Alex Tuch seeks consistency for 3rd season with Golden Knights

Alex Tuch flashed a rare combination of size and speed on many nights during his second season with the Golden Knights.

But the 22-year-old right winger’s next step in his NHL evolution involves taking those tools and using them every shift and game he plays.

“(Year 2) was good, but it wasn’t consistent enough it my eyes,” Tuch said. “I thought I had a really good first 40-something games and I tailed off offensively there a little bit towards the last half of the season, which isn’t OK and not a good time to slow down.”

Tuch, who signed a seven-year, $33.25 million extension in October, finished fourth on the Knights with 52 points, notching career highs in goals (20), assists (32) and several other categories. He arrived at that total in a strange way, scoring 35 points in 37 games from Nov. 8 until the All-Star Break on January 23 and then adding just 12 points in his last 30 games.

At times he looked like the Knights’ best player. Other times he disappeared, especially after right wing Mark Stone arrived at the Feb. 25 trade deadline and bumped Tuch from the second line to the third.

Tuch said he plans to study and identify specific areas he needs to improve during the offseason. But his biggest focus is finding a way to affect as many games as possible next year.

“Experience helps and I think a lot of hockey is mental,” Tuch said. “It’s 82 games, it’s a grind, it’s a battle every single night. You can’t take a shift or a game off or else you’re going to get scored on or you could get injured or stuff like that. That stuff you can’t really think about, so you just have to go in there and work as hard as you can.”

Theodore wants to keep pairing

Shea Theodore, who finished as the team’s top-scoring defenseman with 37 points, said he’d like to keep skating with Brayden McNabb.

The two were first paired together Feb. 16, a move that also forced Theodore to shift from the left side of the blue line to the right. That allowed him to better showcase his offensive gifts, and the results included eight points in the playoffs.

“I thought me and (McNabb) had a good stretch the last part of the season and the playoffs,” Theodore said. “He’s a great player, he makes it a lot easier out there. I think you can really tell how good he is with his stick and blocking shots and all that. That’s something going forward I’d like to keep with.”

Fans pack T-Mobile Arena

The Knights averaged an announced crowd of 18,331 during their 44 regular-season and playoff games at T-Mobile Arena, 104.7 percent of the rink’s listed capacity of 17,500. That ranked second in the NHL behind the Minnesota Wild (105.3 percent).

Ben Gotz can be reached at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.