Vegas has a surprisingly stingy defense

[thegongshow]

They are near tops in the league for GA and keep winning games. At this rate they're going to fly under the radar into the playoffs as team with a completely non-flashy offense but a very stout D and goaltending. Does this mean Vegas immediately has one of the best front offices in the league if they haven't even had the chance yet to land a high caliber draft pick yet, yet are completely capable of staying near the top of their division?

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[Snippit]

Colin Miller looks good

 

[McDonald19]

The expansion draft rules guaranteed a solid defense right away.

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

playing 12 d and 6 forwards will do that for you

 

[CanuckGame39]

Anyone want to admit I was right that Sbisa is actually a decent Dman?

He's gotten alot of hate around here but he is a good Dman.

 

[Ducks in a row]

They have come together as a team helping them to do so well so far. I wish my Ducks would have come together as a team so well after all our injuries.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

This is early, but what surprises me the most is their depth guys all contributing on the score sheet. Who is Tomas Nosek?

 

[Little Psycho]

How's McNabb?

 

[CupInSIX]

How's McNabb?

hasn't dressed in 2 games, didn't look so hot against Detroit.

 

[The Examiner]

Alex Tuch is making a name for himself, very quickly. What a fun player to watch. The guy is everywhere.

Leipsic is fun to watch as well. I knew he would be a good NHLer. Shame he had to go from the Leafs.

Nate Schmidt also looks good on the back end.

I've seen of Vegas' games this year and I really enjoy watching them.

They're probably the most exciting expansion team I've ever seen.

 

[CupInSIX]

Jinx thread!!

 

[KessMeRandy]

Colin Miller looks good

Colin Miller IS good. So is Nate Schmidt.

 

[Little Psycho]

hasn't dressed in 2 games, didn't look so hot against Detroit.

Not surprised. He was hot garbage playing with Doughty.

 

[thegongshow]

Jinx thread!!

Lol

 

[Love]

Luca Sbisa is the best player in the world so there's your answer.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

So "Congrats Subban for first SO" thread resulted in a late goal By Boston.

"Vegas has a stingy defense" results in Sabres coming back from 3 goals down in the last 10 minutes.

Maybe we should just stop talking about Vegas.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

So "Congrats Subban for first SO" thread resulted in a late goal By Boston.

"Vegas has a stingy defense" results in Sabres coming back from 3 goals down in the last 10 minutes.

Maybe we should just stop talking about Vegas.

Why? they won AGAIN it wasn't pretty but they got it done they keep winning they deserved to be talked about

 

[HanSolo]

I think more noteworthy is the fact that Vegas is the first team in 100 years to win 5 of its first 6 games.

Anyone want to admit I was right that Sbisa is actually a decent Dman?

He's gotten alot of hate around here but he is a good Dman.

He's hot and cold.

 

[lanceuppercut75]

Would a Vegas fan be able to rank and break down how good each defensemsn has played (so far)? I know it's a small sample size but I'm rather curious.

Also curious how you'd consider each guy compared to all D in the league ("this guy is a #4 on most teams...").

 

[HanSolo]

Alex Tuch is making a name for himself, very quickly. What a fun player to watch. The guy is everywhere.

Leipsic is fun to watch as well. I knew he would be a good NHLer. Shame he had to go from the Leafs.

Nate Schmidt also looks good on the back end.

I've seen of Vegas' games this year and I really enjoy watching them.

They're probably the most exciting expansion team I've ever seen.

Tuch by every measure should be a top 6 player on this team and he absolutely should not be sent down. His strength on the puck and tenacity for attacking the net is something the Knights were sorely missing while he was out.

Leipsic is a guy that should fit into the long term plans as well.

This team may end up losing more games than they win, but they should be more competitive than expansion teams of years past.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Not to take anything away from Vegas as they're playing that good team game that a lot of us anticipated with Gallant as their coach. But there's no question they've caught some breaks early on.

In Dallas game Bishop gets injured in the last 10 minutes and Lehtonen can't make a key save. Back-to-back against Arizona that can't keep a lead to save their lives and are league worst team right now, Boston team that got outscored by Colorado 10-3 in 2 games not long ago came in on a b2b without Bergeron or Backes and played like hot garbage, and Sabres had really tough games against the Sharks, Kings and Ducks in a 3in4-4in6 stretch while the Knights were well rested.

You still have to win those games so credit to them, and they're a team that can definitely take advantage of teams not being at their best, but their schedule takes a turn from here on out. Next 10 games will tell us a lot more.

You can already see some negatives. When Detroit decided to win the game Vegas didn't have much of an answer, and Sabres came back from 3 goals down despite their tough schedule. Those aren't exactly world beater teams. I still don't think expecting them to make the playoffs is realistic.

But, not to be too negative, it's definitely fun to watch them play. Hard not to root for them against anyone (except the Jets)

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Why? they won AGAIN it wasn't pretty but they got it done they keep winning they deserved to be talked about

Because of the jinxs... i thought that was obvious. I don't know how you don't pick up the humour in there somewhere.

 

[I am not exposed]

Not surprised with Gallant behind the bench. Still irks me we got rid of him.

 

[HanSolo]

Would a Vegas fan be able to rank and break down how good each defensemsn has played (so far)? I know it's a small sample size but I'm rather curious.

Also curious how you'd consider each guy compared to all D in the league ("this guy is a #4 on most teams...").

I'll take a stab at it.

Nate Schmidt: Honestly top marks should go to Colin Miller but for whatever reason, Gallant doesn't give him top ice time. In any case, Schmidt has greatly stepped up over how he played in preseason where he worried me significantly to the point where I asked in a post "why were Capitals fans so worried about losing Nate Schmidt?" he's involved at both ends of the ice in a big way. 7.5/10: playing like a good number 3 borderline #2

Colin Miller: Bit less of an offensive danger than Schmidt but I'd say he's been more reliable defensively than Schmidt.

7.5/10: playing like a good #3 borderline #2. Utilized like a bottom pair for reasons I can't fathom.

Jason Garrison/Deryk Engelland: both play solid enough defensively that they aren't noticed much so they're doing their job as bottom four defenders. Engelland's offensive production is really more incidental than anything.

7/10: playing like good #4/5 defenders

Brayden McNabb: mostly solid defensively, but has been exposed a few times

6.5/10 plays like a solid bottom pair

Luca Sbisa: Has as many strong defensive plays as bad ones. I can see where Canuck fans are coming from when they say he's improved but he's made some costly defensive errors.

6/10: plays like a bottom pair defender. If roster caps weren't a thing, Theodore could easily take a spot from him.

Jon Merrill: his defensive errors aren't as costly as Sbisa's but he's just not very strong at stopping plays or jarring the puck free defensively. At least Sbisa can get the puck out. Merrill at best knocks the puck free but it stays in the zone.

5.5/10 borderline bottom pair defender at the moment.

Won't rate Brad Hunt, Griffin Reinhart, or Clayton Stoner. Though I will say Reinhart should've been waived already. When he did play he was awful.

 

[McDonald19]

Won't rate Brad Hunt, Griffin Reinhart, or Clayton Stoner. Though I will say Reinhart should've been waived already. When he did play he was awful.

Healthy scratching Reinhart for all 6 games won't increase his trade value, but he wasn't waived when a roster spot was needed last week. Not sure what GMGM's end game is here.