The Golden Knights took advantage of a very weak Avalanche blue line last night en route to a 7-4 win. Here are some observations:

Krebs arrives
Peyton Krebs had been a bit unremarkable this preseason. A good play here, a quality shot there. Last night the 20 year old looked like the best player on the ice in a game featuring Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Alex Pietrangelo. He had points on four goals and set up a few more plays that didn’t result in a goal. Talk about “welcome to the NHL” moments: Rantanen broke a stick cross checking the WHL product. He was giving it back too with some slashes that would make Gordie Howe blush.

Kolesar finally gets on the board
Much like last season, Kolesar has been doing a lot of the right things this preseason. He finally found his way onto the scoresheet with a beautiful low pad snipe off a broken play off the boards. The guy has the worst luck in the league, but last night he showed well. Newcomer Nolan Patrick worked well with Kolesar setting him up for a few clean shots.


Martinez went crazy
Martinez was on a mission last night. He looked dangerous every time he stepped on the ice and left the game with two goals. His aggressive pinches into the offensive zone will be giving goaltender Pavel Francouz nightmares for weeks. At one point Martinez pinched up to the front of the Avalanche net and defense partner Alex Pietrangelo also pinched down low to set up a one time goal. Krebs, being the responsible forward that he is, drew back to the point and started the play with a pass to Pietrangelo. Martinez and Pietrangelo were both +4 on the night.

Faceoff dominance
Janmark took one draw and lost it. Beyond that, no Golden Knights forward posted below 50% in the dot. More than half of those draws were against either MacKinnon or Kadri. Starting the play with possession is just so important to controlling the tempo of the game.

Easily the most entertaining game of the preseason. The Golden Knights play the Coyotes tomorrow at 8pm.


Have a great day,



Trevor Neufeld

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