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Golden Knights defensemen continue offensive ways

Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer has a few indicators that help him determine how the offense is going.

Signs that give clues as to whether it’s going to be a good or bad night. On Monday against the St. Louis Blues, he received hints that goals were going to come early.

The Knights defensemen were involved early and often in the offense. They scored twice and had two primary assists on the first four goals in a 6-1 win at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, a sure sign the group was playing as DeBoer intended.

That has been the case often this season. The Knights lead the NHL in goals by defensemen.

“Typically those defensemen aren’t scoring off the rush,” DeBoer said. “It’s off o-zone play, which means we’re in the other team’s end, and we’re controlling the puck and we’re putting pressure on them offensively in more of that half-court game. Defensemen creating offense for us is a big part of our game, and it is on the rush, too, but it’s nice when those guys get on the board in the offensive zone like that.”

Improving the Knights’ in-zone offense has been one of DeBoer’s primary focuses after the team struggled to score last season in the Western Conference Final.

There are still times the goals dry up. But Monday showed how dangerous the Knights can be when their defensemen are making plays in the offensive zone and the forwards are screening goaltenders for them.

Defenseman Alec Martinez had the second two-goal game of his career, defenseman Nic Hague scored, and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Nick Holden each had a primary assist.

“We just want to get pucks (to the net) and create opportunities,” Martinez said. “The forwards did a really good job getting some screens in front, getting in front of their goalies. That pays dividends.”

The three goals from the blue line gave the Knights 26 this season, three more than any other team. What makes the total impressive is that it’s not being driven by any one player.

Martinez leads the back end with seven goals, tied for seventh among defensemen and six behind league leader Darnell Nurse. Shea Theodore has six, Hague five and rookie Dylan Coghlan three. Pietrangelo (two), Zach Whitecloud (two) and Brayden McNabb (one) also have scored.

“That’s when we’re at our best, when everyone is pitching in and contributing,” said Hague, who had a 35-goal season in junior hockey.

The scoring depth among defensemen allows the Knights to create chances when any of their three pairs are on the ice. That could pay off later in the season when coverage gets tighter and teams work hard to cut off dangerous areas of the ice.

“We’ve got a lot of offensive guys on the back end,” McNabb said. “When we’re getting pucks through and leading the rush, it creates a lot of offense.”

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

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