Golden Knights go through game-situation scrimmage

The Golden Knights took another step toward game action Monday.

Coach Pete DeBoer put the team through a 30-minute scrimmage to start practice that simulated aspects of a real game. The Knights went through a normal warmup routine, watched goals go up on a scoreboard and switched sides after 15 minutes to practice long changes.

Team Grey — which featured the second and fourth lines, the first and third defensive pairs, goaltender Robin Lehner and some call-ups — defeated Team White 4-1.

“We’ve done a good job ramping it up,” said center Paul Stastny, whose line contributed two goals to Team Grey’s victory. “I felt like today, for us, was more about finding each other and creating more time and space, whether it was neutral zone, or d-zone or offensive zone. When you play gamelike situations in scrimmages like that, it’s a lot easier to grow that chemistry and see what each guy is thinking and talk on the bench between shifts.”

The Knights are one of several teams that have built longer scrimmages into training camp. The Toronto Maple Leafs are holding a scrimmage series between “Team Matthews” and “Team Andersen,” named for center Auston Matthews and goaltender Frederik Andersen. The Minnesota Wild held a full three-period scrimmage Saturday that went into overtime.

DeBoer said he’s comfortable going a little slower than those teams because the Knights aren’t in the NHL’s play-in round. Instead, he’ll continue to implement gamelike elements gradually the rest of camp.

“We have a little bit more runway, even though the round-robin games are important,” DeBoer said. “But we’re slowly adding some of those things, because after four months, those are the little things you have to get used to again. The shift length of games, the long change of the second period. Those type of things.”

Stastny, right wing Reilly Smith and defensemen Brayden McNabb and Nick Holden scored Team Grey’s goals. Holden’s was an empty-netter that sealed the victory.

Defenseman Deryk Engelland appeared to score Team White’s goal, though the puck might have bounced off teammate Nick Cousins.

Long road to Las Vegas

Goaltender Logan Thompson has skated at City National Arena the past two days away from the main group after signing an entry-level contract with the Knights on July 13.

The 23-year-old said he hopped in his car the day after signing and drove from Brandon, Manitoba, to Las Vegas. He said the 1,500-mile journey took about 22 hours.

“It’s been a pretty fast-paced experience, but I’m really excited to be here,” Thompson said. “Just learning a lot and soaking everything in and trying to leave a good first impression.”

The 6-foot-4-inch netminder started the Knights’ first-ever rookie game in September 2017. He said he didn’t keep any mementos from that experience, but he clearly stayed on the team’s radar.

The Knights ultimately signed Thompson after a standout season in the ECHL, hockey’s equivalent of Double-A baseball. He was fourth in the league in goals-against average (2.25) and second in save percentage (.929).

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.