Here's Part 2 of my Knights-Sharks series preview.
In Part 1, I answered these questions:
• How Will Golden Knights PP Handle Aggressive Sharks PK?
• How Will Golden Knights PK Attack Joe Thornton?
Continuing with the special teams theme today, I'll investigate Tomas Nosek's penalty-killing impact in the neutral zone, why Marc-Andre Fleury is so good on the PK, whether or not Luca Sbisa will replace Colin Miller on the kill, and power play tendencies on both sides.
Will Tomas Nosek Be Nosy in the Neutral Zone?
As I mentioned in Part 1, the Vegas PK, unlike San Jose's, is more aggressive up the ice.
Perhaps the most aggressive of Knights forwards is first-unit killer Nosek. Unlike Bellemare, Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Cody Eakin, or Erik Haula -- your other regular PK'ers up front -- the 6'3" Nosek combines a long reach with good wheels, which he uses to full effect in the neutral zone.
View post on imgur.com
It's not just Nosek's physical attributes in play here. Especially when you're a man down, your reads have to be perfect. The Czech penalty killer smells out a tired Los Angeles power play and doesn't give them room to breathe.
Bellemare talked about Nosek's disruptive neutral zone work in February, "You want to shorten the neutral zone as much as possible. You want your four guys there; you want to make the room for the power play as little as possible.
"It's good to have guys with a long reach. It makes it that much more difficult for [the power play] to jump in the zone, not get into their rhythm, maybe get a little bit of frustration.
"That's how you get the PK on a roll."
Marc-Andre Fleury or Martin Jones?
They always say, "You want your goalie to be your best penalty killer."
More often than not, both Vegas and San Jose have that with Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Jones.
From 2003-18 -- 2003-04 was Fleury's rookie campaign -- Fleury (.883) and Jones (.882) rank 10th and 11th respectively in short-handed save % (out of 65 goalies, 200+ games).
So why is Fleury so good on the kill?
"He's a good goalie," laughed Deryk Engelland. Engelland played in front of Fleury from 2009-14 in Pittsburgh.
"He's super-athletic," offered Ryan Carpenter. "Sometimes, on a penalty kill save, you have to make up for a pass backdoor and be able to get across."
Engelland agreed, "Doesn't matter if it's a backdoor tap. He's there."
"He's a goalie who's tough to beat because he's competing," Bellemare noted. "He's trying to look for the puck in weird angles. He's good at finding the puck even if there's people in front. He makes saves look easy when they're not easy whatsoever."
Paul Martin, who defended Fleury from 2010-15, echoed Bellemare, "He's just aggressive. Never gives up on pucks."
Martin added, "He's also underrated the way that he plays the puck. As far as any dump-ins. Helping to set up for the D and clear it out of the zone."
The ex-Penguin also alluded to Fleury's ability to read the ice.
"5v5, you're more geared on the puck and where it's at. As opposed to the PK, where you have to know where everybody else is on the ice.
"The mentality changes a bit. You have to know who their shooters are, who's setting up to shoot. Who the passers are. Some of the plays they like to make. Where your D are going to be."
Will Luca Sbisa Play Over Colin Miller on PK?
When possible, Gallant has used Engelland, Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, and Luca Sbisa as his penalty-killing defenders.
However, with Sbisa playing only 30 games this season because of various ailments, Gallant has had to test some other blueliners out.
Since Sbisa's latest injury in late February, Colin Miller has ascended to penalty-killing duties. For a defenseman who's always been considered offense-first -- he notched a career-high 10 goals and 41 points this season -- this is a real achievement.
Miller acknowledged, "In the minors, I've PK'ed. But not at this level."
This promotion exemplifies the growth in Miller's game this season.
Gallant added, "The more reps they get out there playing in defensive situations, the more confidence they get. It's all about confidence."
So what happens when Sbisa draws back into the line-up? Will Miller cede those hard-earned PK minutes to Sbisa?
