Inconsistency doesn’t concern Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant
CHICAGO — Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant certainly would have liked one or two more victories from the first 10 games.
But as his team’s performance has fluctuated from game to game, Gallant isn’t worried. At least not yet.
“I watch a lot of good teams play every night and the first 10 games are tough,” Gallant said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Blackhawks. “I think you really see your team after that. We’ve had some inconsistent nights. Most of our nights have been pretty good, but we’ve had some inconsistent nights, and I see that around the league. I’m not putting too much into it right now.
The Knights’ biggest issue thus far has come in their defensive zone.
Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Pittsburgh was the third time the Knights held an opponent to fewer than 30 shots on goal. They followed that effort by dozing off multiple times in a 6-2 loss to Philadelphia on Monday.
That seems to be the pattern for a team that hasn’t won or lost more than two in a row so far.
“It’s when we’re engaged and we’re communicating and we’re all winning our little individual battles, that’s when things are real tight and tough to play against,” defenseman Jon Merrill said. “It’s just coming down to us being ready to play and being dialed in between the ears and knowing your job out there and getting it done and communicating.”
Whitecloud to minors
Defenseman Zach Whitecloud was activated from nonroster injured reserve Tuesday and loaned to the Knights’ American Hockey League affiliate.
Whitecloud suffered an upper-body injury during the second period of the Knights’ preseason game against Colorado on Sept. 25 and missed the final two exhibition games.
He did not dress for the Chicago Wolves in their 3-2 shootout win over Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Pacioretty featured
The NHL announced the launch of a Spanish website Tuesday, and Knights left wing Max Pacioretty was featured in “5 Preguntas (Questions)” story.
Pacioretty is one of the few players of Latino heritage active in the NHL; his mother was born and raised in Mexico.
The new site (NHL.com/es) is the ninth native language website and “part of the League’s ongoing efforts to reach new audiences and engage fans worldwide,” according to a news release.
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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.