Late scratch forces Golden Knights to play short-handed again

The Golden Knights are making a habit out of playing short-handed.

No, the team isn’t taking too many penalties. It’s actually tied for the third-fewest minors in the NHL. But the Knights have started with less than a full bench in three of their last five games because salary-cap restrictions are forcing their hand.

They played with 17 skaters one night and 16 skaters in another in their recent four-game homestand. They went 0-1-1 in those games.

On Wednesday at the St. Louis Blues, the Knights were back down to 17 after fielding a full lineup for two straight games.

Defenseman Alec Martinez was out for undisclosed reasons, and the Blues won 3-1.

“It’s not a reason for losing,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “We knew coming into the season with the salary cap and injuries and condensed schedule that we were going to have this type of adversity, so it’s really a nonfactor for us.”

The Knights’ lack of cap space — they have about $154,000, according to the website CapFriendly — has forced them into tough roster decisions all season.

Early on, they alternated playing second-year skaters Cody Glass and Nic Hague because they couldn’t afford both in the lineup. Injuries and a suspension to center Chandler Stephenson then occurred during the last homestand and forced the team to use a short bench.

That theme continued Wednesday with Martinez not playing. The Knights didn’t have enough space to call up someone to take the veteran’s spot. They also are not allowed to make an emergency recall — which would not count against the cap — until demonstrating they need it by playing down a man.

That led to the team playing with five defensemen against the Blues. It forced the blue line into significant minutes to make up for the loss of Martinez, the NHL’s leading shot blocker.

Defenseman Shea Theodore played a career-high 31:23, and Alex Pietrangelo played a season-high 31:41. It was the fourth-highest total of Pietrangelo’s career.

“It’s always tough missing a guy like (Martinez), but at the end of the day, it’s more opportunity for ice time,” Theodore said. “The back end, we just have to step up when you have a guy like that out.”

That kind of playing time isn’t sustainable over a long period, but it doesn’t have to be. The Knights will be eligible to replace Martinez with an emergency recall if he can’t play Friday against Arizona.

One more injury before puck drop will force them to play down a man again, however. It puts the Knights in a precarious position, but one they were willing to live with after signing Pietrangelo to an expensive, long-term deal in the offseason.

“I just have to look down the bench at Pietrangelo, and that eases any frustration we might have about lineups,” DeBoer said.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Power-play drought

The Knights’ listless power play couldn’t produce a goal when they needed one.

St. Louis took three penalties in the second period and killed all three. The Knights were 0-for-4 on the power play for the game and haven’t scored on their last 18 opportunities dating to March 29.

It’s the second-longest drought in team history. The team went 19 straight power plays without a goal its inaugural season.

“We’ve had lots of opportunities, lots of shots getting through,” Theodore said.

2. Binnington shines

St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington made a season-high 50 saves.

Binnington, who needed to regain his “swagger,” Blues coach Craig Berube recently said, held the Knights to one goal on a night in which they recorded a season-high 54 scoring chances.

It was Binnington’s first win since March 19. He was 0-4-1 in his previous five starts.

“Sometimes you have to give the other goalie some credit,” DeBoer said. “It felt like one of those nights where you were going to have to make the perfect shot in order to score.”

3. Reaves hits milestone

The Knights’ goal came from the fourth line, as center Nicolas Roy scored his second of the season.

Right wing Ryan Reaves recorded the secondary assist against his former team for the 100th point of his career. He had 51 points with the Blues, eight with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has 41 with the Knights.

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