the playoffs. He was able to distribute or shoot the puck from the top of the “umbrella,” the name of the formation.
Pietrangelo was on the top unit Thursday, along with forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Cody Glass. Theodore was with defenseman Alec Martinez and forwards Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and Tuch.
“It’s an adjustment, but when our coaching staff looked at the numbers and ran through a lot of things, I think that can benefit how we’re moving the puck and how we’re running plays,” Theodore said. “We have a couple things to work on still — we only had one chance last game — but hopefully we can improve tonight.”
TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-235, Ducks plus-205; over/under: 6 (minus-105, minus-115)
Golden Knights (1-0-0, 2 points; t-1st place, West Division)
Coach: Peter DeBoer (second season)
Points leaders: Alec Martinez, Mark Stone (2)
Goals leaders: Five players (1)
Assists leader: Alec Martinez (2)
Expected goalie (last season stats): Marc-Andre Fleury (2.77 GAA, .905 save percentage)
Ducks (0-1-0, 0 points; 8th place, West Division)
Coach: Dallas Eakins (second season)
Points leader: Max Comtois (2)
Goals leader: Max Comtois (2)
Assists leaders: Ryan Getzlaf, Sam Steel (1)
Expected goalie: John Gibson (4.18 GAA, .857 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith
Nicolas Roy—Cody Glass—Alex Tuch
William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves
Keegan Kolesar
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb—Alex Pietrangelo
Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore
Zach Whitecloud
Goalies
Marc-André Fleury, Robin Lehner
