Jason Franson / The Canadian Press/AP

Chicago goalie Corey Crawford looks back after a goal by Vegas William Carrier (28) during Game 1 of the teams first-round playoffseries.

By Justin Emerson (contact)

Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020 | 2 a.m.

The Golden Knights breezed through the round robin and the first round against the Chicago Blackhawks, winning seven of the eight games and establishing themselves as not just one of the best teams in the Western Conferences, but one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

The road only gets harder from here. The Golden Knights have begun Round 2 against the Vancouver Canuckssplitting the first two games ahead of Game 3 on August 27and are three long series victories from hoisting the Cup.

So it seems like a good time to review a few things the Golden Knights have done right in the early goings of the postseason, and a few things theyll need to work on moving forward.

1. Theyve dominated possession. The biggest reason the Golden Knights were able to dispatch the Blackhawks so quickly was that they spent five games treating Chicago like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. Vegas ended the series plus-4 in goal differential, but other numbers point to a big blowout.

The Golden Knights edge was plus-64 in shots on goal and a staggering plus-100 in shot attempts over the five games. Advanced stats provided by Natural Stat Trick suggest Vegas advantage in expected goals was plus-7 and high-danger scoring chances was plus-24.

If a team has the puck, its going to shoot the puck; and if its shooting the puck, its not defending an attack. The best defense is a good offense, and the Golden Knights showed that in their assault on the Chicago net, and that hasnt slowed against Vancouver, with a plus-48 edge in shot attempts so far.

2. Theyve been comeback kids. During the regular season, the Golden Knights overcame a two-goal deficit to win only twice, and they had never done it in the playoffs prior to this month. But this year through the round robin and the first round against Chicago, the Golden Knights have already done it three times.

Whats especially impressive: the teams against which the first two of those comebacks occurred. In the round robin, the Golden Knights fell behind 3-1 in the third period to Dallas and 2-0 in the second to St. Louis. The Stars and Blues were among the NHLs best in the regular season, in terms of both overall record and in closing out leads.

Overall, the Golden Knights have outscored their opponents 15-5 in the third period and overtime this postseason, a key trait as the playoffs roll on.

3. Their stars are shining bright. Coach Peter DeBoer said it best: This time of year, a teams best players need to be its best players. The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP rarely goes to depth players, so for a team to make a Cup run, it typically needs its stars to play at their highest level. And thats been the case for the Golden Knights so far through 10 postseason games.

Mark Stone, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore are all averaging a point-per-game or better during the seasons restart, and Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault are two points back of that pace.

Stone, in particular, has elevated his game when the stakes are highest. Including last years playoffs, Stone has racked up 22 points in 17 VGK playoff games, a per-game pace higher than anyone else with the Golden Knights.

Smith has also been a constant. With 38 points in 37 playoff games as a Golden Knight, hes the only other player to exceed a point per game. Stone, Smith and the rest of the Vegas stars have continued to excel when the games matter most.

4. Theyve showed off their depth. Every team goes through injuries this time of year, but the Golden Knights havent skipped a beat when theyve lost key players. Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny have missed a combined six games this postseason, and theyve combined to score just seven points in the 14 games theyve played. Yet it hasnt really mattered.

When Stastny went down, Patrick Brown filled in on the fourth line and scored a goal. Chandler Stephenson has been all over the lineup, from third-line center to first-line wing to first-line center to fourth-line center.

And as the stars do their thing at the top of the lineup, so do the players near the bottom. In the Chicago series, the third line of Nick Cousins, Nicolas Roy and Alex Tuch was superb. William Carrier entered the playoffs without a postseason point and already has two game-winning goals.

1. The power play. This was the Golden Knights biggest issue until the series finale against Chicago. In that game, defenseman Alec Martinez scored to tie the game 3-3 before Vegas went on to win, but it was the teams first goal in 10 power-play tries in the series.

The good news is that appears to be less of a systemic issue than a small sample-size one. In the three round-robin games, Vegas went 3-for-12 on the power play, a terrific 33% that, for context, would have led the NHL during the regular season. The Golden Knights are 2-for-7 (28.6%) in two games against Vancouver. Factoring in all 10 postseason games, Vegas has gone 6-for-28 (21.4%), which ranks among the upper half of the playoff teams thus far.

Still, against a porous defense like the Blackhawks, Vegas would have liked more from its power play. It has improved so far in the second round.

2. Finishing chances. The Golden Knights were a far better team than the Blackhawks, yet three of Vegas four wins came by just one goal. All the stats from the positives side of this story should seemingly have added up to a Golden Knights rout. And while a series that ends in five games can be considered a pretty good beatdown, it could have been more lopsided, game by game.

Part of that was Corey Crawford. Chicagos goalie was excellent and kept Vegas from filling the net with pucks, particularly in the Blackhawks lone win. He was the biggest reason Vegas differential between actual goals (15) and expected goals (17.44) was negative, and in Game 4 he held the Golden Knights to one goal, compared to 3.71 expected.

Still, as with the power play, Vegas finishing issues were limited to the Chicago series. In the round robin, the Golden Knights were the NHLs most potent offensive team, and thus far theyve looked very capable of making a deep run.

Link:

Analyzing the ups and downs from Vegas' playoff performance thus far - Las Vegas Sun