Golden Knights schedule gets busy in second half

Practice time is a precious commodity during the season, and Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer wasn’t going to squander the extra day.

“The flip side of that is we’re going to pay the bill for this at a later point with them jamming our schedule with some of the makeup games,” he said. “We know that.”

The Knights were supposed to be in San Jose, California, on Thursday renewing their rivalry with the Sharks. Those plans were scrapped the day before when the NHL postponed the game after forward Tomas Hertl entered the NHL’s COVID protocol.

While the circumstances aren’t ideal, the Knights (11-4-1, 23 points) will have three straight days of practice leading into Saturday’s game at Anaheim. They spent a good chuck of their time Thursday working on the details of their neutral-zone forecheck.

“I loved our game in Colorado. When you play a game like that, you want to get out there and play again as quickly as possible and keep building on that feeling and that game,” DeBoer said. “I think our pause happened the last time — we were talking about this — I felt we were really starting to play well and we paused the last time for COVID, again, lost a little momentum.

“The goal here through practice the next couple of days is to get some stuff done to tighten our game up but also to try to keep the momentum.”

The Knights haven’t played since Monday’s 3-0 statement victory at Colorado, and the matchup against the last-place Ducks (6-10-4, 16 points) at Honda Center will be their third in 11 days.

Beginning Saturday, they are scheduled to play 39 games in the next 70 days. That does not include the game against San Jose that needs to be made up.

The Knights don’t have consecutive days off again until March 23 and 24, then go another month before getting two days off in a row (April 24, 25).

From now until the end of the regular season May 8, the schedule shows eight back-to-backs.

“Obviously, with the game postponement, it’s going to allow guys to recover a little bit, so it’s almost like a short break,” winger Alex Tuch said. “It’s going to allow us to practice a little bit more and get some of the kinks out going into Anaheim instead of San Jose.”

Smith update

Winger Reilly Smith did not practice for the second straight day, but DeBoer said Smith skated on his own in the morning. He is expected to play Saturday.

Smith was hit in the mouth by an errant puck with about six minutes remaining in the second period of Monday’s game. He returned in the third and skated six shifts.

“I believe if we were playing (Thursday), he would play,” DeBoer said. “But we’re thankful for the extra days. I don’t doubt he’ll be in the lineup.”

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was given a maintenance day, and goalie Robin Lehner (upper body) did not practice.

Insider info

Anaheim rookie center Trevor Zegras generated plenty of buzz leading up to his NHL debut this week. The Knights have a secret scouting report on the ninth overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Zegras played at Boston University last season before he turned pro after his freshman year and was a teammate with DeBoer’s son, Jack.

Pete DeBoer said he spoke to Zegras when the Knights practiced at Agganis Arena on the BU campus in January 2020 before a game against the Boston Bruins.

“I asked him at what point (would I be) seeing him in our division,” DeBoer said. “I’m not surprised that it happened this quickly. He was an elite player at every level he’s been at.”

Zegras, 19, has yet to record a point in his first two games. He showed his poise Wednesday scoring the Ducks’ lone goal in the shootout during a 4-3 loss at Arizona.

“He’s a great kid. My son said he’s a great teammate,” DeBoer said. “His only advice was, ‘Don’t take penalties. Keep him off the power play.’ ”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.