How Knights’ faceoff struggles have fed into losing streak: ‘It’s hurt us’
It’s an age-old argument in hockey: How important is getting the puck after a faceoff?
Teams can dominate possession and still lose games, and vice versa. Winning the battles in the dots doesn’t always correlate to winning on the scoreboard.
Losing faceoffs isn’t one of the main reasons the Golden Knights are 0-3-1 their last four games and 1-5-1 their last seven. Coach Bruce Cassidy brought up goaltending after Monday’s 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues. The team has allowed too many late-period goals.
But there’s no question the Knights are getting overwhelmed in the dots at the moment.
The team has lost the faceoff battle in five of its last six defeats. The Knights have won less than 45 percent of the draws in three of those games.
Cassidy said faceoffs cost his team in recent losses to the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks. The Knights won only 10 of the 37 draws in the final two periods of their 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday. They won only 20 of the 51 faceoffs in their 5-3 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday.
“It hurts us,” Cassidy said. “We would prefer to start with (the puck), especially when you’re making up ground, for sure.”
50-50 battles
There is the flip side. Winning faceoffs ultimately might not mean much in the grand scheme of things.
The Knights won 67 percent of the draws in their 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Jan. 11. They were almost even with the Blues on Monday, winning 48 percent.
The Knights, on the season, have the NHL’s 13th-best faceoff percent (50.9) but third-best record (29-14-4). Presidents’ Trophy-leading Washington (32-10-5) ranks 16th in faceoff percentage (50.6). The New York Islanders are the best team at winning faceoffs (55.2), but have the league’s seventh-worst record (19-20-7).
Where Cassidy wants to see the Knights improve is the “undetermined possession” faceoffs, where defensemen and wingers need to help the center out.
Left wing Filip Forsberg’s goal for the Nashville Predators on Jan. 14 is an example of what Cassidy is talking about. Center Nicolas Roy and center Steven Stamkos fought to a draw in the circle, but Forsberg skated in to scoop up the puck and beat goaltender Ilya Samsonov.
“We’re not on our toes enough to win the faceoff with the four people around the center, not necessarily the center winning it clean,” Cassidy said.
Turn and snap 🫰 pic.twitter.com/qUdSceDVAL
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The Knights take pride in their center depth. Few teams — if any — are as strong as they are down the middle. But one area the group is struggling in of late is winning in the dots.
William Karlsson (62 percent) is the only center on the team that’s won more faceoffs than he’s lost since Jan. 9. Roy (42 percent), Tomas Hertl (47 percent) and Jack Eichel (45 percent) have been on the losing end more times than not.
Hertl said it’s a two-way street when it comes to faceoffs. It’s fine if the Knights win them. They just need to do something with the puck when they have it.
“We have to be more dialed in,” Hertl said. “Even if we win some faceoffs, it seems like we give the puck away and teams go the other way.”
Going too early
One thing holding the Knights back is how often their centers get kicked out of the circle.
There’s no stat that tracks how often it happens, but it seems to hurt the team multiple times per game. Hertl is one of the Knights’ main culprits. He said he was replaced by one of his wingers in the circle at least three times Monday.
“Definitely frustrating,” Hertl said. “But I have to figure it out and do a better job.”
The Knights overall feel like they took a step forward Monday by rallying from two goals down in the third period to earn a point against the Blues. They’ve never lost five straight under Cassidy, and will try to avoid making history when they see St. Louis again Thursday.
Turning things around starts with the little things. Like faceoffs.
“I like to play these back-to-backs,” Roy said. “You just played these teams, and you know what to expect.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.