Fourth line, goalies shine as Knights wrap up preseason with victory

The Golden Knights finished their last regular season playing what Jonathan Marchessault called a “pointless game” April 29.

The team was already eliminated from the playoffs before beating St. Louis 7-4. The game meant nothing to the Knights.

The next one represents their first shot at redemption.

The Knights, 162 days after St. Louis, closed out their preseason schedule with a 5-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday in Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. It was the third-ever NHL event in the city after the Kings and Sharks played preseason game there in 1997 and Dallas came for training camp in 2018.

The victory closed the Knights’ preseason record at 4-3. Their attention can now shift fully to setting their opening-night roster Monday and helping open the NHL’s North American schedule with a 7 p.m. game in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Knights had to wait longer for a new season to begin this year than they ever have before. It’s time to see what they can do when the games matter again.

”It’s a long camp,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “Seven games and most of us were here a month and a half before the season even started skating together, so we’ve kind of been at this for a while now. It’s nice to get the real thing going.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Thompson finishes strong

Rookie goaltender Logan Thompson had his first preseason hiccup in his last start Thursday against the Kings. He recovered Saturday, likely keeping him the favorite to open the season in net for the Knights.

Thompson stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced before being lifted for goaltender Adin Hill with 7:17 left in the second period. It was a strong bounce-back from the 25-year-old’s outing against Los Angeles, when he gave up four goals on 29 shots.

Thompson finished the preseason with a 3-0-0 record, a .924 save percentage and six goals allowed in two full starts and two half-games. Hill, in roughly equal ice time, was 1-1-1 with an .891 save percentage while giving up 12 goals.

The 26-year-old at least gave coach Bruce Cassidy something to think about by stopping 59 of the 62 shots he faced in his final two appearances.

2. Fourth line responds

Cassidy was not pleased with his fourth line the last time he saw it. He said the group was “not anywhere close” to being able to contribute major minutes for the Knights after a 4-3 win against the Coyotes on Tuesday.

The message seemed to give left wing Paul Cotter, center Nicolas Roy and right wing Keegan Kolesar a spark when they got another chance Saturday. The line was on the ice for two of the Knights’ goals, with Roy scoring one and Cotter picking up an assist on both. That should give Cassidy more confidence in the trio if left wing William Carrier has to miss Tuesday’s opener with a mid-body injury.

“I think we played our best game of the preseason there,” Roy said. “The three of us, I think we bounced back pretty well.”

Carrier’s likely potential replacement, Cotter, wrapped up a strong preseason with two goals and three assists in six games. He’s given himself a great chance of staying in the NHL now that he needs to go through waivers to be sent to the American Hockey League.

3. Special teams look solid

The Knights’ special teams have been working out some kinks through the preseason, with jumbled-up lineups trying to execute Cassidy’s new ideas.

It hasn’t always been pretty. The Knights’ penalty kill was successful only 66 percent of the time (16-of-24) through six games. The power play scored on 15 percent of its opportunities (3-of-20) entering Saturday.

The Knights, icing almost all NHL players, took some positive steps against Arizona. They were 2-for-5 on the power play, with their final one only lasting 15 seconds before the game ended.

Center Chandler Stephenson opened the scoring 5:55 into the first period with a nifty backhand goal on the man advantage. Center Jack Eichel was later on the receiving end of a fortunate bounce when a Coyotes clearing attempt went off his skate and into the net.

The Knights’ penalty kill was also perfect for the second time in seven games this preseason. Arizona had few dangerous chances its two opportunities.

“Special teams came along,” Cassidy said. “I thought over the last week it got better in terms of chemistry, execution.”

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