Mike St Germain

@JesseGranger_ On the positive side, they have scored 3 goals in 2 periods. OMRs are simply mistakes, plus Hart’s first game action in months. So not surprising he didn’t stop any of the first 3.

There are still 20 minutes, and Vegas is clearly the better team, so it will likely still win the game, but these 40 minutes are a little discouraging in terms of these tweaks suddenly making this team more effective.

Monday night, the aggression that Tortorella was asking for helped the Golden Knights score a couple of goals and get the win. Tonight, it seems that aggression has led to giving up way more odd-man rushes than we're accustomed to seeing this team allow.

@NHLJackManning Jack, as usual your take is a fair and excellent one. Torts’ comments about playing freer are important. They really seemed like they had lost the joy of playing. Maybe BC was just too serious about it - although it IS a business and at VGK the business is winning.

With 2 days to reflect on the #VegasBorn coaching change, I have a few thoughts: 1) Hearing the comments of Friedman, the players, and others (I don't have inside info), it seems clear that this change was both needed and not surprising to those involved, even if no one said it.

@sb21312 @TDChrisG Yes, but it was worth trying and hasn’t been terrible. They didn’t have any centers left due to injuries. But they have Dowd now. The absence of Petro is the biggest problem and that’s no one’s fault. Blues tried to replace him by platoon - look where it got them.

@MikeStGermain4 @TDChrisG Isn’t the lineup a coach’s call, though? Not that I’m a “Fire Bruce” advocate.

Folks, VGK coaches have been fired for less. Foley, McPhee, and McCrimmon have short memories, and shorter leashes. Expectations are winning multiple rounds in the playoffs. Like it or not, Cassidy's seat is warm. NHL coaches have short shelf lives.

@TDChrisG Agree. They acquired Dowd, presumably to compensate for losing Karlsson at 3C. Seems pointless to not use him (or Sissons) in that role. Marner’s NHL career developed with him at wing and he belongs there. Admirable his willingness to play C, but Jack needs a more skilled RW.

What I'd like to see VGK roll with 49-9-93 21-48-16 19-10-42 22-62-55 15-4 3-27 5-6

@SinBinVegas Maybe their only hope of changing the current dynamic would be to put Marner with Jack and move Dowd (or Howden) to 3C. That would put Hertl on L2 w/Pavel and they’ve historically been a productive pair together.

@SinBinVegas If Stone doesn’t come back in 5-6 games VGK won’t make the playoffs. They’ll be fortunate to make WC1 or 3rd place even if he does return. And they won’t make it past Rd 1. Since Yr 1 I’ve usually been optimistic about the team but sadly they’re now in the mushy middle.

"We really need to get offense from all five guys on the ice now. We've got some offensive guys on our back end that can certainly give us more. That's kind of the game this time of the year and we're not getting enough." -Cassidy

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@CraftIntact @DannyWebster21 @NHLJackManning Given they did the deal with Caps and then put Stone on IR, looks like it to me. Just hope this isn’t another back injury and he ends up like Petro…

@DannyWebster21 @MikeStGermain4 @NHLJackManning What's your gut tell you? Is day-to-day for Stone a mirage to protect their leverage in trades? I'm looking for op/ed Danny! 😄

Makes $3M this year and next. With Dorofeyev and Andersson to sign, it's surprising they'd take on that salary with term.

@GoldTeamBad I stopped listening to that bum when some years ago he went on an Avs radio show and bashed VGK with never substantiated rumors and innuendo.

I guess Tony has Stone on a career ending injury because Stone has 1 year left. Stone must of lost an arm. 🤣 Foley got his cup with those guys. He doesn’t care.

@NHLJackManning Those two possibilities, while not good, would be much better. Well, at least that will put Mitch back at wing. They’ve needed a 3C, and it’s become critical given there’s only 5 pts between VGK and the 2nd WC team, and the difficulty of the remaining games (9 playoff teams).

