Previewing the Vegas Golden Knights – From a Scout’s Perspective [with video]

Those who have seen some of my posts on Twitter during the course of the Vancouver Canucks’ current playoff run may be familiar with my video analysis work. In August so far, we have examined some of the performances of the Canucks as a whole, the opponents, as well as the play of some individuals. Against the St. Louis Blues, we tracked the offensive zone struggles of the Canucks as the Blues forced them to the perimeter in games four and five and took away their shooting lanes.

With the first-round series tied 2-2 after game four, and the momentum in favor of the aggressive, veteran, Stanley Cup champion Blues squad, Vancouver’s odds seemed bleak. The Blues were better in the corners of the ice and had taken away all of the Canucks’ time and space. Vancouver’s point shot-rebound plays were ineffective and Blues goaltender Jake Allen stared down all of the team’s perimeter shots. The Canucks were out-shot in game four by a margin of 37-22. They were 0-for-7 on the powerplay. They recorded 19 giveaways, whereas the Blues had only eight in that match.

Game five began the same way, but a few very fortunate moments exposed the cracks in the Blues’ armor and shed light on the ways in which the Canucks could break down their opponent’s defence. In the second period of Game five, both J.T. Miller and Jake Virtanen scored on plays set up from the goal line. The Blues had guarded themselves against the Canucks’ offense from above, but they could not defend as easily when the team directed its attack from deeper in the zone. The decision to bring Jake Virtanen to the top line alongside J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson gave the Canucks additional speed and weight in the corners. The team’s bottom-six forwards — most notably, the explosive and relentless Tyler Motte — began to shine on the offensive side of the puck.

On Friday night, in game six, the Vancouver Canucks played an impressive, albeit inconsistent match against the St. Louis Blues. At their best, they were brilliant on the forecheck. In the first ten minutes of the game, they out-shot St. Louis by a total of 12-4. They focused on carrying the puck low into the offensive zone and taking the puck into the high-percentage areas. They attacked from the corners, attempted wraparounds, and applied pressure with puck support from their teammates. The Canucks’ defencemen were active and mobile offensively. For instance, Alex Edler could be seen flying down into the offensive zone early in the match to provide additional forechecking at the end boards. Quinn Hughes was more active down low than he had been in games four and five, and on Troy Stecher’s 3-0 goal, all five Canucks skaters were below the tops of the faceoff circles. The Canucks provided ample puck support at both ends, ensuring that zone exits would not be tediously lengthy outlet attempts and desperate dump-outs. There were stretches when they relented and stopped pressuring, but overall their performance earned them a 6-2 victory and their first second-round playoff berth since 2011.

The necessary strategic adjustments were made, undoubtedly after much scrutiny of the team’s lackluster game four performance. Video is an extremely valuable and important resource.

That brings us to today’s early preview of the Canucks’ second-round opponent: the Vegas Golden Knights. We’ll look at a few of their tendencies before the opening match this weekend.

Our footage above features the Golden Knights’ offensive opportunities in the first period of their most recent match on August 18, 2020, game five against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Knights won this contest 4-3, eliminating the Blackhawks from the playoffs.

On the surface, it seems obvious to characterize the Vegas Golden Knights as a heavy, aggressive squad. This is a good first step towards understanding this team. Vegas were fourth in the NHL in hits-per-60 in 2019-20 with an average of 26.51. They also led the NHL in takeaways-per-60 with an average of 9.48. Compare that with the 21st-ranked Canucks and their average takeaways-per-60 of 6.80 and 22nd-ranked hits-per-60 average of 19.48. Vegas outclassed the St. Louis Blues in both categories this year as well.

During board battles in the offensive zone, the Knights prefer to have all three of their forwards actively pressure the opponent. The forward closest to the puck will generally engage with the defensive player protecting the puck, while the other forwards will flank the outside. Unlike the Canucks, who often have one forward waiting in the slot while the others work the boards, the Knights often focus first on reclaiming possession in the o-zone. Sometimes, if the third attacker is away from the board battle, they will park themselves behind the net in case the puck is reversed over to them. This generally will lead to a dangerous opportunity for Vegas.

In spite of their physicality and aggressiveness, the Golden Knights are more than just a grinding squad, and they aren’t a simple north-south team. If one recalls the way the Minnesota Wild played with their east-west passing entry strategies and cross-ice feeds in the offensive zone, the Canucks’ newest playoff adversaries play a style that possesses some similar elements.

The Vegas Golden Knights are a very good passing team, and Vancouver must be aware of their ability to capitalize on any available passing lanes through the middle — especially through the crease and hash marks with the recipient streaking down the other side of the offensive zone. The Canucks must always be aware of any opposing players lurking for a back-door play. In our footage, we see just how many times the Knights look for cross-seam passes. This continued throughout the match, and on most of Vegas’ goals against Chicago that night, the puck went across the middle to the eventual goal scorers.

The right-handed Mark Stone, #61, in particular, is an astute playmaking threat — he led the team with 44 assists in 2019-20. Max Pacioretty, #67, led the team in the goals category with 32. However, the Knights possess offensive depth and have received significant contributions from numerous forward lines.

Their defence are very active and like to jump into the play to outnumber the opponent in the high-percentage areas. They like to pinch aggressively at the blue line as well to keep the puck in the offensive zone. When a defenceman at the point receives the puck, sometimes their defence partner will cruise towards the slot so that four bodies may swarm the net if the ensuing shot results in a rebound.

Some additional footage:

Defenceman Shea Theodore, #27, scored 13 goals in the regular season and has four so far this August. He, Nate Schmidt (#88), and Alec Martinez (#23) all possess puck-moving skills that will help the Knights take the puck out of their own zone quickly. Their outlet abilities, thus, allow them to punch the puck forward on their powerplay entries. Similar to the Carolina Hurricanes, their entries are aggressive and direct, unlike the intricate drop-pass play the Canucks and several other teams prefer to use. The Canucks usually feature two trailers moving simultaneously up the ice on their drop-pass entry.

The Golden Knights are a fast transition team. They often make short lateral passes and move up the ice with at least one other skater within close proximity. Speedy skaters such as Chandler Stephenson, #20, meanwhile, can carry the puck up themselves. The Canucks must maintain adequate gap control with the Knights rushing up the ice. They must be careful about players sneaking past them and then receiving a diagonal head-man pass for a break.

During the regular season, the Golden Knights led the NHL in the shot attempts differential and unblocked shots attempts differential categories. In this year’s playoffs as well, they are ranked second and first in these respective categories. They outshot Chicago in round one by margins of 34-20, 39-25, 49-25, and 39-26. They were, however, out-shot 27-26 by Chicago in game three. Against St. Louis in the Round Robin tournament, the totals were 38-17 in favor of Vegas. The Canucks became accustomed to being outshot by the Blues in the previous round. What matters is that the shots remain from stationary positions along the perimeter and aren’t the result of east-west puck movement.

The Canucks’ ability to defend the middle of the ice in 2019-20 was a concern, but they must do exactly this against the Vegas Golden Knights and keep them to the outside. They must clear rebounds away from the crease, as the opponent will pounce on anything loose. Puck support in the defensive end is absolutely essential if Vancouver hope to challenge Vegas. The Knights are aggressive, but this can also be costly to them if the Canucks counter effectively. If the Vancouver Canucks hope to win, they need to be confident and quick as they were for parts of game six against St. Louis rather than timid as they were in game four (and game one against Minnesota, for that matter). There are opportunities to score that might not have been present against St. Louis, but they must also guard against an attack strategy that has caused them trouble all season.

We’ll revisit after the two teams finally meet on Sunday and see what adjustments can be made.