3 takeaways from Knights’ win: Inching closer to division title
The Golden Knights’ final home game of the regular season Tuesday encapsulated everything their 2022-23 team has come to represent.
Sure, there were extra frills. An intermission game contestant won a Toyota after the first period. Players lingered following the final buzzer to hand their jerseys to loyal fans.
The hallmarks of what has made the Knights successful all season were still there, however. Suffocating defense. Opportunistic offense from contributors familiar and unexpected. Resiliency through adversity.
Above all else, there was a win. The Knights’ 50th, one shy of the franchise record set in their inaugural season. Their 4-1 victory over the Kraken in front of an announced crowd of 18,377 at T-Mobile Arena kept them atop the Pacific Division and Western Conference standings with one game remaining.
“I think we’re trending in the right direction right now, which is obviously important with the playoffs just around the corner,” left wing Reilly Smith said. “We have no reason to take our foot off the gas.”
The Knights entered their penultimate game down three of their top five scorers in center Jack Eichel, captain Mark Stone and left wing William Carrier and two of their three regular right-side defensemen in Shea Theodore and Zach Whitecloud.
That could’ve easily been a problem against a playoff-bound Seattle team with the third-most goals in the NHL. It wasn’t.
The Knights put together an outstanding effort to keep the Kraken far away from their crease. They allowed only 21 shots on goal. That’s tied for the third-fewest they’ve given up in a game this season.
”This past month, it’s felt like we’ve found a lot of consistency with the structure, even with injuries,” goaltender Laurent Brossoit said. “You want to shut things down, and that’s what the guys are doing.”
The Knights lived in the blue paint on the other end of their ice. All four of their goals came within 15 feet of Seattle’s net.
The first came from right wing Michael Amadio after center William Karlsson danced his way into the Kraken zone. He tapped the puck to Smith, who fired it across to a wide-open Amadio in front 5:37 into the game.
Center Yanni Gourde tied the game on a breakaway for Seattle 3:29 later after a Smith turnover in the neutral zone. The Original Misfit redeemed himself two minutes into the second, as he and Karlsson combined to set up Amadio again to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
Amadio almost finished his hat trick 12:48 later, but Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord made a spectacular left-pad save. Smith pounced on the rebound anyway to give the Knights a 3-1 edge with his 25th goal.
Right wing Jonathan Marchessault padded the lead to 4-1 with a five-on-three power-play goal 3:23 into the third.
The Knights saw things out from there to extend their point streak to seven games (4-0-3) and snap Seattle’s five-game winning streak.
They can clinch their third division title in six seasons and the No. 1 seed in the West by getting a point against the Kraken on Thursday. Their chances look good if they repeat Tuesday’s performance, once again drawing on a formula that’s served them well all season.
“We’re just going to try to do the same thing when we go there,” Amadio said. “It’s a tight race. All the points matter here.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Second-line success
Smith, Karlsson and Amadio were a nightmare for Seattle all game.
Amadio recorded the second two-goal game of his career and his third-ever three-point game. His 16 goals are tied for the fifth-most on the team.
”He’s got so much poise with the puck, but he’s also very heavy on it and makes a lot of smart plays,” Smith said. “I think he’s probably deserving of more ice time and more opportunity, but what he’s getting, he’s just run with it.”
Smith earned his first three-point game since May 8, 2021. He also hit the 25-goal mark for the third time.
2. Brossoit’s game
Brossoit made 20 saves to improve to 6-0-3 this season.
He has the most starts without a regulation loss to begin a campaign since Jean-Sebastien Aubin was 9-0-2 for Toronto in 2005-06. Coach Bruce Cassidy still wasn’t ready to annoint Brossoit the Knights’ Game 1 playoff starter Tuesday night, saying it was too early to announce a decision.
“He’s helped his cause every time he’s been in the net, I’ll say that,” Cassidy said. “He’s probably played the most recently as well and (is the) closest to being on top of his game.”
3. One-sided series
The Knights improved to 6-1 against the Kraken all-time with the win.
They’ve dominated their fellow expansion side over the last two seasons. The only NHL team the Knights have a better record against is the Ottawa Senators (9-1-0).
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
