Golden Knights get assist from Silver Knights coaches
Many NHL teams would have been in scramble mode if a positive COVID-19 test forced their entire coaching staff to self-isolate.
Fortunately for the Golden Knights, they have people in the organization who know their way around a bench. General manager Kelly McCrimmon coached the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League for 13 seasons. Silver Knights coach Manny Viveiros was an NHL assistant with the Edmonton Oilers. Silver Knights assistant Joel Ward spent 11 seasons on NHL benches as a player.
Their combined experience, along with that of Silver Knights assistant Jamie Heward, helped the Knights immensely during their 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.
“He knows how to coach,” said captain Mark Stone, who played for McCrimmon in Brandon. “He’s coached plenty of hockey games in his life, and he had a lot of help with the Henderson staff up here. They did a good job. Kind of kept it simple for a bit, but he cares about winning. I’m sure that’s all he had on his mind.”
McCrimmon was forced to adjust quickly when he found out three hours before puck drop that a member of the Knights’ coaching staff tested positive for COVID-19. He knew none of the NHL coaches would be available for the game, and he didn’t think it would be fair to thrust Viveiros into the lead role on short notice. So he decided to coach for the first time since the Wheat Kings’ WHL championship season in 2015-16.
He was happy to have help. The Knights wouldn’t have experienced coaches around the organization in any other year. But because the Silver Knights are starting up and in the middle of training camp, the NHL club could assemble a strong staff on short notice.
“Well, that’s not why we put our American Hockey League team in Henderson, Nevada, but certainly it was a godsend tonight,” McCrimmon said. “Just, I guess, a real fortunate stroke of luck that we’ve got our team right here. They weren’t playing, or away, or our team wasn’t away. We were pretty fortunate that we were able to use their staff tonight.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Hats off to Pacioretty
Knights left wing Max Pacioretty scored three goals in the final two periods for the seventh hat trick of his career and seventh in team history.
It was Pacioretty’s first hat trick with the Knights. He scored both third-period goals to force overtime. The final one came with 3:25 remaining after defenseman Alec Martinez drew the Blues’ attention before sliding the puck over.
“I think everyone in the world thought he was going to shoot other than me and him,” Pacioretty said. “He just made a terrific pass, and I put it in the empty net.”
Pacioretty, who recorded the sixth 30-goal season of his career last year, is tied for the NHL lead with six goals in seven games.
2. Lehner struggles
Tuesday was not one of goaltender Robin Lehner’s better starts with the Knights.
The netminder allowed three goals on the Blues’ first seven shots and four on the first 13. He also allowed goals on two of three shootout attempts to drop his save percentage in shootouts to 50.98 percent. Lehner is 9-24 in shootouts in his career.
The 29-year-old allowed four goals just once in his first 21 starts with the Knights. He’s now allowed four goals in each of his last two starts.
3. Fight!
The Knights’ first fight of the season came with 4:16 left in the second period when Stone grappled with defenseman Justin Faulk. It was Stone’s third fight as a Knight.
Stone had just gotten out of the penalty box before the fight for interference against Tyler Bozak. The forward did not return to the game, and Blues coach Craig Berube listed Bozak as questionable and said he would be evaluated further Wednesday.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