While both Miller and Gallant have expressed satisfaction with Miller's efforts -- for what it's worth, he leads all Vegas defenders with a 69.78 4v5 Fenwick Against/60 and a 50.15 4v5 Scoring Chances Against/60; the Knights are also seventh in the league in the PK since Sbisa's most recent injury -- Sbisa is a defensive specialist and a more obstinate presence down low. So I'd expect Sbisa to retain his role as a key penalty killer when he's ready.
This doesn't take away from Miller's development this season.
Los Angeles, who drafted Miller, found his defensive firmness wanting -- that's part of the reason why they traded him, Jones, and a 2015 first-rounder for Milan Lucic in the summer of 2015. Every time Miller takes a PK shift, he's proving his doubters wrong.
What Are Some of San Jose's Power Play Tendencies?
First, a word on the Knights', which I covered in my
Vegas-Los Angeles series preview:
Since January 21st in Carolina, the Golden Knights' power play has been the second-best in the league. That's a 28.4 % success rate over the last 37 games.
The underlying stats suggest this hot streak may not go cold. Shots are the best predictor for power play success; since January 21st, Vegas has averaged 65.58 PP shots/60, good for third in the NHL.
While the Knights don't boast a superstar on the man advantage, they make do.
On one unit, Jonathan Marchessault loves to fire away from the perimeter. His 21.53 5v4 Shots/60 is third in the league (out of 280 skaters, 100+ 5v5 minutes).
On the other unit, look for Colin Miller's blast from the point. His 34.5 5v4 Individual Corsi For is second in the NHL (out of 71 defensemen, 100+ 5v5 minutes). In front of the net, the 5'11" Erik Haula's quick hands and feet have helped him lead the league with a 44.0 5v4 Shooting % (out of 280 skaters, 100+ 5v5 minutes). Haula's 12 power play goals top the team.
Up front, both Vegas power play units play about the same amount -- the difference between the squad's most-used regular forward (David Perron, 2:31) and the least-used regular (Alex Tuch, 2:19) is just 12 seconds per game. This type of balance is unrivaled around the league.
This balance does not exist on San Jose's blueline, where Brent Burns pretty much doesn't leave the ice on a power play.
Only John Carlson (76.0 %) and John Klingberg (74.6) have been used on a greater percentage of their team's 5v4 time than Burns (71.9).
"He shoots a lot of pucks to the net. He runs their power play," remarked Gallant. "You can't fall asleep up high. They do a lot backdoor."
That said, Burns is shooting less on the man advantage than he ever has in recent years:
View post on imgur.com
(iCF = Individual Corsi For, iSCF = Individual Scoring Chances For)
That's still a lot of rubber.
"My guess is he's receiving more attention from opposing PKs. He's assisted at a career-high rate too. Fear of his shot could be opening up his teammates," suggested
Marcus White of NBC Sports Bay Area. "As a team, they're shooting at a higher rate than last year on the power play."
Gallant noted another Sharks weapon on the PP, "Every team who pre-scouts San Jose, you look for the high tip."
That's usually between Burns and Joe Pavelski -- from 2014-18, Pavelski led the league in deflected/tipped goals (all situations):
View post on imgur.com
On their first unit, look for Pavelski in the slot and Tomas Hertl in front. They'll be flanked on the wall or supported up high by Logan Couture, Kevin Labanc, and Burns.
On the second unit, look for Timo Meier to dominate in front. While not a prolific scorer, he's sixth in the league with a 17.08 5v4 High-Danger Corsi For (out of 209 forwards, 100+ 5v4 minutes).
Evander Kane also patrols the second unit, while Thornton may add a serious boost to San Jose's power play at some point in this series.
Anyway, I'll have another Golden Knights-Sharks preview out shortly, this time focusing on 5v5 play.
***
Stats as of 4/23/18, courtesy of Corsica, Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, and Sporting Charts.
++++I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS! If you, or anyone you know would be interested in placing an ad here at HockeyBuzz, then send me a PM!++++
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger •Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»