Golden Knights must stay out of penalty box against Canucks
The Golden Knights may have the antidote to Vancouver’s dangerous power play.
Stay out of the penalty box.
The Knights are one of the least penalized teams during the postseason and must maintain their disciplined style against the Canucks during the Western Conference semifinals.
“I think our team has done an exceptional job of figuring out what the standard here is going to be as far as what’s going to be called and adhering to that,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s going to be on us to continue to play with and check with the type of discipline that we have through the play-in and the first round.”
The Knights are averaging six penalty minutes per game in the postseason. Of the 24 teams that participated in the restart, only Columbus (5:54) averaged fewer penalty minutes.
Vancouver has drawn a league-high 57 penalties in 10 playoff games leading to 47 opportunities on the power play, which also is tops in the league.
The Canucks clicked at 30.4 percent (7-for-23) on the power play in their six-game quarterfinal series victory over St. Louis. They ranked fourth overall with the man advantage during the regular season.
Vancouver second-year standout Elias Pettersson was tied for the league lead in scoring entering Saturday with 13 points, and his eight points on the power play led the NHL. Defenseman Quinn Hughes notched seven of his 10 points on the power play.
The Knights went 11-for-12 on the penalty kill against Chicago after struggling during the regular season.
“At that time of the year, it’s no time to do selfish or bad penalties,” left wing Jonathan Marchessault said. “We just want stick on puck and go through the guy and play good defensively. We’re a smart group overall, so we do smart decisions.”
Florida connection
Goalie Jacob Markstrom was a heralded prospect when he was drafted 31st overall in 2008 by the Florida Panthers. He was rushed to the NHL and made his debut in 2011.
The Panthers’ coach at the time? DeBoer.
Florida fired DeBoer in 2012 and traded Markstrom in 2014 to Vancouver, where he’s blossomed into a quality starting goaltender at age 30.
“He’s a great example of … how long it takes goaltenders to develop and how quickly people can give up on guys,” DeBoer said. “And the fact that he’s persevered and turned himself into one of the best goaltenders in the world and how long it took for him to do that, I give a ton of credit to him because that path hasn’t been easy.”
Injury update
Forward Tomas Nosek was on the ice Saturday, according to DeBoer, after he missed the final three games of the opening round.
Nosek was injured in Game 2 and ruled unfit to play the next two games. The Knights were back at full strength for Game 5, bumping Nosek from the lineup.
“Everybody’s progressing. But I don’t have availability to play yet,” DeBoer said. “We’re going to get through morning skate tomorrow and then see where everyone’s at.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