@MikeStGermain4 Could easily be Howden or WK, too/instead

@Forgione25 @ftkasunic @JesseGranger_ Maybe not. My point was they would need to add an elite defensive dman, and those two names came to mind. They already have several offensive dmen, incl Rasmus now. But premier defensive dmen are very rare, esp in the trade market. The days of lockdown D are gone in Vegas.

I've seen posts linking Binnington to Vegas. Here are my thoughts on the stylistic fit: Listen to Bruce Cassidy talk about his goalies. Whenever one is on a heater, and we ask Bruce his thoughts on why, he almost always, without fail, uses the phrase "playing between his posts." Cassidy's system asks the goalie to play deeper and be in position for shots that they're trying to force the opposition to take. "Staying between your posts" may be the single thing Cassidy covets most from his goalies. I'm not saying Binnington can't change, but he plays outside of his posts more than just about every goalie in the NHL. This is not to say the trade can't happen, or that it couldn't work if VGK improve the way they've defended in front of their net. It's simply an observation that I don't believe Binnington's style of play is a perfect fit for what Cassidy looks for in a goalie.

@ftkasunic @JesseGranger_ Agree, but the D isn’t going to get better unless they can land Slavin or Brodin. So they seem to be trying to improve forecheck with CSmith add. McMann would also probably help if they could swing it.

@JesseGranger_ @MikeStGermain4 Agree, however great goaltending can mask the other issues. The way we always seem to be playing from behind is the biggest issue. Need to find a way to stop giving up the first 1-2 goals

@No_ad_logicam @JesseGranger_ @VGK_Watch It WAS when he had Petro and Marty. It was still feasible without Marty, but you don’t lose your HOF stud defenseman without suffering the negative impact. In this case it exposes the average to less than goaltending. KM is trying to compensate by platoon D, but just not enough.

@JesseGranger_ @VGK_Watch @MikeStGermain4 In the Bruce system, it really is about defensive structure more than it is elite goaltending

@DominicDecocco5 @JesseGranger_ @VGK_Watch Besides terrible goals saved vs expected - bottom of league - see below.

@JesseGranger_ @VGK_Watch @MikeStGermain4 The eye test certainly agrees with you, Jesse. The advanced stats keep saying that VGK is good everywhere except goaltending though.

@JesseGranger_ I agree. No way to replace Petro and KM seems to be taking the platoon approach to D. Their forechecking (per Ken) lacks, maybe Smith will help. I think an add like McMann could also help. More importantly I think they need to get Mitch back on wing, maybe when Brett returns.

I can promise you the Golden Knights need more than just goaltending. This team has not defended nearly as well as it has in the past, and struggles to generate offense at 5-on-5 until the opposing team gets a lead and sits back to defend. I'm not defending the goaltending, but that's far from Vegas' only issue at the moment.

@SinBinVegas Another add that could positively impact the team would be McMann - LW from Leafs that could slot in at 2LW or 3LW, since they’re unlikely to take Barbashev off 1LW. Would be cheap too, even without Leafs retaining anything. That would put Reilly at the other LW.

@MikeStGermain4 If they put him in there for Saad, it could potentially change things a bit more. I'd be concerned that the entire left side doesn't score goals, but it would offer at least a bit of a different look.

Cole Smith, who VGK have reportedly acquired for a 3rd round pick and Christoffer Sedoff, has scored 62 points in 270 NHL games, a rate of 1 point every 4.35 games. He has never recorded more than 1.3 point shares in a season and has 0.4 this season. For reference, that's in between Tanner Laczynski and Alex Holtz on 25-26 VGK. What he does do is start just about every shift in the defensive zone. He's been over 80% each of the last two years. It has not paid off for the Predators though as he's been on the ice for 33% of team goals (12-24) at 5-on-5. He also kills penalties for a PK that is ranked one spot below VGK. His 9.45 goals against per 60 shorthanded will be the worst rate of any healthy VGK forward.