Golden Knights players enjoy new bye week format

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt battles for the puck against New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

The NHL regular season is in the middle of a four-day hiatus and as the Golden Knights see it, that’s a good thing.

The league tweaked its bye week format this season, giving 10 teams Jan. 20-24 off in addition to the three-day All-Star break. The other 21 teams are off Jan. 27-31 after the All-Star break to give each club a full week off in the middle of the season.

“You’ve never had anything like this,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “This is a big one. It’s good to have that time away and mentally reset. You look at football, how much those guys love their bye week, and they get almost a week off, a week and a half off. It’s important over the course of a season. Not only physically, but mentally.”

Before this year the NHL staggered bye weeks after they were introduced in the 2016-17 season so teams were off at different times. That led to scheduling issues, as some teams coming off a break played other clubs that hadn’t taken time off yet and were sharper.

“In previous years you’ve been coming off a break and playing a team, they’ve got another week or two until their break, so you might be a little rusty,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “I think it’s smart having it all around the same time and everyone taking that time off.”

Now the 10 teams that got the earlier bye this season will return and play clubs coming off the same break as them. The league’s hope is that this leads to more competitive games after the break, and that the longer break is better for players than a separate bye week and All-Star break has been.

“Now you’re playing teams that are on the same schedule as you,” Schmidt said. “That way it’s sloppy for both teams. You’re both coming off of break instead of just one and the other one’s been rolling around for the past couple weeks without a day off.”

NHL tests tech again

The Knights were part of the first regular-season tests of new puck and player tracking technology during games against the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena.

After examining the data for those games, the league also used it during the All-Star skills competition and game, which it has done previously.

Sensors in players’ shoulder pads and pucks can show things like how fast the players are skating or how hard they’re shooting the puck. The tech pairs nicely with the skills competition, where the league is trying to show off the abilities of its athletes.

“It’s almost perfectly set up to test something like this,” Dave Lehanski, NHL senior vice president of business development and global partnerships, said.

The data was also incorporated into the skills competition and All-Star game broadcasts. The league announced Friday it would deploy the tech in all 31 NHL arenas during the 2019-20 season.

Flat caps

One team likely excited to be on a bye is the Washington Capitals.

The club enters its break on a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) after a stretch of horrendous defense. The Capitals allowed 36 goals (5.14 per game) during their winless streak despite All-Star goaltender Braden Holtby making five starts in that span.

Washington is 27-17-6 after the slide and second in the Metropolitan Division.

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