The Vegas Golden Knights aren’t yet old enough to attend kindergarten, so you would think everything about the team could still be classified as new.
Despite the fact the squad is only in its third year of existence, there are a few guys who already feel like second-generation Knights. And, at this moment, those relatively fresh faces are helping Vegas find the form many anticipated from a club widely viewed as a legit title contender before the season.
Before we get to the players who were expected to provide big-time scoring, let’s carve out some space for Chandler Stephenson, the man who popped the overtime winner against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Since he was acquired from Washington for a fifth-round pick on Dec. 2, the 25-year-old Stephenson has gone from being an occasional healthy scratch to a centre playing just over 16 minutes per night and getting the three-on-three, extra-time opportunity to complete the first three-goal comeback in Vegas history.
Stephenson has five goals and nine points in 16 games with the Golden Knights and his arrival just over a month ago almost perfectly dovetails with Vegas starting to get its act together. Sorry, Charlie; you don’t get to take all the credit. The Knights — winners of four straight — have gone 13-4-2 since Nov. 27 to jump ahead of the Arizona Coyotes for the Pacific Division lead. Stephenson’s wingers — Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone — are co-leading scorers of the club in that span, notching 20 points apiece in 19 contests.
This is Stone’s first full campaign in Vegas since being acquired from Ottawa 11 months ago and he’s been every bit as good as you’d expect the best two-way winger in the league to be. As for Pacioretty, this almost feels like his first real season with the club, too. The latter was traded to the Knights right on the precipice of training camp last year, battled injuries from the outset and wound up missing nearly 20 games in his Vegas debut. After playing at a 50-point pace last season, Pacioretty is tracking a new career high in the 80-point range.
Both he and Stone — two longtime rivals in the Atlantic Division from their Habs and Sens days — are making good on Vegas’s commitment to them after the club spent significant prospect capital in those deals, to say nothing of the long-term contracts both inked as part of moving to a new city.
Because Vegas had such an astounding first chapter and because all of the original players were bound by becoming “Golden Misfits” together, it feels like the pillars of the team that went to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final — Marc-Andre Fleury, the William Karlsson-Jonathan Marchessault-Reilly Smith connection, heart-and-souler Deryk Engelland — have been desert-for-life. But the new Knights have become defining figures on this edition of the club and are a huge reason the team is starting to look capable of taking anybody it faces to school.
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Other Weekend Takeaways
• About twice a month, we get a masterful display of skill that has us asking: “Goal of the Year?” That conversation will be ongoing through the second half of the season, but I promise, what follows will absolutely be the non-goal of the year — and maybe the next 10. Honestly, let’s just put Colin White in the Hall of Fame.
• The injury-devastated Penguins split their two weekend games, losing 4-1 to the Florida Panthers at home on Sunday 24 hours after beating the Canadiens 3-2 in Montreal. Brandon Tanev netted the overtime winner versus the Habs, with Teddy Blueger and Marcus Pettersson drawing assists. Those players happen to be three of the five who’ve dressed in every Penguins game this year, along with Dominik Simon and Zach Aston-Reese. You’ll notice none of those names are Crosby, Malkin or Letang.
Bryan Rust tied the game in Montreal and his next tally this season will equal his previous career high of 18 goals. This year, playing alongside Evgeni Malkin, he’s scoring at a 52-goal pace. What this team has done in the face of endless key injuries — they’re 15-6-4 since Sidney Crosby went out of the lineup — is absolutely remarkable.
• Road wins over Ottawa and Carolina on Saturday and Sunday ran Tampa Bay’s winning streak to seven games as the Bolts are getting their house in order. Brayden Point had a goal in each contest and he’s got nine points during the seven-game run.
• Antti Raanta was forced out of Arizona’s 6-2 win over Philly on Saturday with what sounds like a minor injury. Still, has anyone had more bad luck than this guy since he was acquired by the Coyotes three years ago? He’s put up a .924 save percentage in 79 career games with Arizona, but hasn’t been able to stay on the ice. With Darcy Kuemper still expected to be sidelined for a few weeks, the Yotes have to be holding their breath.
• What an awesome world junior championship final between Canada and Russia on Sunday afternoon. Congrats to Canada on the victory, but the ongoing mystery of the tournament is how bronze-winning Sweden has managed to go 52-0 in round-robin play since 2013, yet has just a single goal medal to show for it. Are we sure that math adds up?
Also, Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Jordan Binnington’s first win as a St. Louis Blue. How much has that team’s crease outlook changed between what Binnington did in 2019 and Joel Hofer — a fourth-round pick by St. Louis in 2018 — did for Canada in this tournament?
Red and White Power Rankings
1. Toronto Maple Leafs (24-14-5) – After Michael Hutchinson blanked the New York Islanders on Saturday, the Leafs pulled within six points of the Atlantic-leading Boston Bruins. The scorching Buds are officially in the hunt for top spot in the division, which would give them home-ice advantage in at least two rounds and, in all likelihood, allow them to avoid the nightmare scenario of having to get through both Tampa and Boston to make the final four.
2. Vancouver Canucks (23-15-4) – The Canucks, 2-1 winners over the Rangers on Saturday, have been outshot 247-194 during their first seven-game winning streak since 2013. Did we mention Jacob Markstrom has a .932 save percentage in his past six outings?
3. Edmonton Oilers (22-17-5) – A big 4-1 ‘W’ in Boston Saturday gave Edmonton at least a point in its past three games. Darnell Nurse found the net in that contest for the first time since just before Halloween.
4. Calgary Flames (22-17-5) – It took seven rounds, but Dillion Dube (and goalie David Rittich) got the Flames a crucial extra point on Sunday with a shootout win over the Wild.
5. Winnipeg Jets (22-16-4) – One win in their past six for the Jets and they’ve allowed at least four goals in five of those contests.
6. Montreal Canadiens (18-17-7) – The Habs have lost five straight after their setback versus the Pens, but don’t put the blame on Max Domi. The guy who needs a new contract this summer notched an assist in the loss to Pittsburgh to run his points streak to nine games.
7. Ottawa Senators (16-21-5) – On a team in transition, Nick Paul is making his pitch to be a full-time NHLer. The 24-year-old forward has three goals in his past four outings.
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In Your Ear
Co-host Rory Boylen and I counted down our personal top-10 moments of the past decade on the most recent episode of Tape-to-Tape. There may or may not be a mention of my beer league championship. Come back this week to hear us do a 30,000-foot view of the league at the halfway point.
Tape to Tape podcast: 10 of the most memorable moments of the 2010s
The Week Ahead
• Connor McDavid goes head-to-head with Auston Matthews and the Leafs on Monday night.
• There’s a decent chance Ilya Kovalchuk — who paid the going rich-guy rate of a Rolex to get his No. 17 from Brett Kulak (now No. 77) — will make his Habs debut Monday night versus the Jets.
• Joe Thornton has six points in his past six outings. With four more points, “Jumbo” will hit 1,500 for his career.