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Golden Knights quickly adjust to lack of crowd

Updated August 2, 2020 - 5:21 pm

Ryan Reaves noticed the lack of fans at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, during warmups before the Golden Knights’ exhibition game Thursday. He noticed it on the bench, too.

The first time he went into a corner to get a puck, he stopped caring. The empty seats and piped in ambient crowd noise took some getting used to for the Knights. But once they hit the ice, their focus turned to the game and their task at hand.

“Once the play is going on, even when there’s a sold-out crowd, you’re so focused on what’s on the ice that that’s what you hear,” center Paul Stastny said. “It feels a little different, don’t get me wrong, but I think it was pretty good for a preseason game. If you watch those first couple games, once one guy scores, you see how much energy everyone on the ice and the bench has.

“That’s what playoff hockey is.”

The crowd noise was faint enough in the building that right wing Reilly Smith didn’t even notice it. Reaves, Stastny, forward Nick Cousins, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and coach Pete DeBoer said they did, but it didn’t seem to affect them.

DeBoer said he appreciated the noise when he did hear it, because it created a more gamelike atmosphere. Most of the time, his attention was on the ice or he was focused on which forward line he was going to send out next.

“Once the puck dropped and the game got going and the juices got flowing, honestly, you didn’t really notice it,” DeBoer said. “From my vantage point, it was strange for a few minutes and then it was a regular game.”

Whatever the atmosphere, the Knights found their stride fast and defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-1. Adapting to the surroundings quickly will be key for the team if it wants to go on a deep playoff run.

The Knights will have to succeed without the raucous T-Mobile Arena crowd, which has helped them achieve the second-best home playoff winning percentage in the NHL the past two seasons.

“As the game went on, it felt a little more normal,” said Cousins, who had three points Thursday. “It was definitely a little weird at the start. It’s going to take awhile to get used to, for sure.”

Lehner to start

Goaltender Robin Lehner will start the Knights’ first round-robin game against the Dallas Stars on Monday, DeBoer said.

DeBoer said other than Lehner, the team will use the same lineup it did against the Coyotes. Left wing Max Pacioretty, who is nursing a minor injury from training camp, remains unavailable but his return is “on the horizon,” DeBoer said.

The coach previously said he wanted Lehner and Fleury to each start two games before the Knights’ first-round playoff series.

Quick whistles

The first five games of the NHL postseason Saturday averaged nearly 25 penalty minutes. DeBoer said the Knights have placed a large emphasis on special teams in practice in case their games play out similarly.

The Knights and Coyotes combined for 20 penalty minutes Thursday.

“I’m not surprised,” DeBoer said. “I think there’s always a feeling-out period where the players are getting used to the standard that’s going to be called again, and keeping your feet moving and your stick down. I’m sure there’s going to be an adjustment as we go through here, but in the meantime, you have to be prepared for it and you have to win those special teams battles every night.”

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

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