Golden Edge Mailbag: Missing Nate Schmidt, third line and more

By Ben Gotz

Las Vegas Review-Journal

6 years ago

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) fall on top of Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the first period of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final at Capital One Arena in Washington on Saturday, June 2, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

Send NHL writer Ben Gotz all your Golden Knights questions and hot takes. Tweet him @BenSGotz or email him bgotz@reviewjournal.com.

Three down, 79 to go.

The Golden Knights have begun their second season, which means there’s meaningful action to discuss this week after they played three times in five days. Let’s get to the questions:

“How do you think the defense will hold up without (Nate Schmidt)?” — Aaron

So far, not great.

The Knights have allowed 10 goals in their first three games without Schmidt, who has 17 games left on his 20-game suspension for violating the NHL’s rules on performance enhancing drugs.

Few of the goals can be blamed on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, either because defensive mistakes have given opponents easy chances like one-timers and breakaways.

The Knights are going to need to improve across the board defensively if they’re going to weather Schmidt’s absence because right now everyone on the team shoulders some blame for the early mishaps.

Colin Miller is the only Knights’ defenseman with a positive plus-minus (plus-1) rating, and the forwards have struggled in their own zone. Forward Jonathan Marchessault summed it up best after the Sabres’ loss when he said: “We’re just not playing a good game.”

Maybe Schmidt could help them find their game again, but he doesn’t come back for more than a month. Until then, the Knights need to cut down on their mistakes while he’s practicing in Austria with the Vienna Capitals.

“The third line was not addressed in the offseason and … I don’t get it.” — Paul

The Knights third line has scuffled to start the year, but injuries are more to blame than a lack of offseason moves.

The team entered the season with two-thirds of a potential third line, center Cody Eakin and forward Alex Tuch, on injured reserve with lower-body injuries. As a result Tomas Nosek, Oscar Lindberg and Ryan Carpenter were put together, a combination the Knights likely weren’t expecting to use right out of the gate.

While that trio has struggled so far, it’s worth reserving judgment until that forward group is at full strength. Eakin is a strong skater who could lift the third line defensively and Tuch should be able to build on his strong rookie season (37 points) when healthy.

“DISH channel for (AT&T SportsNet)” — James

AT&T SportsNet, which is broadcasting most of the Knights’ games this season, is channel 414 or 5414 on DISH.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

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