Three games into the new season, the Golden Knights have held a lead for less than five minutes (4:47).
On Monday afternoon, it was the Sabres who took it wire to wire 4-2. Is it time for Vegas to worry?
Winning Play
With Nate Schmidt suspended for 20 games, it's easy to point a finger at the defensemen, chiefly Schmidt's fill-in, Jon Merrill.
But the truth of the matter is, taking in account the opening night loss to Philadelphina and this afternoon, the entire team -- forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders -- are struggling defensively.
Gerard Gallant admitted, "The first half of the game, we were sound asleep."
Rarely is just one player to blame for a goal against.
Case in point, this inexcusable Jack Eichel (9) goal, which gave Buffalo a 2-0 lead.
What makes this goal inexcusable isn't the fact that the Knights allowed the Sabres star a free path to the net. What makes this goal inexcusable is the fact that they allowed any opposing player a free path to the net. Any NHL player can finish with this kind of time and space.
This is uncharacteristic defensive hockey from the 2018 Western Conference champions.
So what happened here? It's obvious that there are too many Golden Knights watching the puck, not enough minding Eichel.
Shea Theodore (27) did his part, as he's forced Conor Sheary (43) to cough up the puck to Sam Reinhart (23). Meanwhile, Ryan Reaves (75) and Will Carrier (28) look like they're out to lunch, but they're actually doing their jobs as wingers. When defending their zone, wingers are supposed to be watching the points i.e. the opposing defensemen.
Carrier doesn't break toward Eichel until it's clear that nobody is picking the sniper up -- it's a desperation play, forced by another player blowing his assignment.
As for Reaves, he's heading toward the point just as Eichel is coming down because he trusts that the slot is being covered.
This leaves Deryk Engelland (5) and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (41) to sort out Reinhart and Eichel.
Between Engelland and Bellemare, there seems to be a lack of awarenness of Eichel's presence. This is possibly because Eichel had just been wiped out by Carrier along the boards.
Regardless, between them, somebody should've taken Reinhart, the other the slot. Instead, they tag team Reinhart, which allows Eichel to stroll down the runway.
Before Eichel receives the pass, Bellemare is tracking back. As Bellemare crosses the blueline, he raises his hand. He appears to be signaling Reaves, the first forward back, to switch -- Bellemare will take the traditional centerman's low defensive position, while Reaves should go back to defend high. Based on Reaves's reaction -- he goes high right after Bellemare's signal -- that seems to be most likely.
Going back to inexcusable coverage -- it's not who you let get open, it's the fact that you let anybody get that open -- the Golden Knights were down 3-1 when they let Jason Pominville (29) put in an uncontested dagger.
Granted, Pominville is a three-time 30-goal scorer, but he's also a declining producer who's totaled just 40 goals in the last three years.
Merrill (15) will get some flak for allowing the behind-the-net pass from Zemgus Girgensons (28) through to Evan Rodrigues (71). But Merrill anticipates correctly, credit to Girgensons for beating him with the crafty bounce pass. Vegas isn't in trouble yet; Merrill has plenty of time to recover if Rodrigues tries to attack the net.
The problem, of course, is Pominville with all the time in the world in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.
The obvious culprit is Oscar Lindberg (24). That's what I thought at first.
But notice that three Golden Knights (Nick Holden, Ryan Carpenter, Tomas Nosek) are on one side of ice with two Sabres (Girgensons, Jake McCabe). Lindberg is stuck on an island between defending the slot (Pominville) and the corner (Rodrigues) and the right point (Rasmus Dahlin, 26). If he clearly commits to Pominville, Dahlin gets to walk down untouched. If Lindberg shades toward Dahlin -- which he does -- Pominville is free.
Remember what I said about the winger's defensive job in his own zone? To watch the points? Tomas Nosek (92) seems to have a handle on Jake McCabe (19). That leaves Ryan Carpenter (40) guarding nobody.
Everybody talks about the defensive advantage of having three centermen in Carpenter, Nosek, and Lindberg on the same line. But the flip side of that may be difficulty sorting out assignments.
On the original Rodrigues to Girgensons pass, if Carpenter leaves the left point to Nosek and takes the center's defensive responsiblity in the slot, allowing Lindberg to concentrate on the right point, we could be talking about a different hockey game.
"We weren't mentally sharp," said Gallant. "You can't blame Fleury on any of the goals."
Anyway, despite these breakdowns, I'm not worried about Vegas yet. These mistakes were not characteristic of last year's Stanley Cup finalist; they are fixable errors.
Bellemare, Engelland, Carpenter, and the rest of the team should be better defensively.
Speaking of the Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights look to find their game this Wednesday in Washington, as last year's surprise Cup finalists meet again.
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