Quick, trying to play into transition with stretch passes while also collapsing on the net on D. Aggressive to the puck on either end, though they've let the forecheck get a little weak lately compared to the early season.
It's kind of a weird mishmash of a good attacking style and a "cover up for weak D" style.
I'm not a hockey coach, but I don't really think so. There's zone-like tendencies, but it seems like the ultimate goal is to stay in the passing and shooting lanes. Guys will commonly stick with their guy as they exit their zone and the rest of the defenders will take away the passing lanes while remaining in the lanes for the shot. It's kind of like a Wedge +1 PK, but all the time.So they are playing a zone down low on D.
Yeah, I'm over the Vegas Flu thing. I thought it was stupid from the beginning, and a lot of it stemmed from the fact that Lagace got his time in net on the road, so there was a decent differential between the home and road records around 30-40 games in. Upon first glance, it supported the Vegas Flu theory and there was a lot of confirmation bias out there from lazy commentators and writers."the Golden Knights swarm on an aggressive forecheck, overwhelm with swift counterattacks, suffocate through prolonged offensive zone possessions. They roll four lines and three defensive pairs without regard for matchups (and giant fuzzy dice, but more on those later). Given how often Columbus got hemmed in while losing 6–3 on Jan. 23—defenseman Seth Jones was credited with a muscle-melting shift of 2:53—it is a wonder that no Blue Jackets dashed across the street during intermission to huff the oxygenated air at the Monte Carlo.
“They play with arrogance, which is a compliment,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno gushed. “They’re making behind-the-back passes, passes in the slot right on guys’ tape. They just know when someone’s coming through, and—boom—they take off.”"
Roenick and Foley insinuated that opposing teams are partying too much when they go to Vegas, but the Knights are good on the road too.
This exactly hownGallant and most opponents have described it.So nothing special systems-wise, they are just outworking teams.
By the way oxygenated air and Vegas Flu are both fictional legends."the Golden Knights swarm on an aggressive forecheck, overwhelm with swift counterattacks, suffocate through prolonged offensive zone possessions. They roll four lines and three defensive pairs without regard for matchups (and giant fuzzy dice, but more on those later). Given how often Columbus got hemmed in while losing 6–3 on Jan. 23—defenseman Seth Jones was credited with a muscle-melting shift of 2:53—it is a wonder that no Blue Jackets dashed across the street during intermission to huff the oxygenated air at the Monte Carlo.
“They play with arrogance, which is a compliment,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno gushed. “They’re making behind-the-back passes, passes in the slot right on guys’ tape. They just know when someone’s coming through, and—boom—they take off.”"
Roenick and Foley insinuated that opposing teams are partying too much when they go to Vegas, but the Knights are good on the road too.
The oxygenated air is always hilarious to me.By the way oxygenated air and Vegas Flu are both fictional legends.
So nothing special systems-wise, they are just outworking teams.
As to their system I view it as a blend of mixing Pittsburgh's speedy breakout style with Nashville's suffocating team defensive style
Definitely agree. Quick out the zone, quick on the puck to force turnovers, first man in goes in hard and quick on their defense, quick counterattacking / bottlenecking in the neautral zone. It’s all speed, all new age NHL.
There is nothing really fancy about it. Guys play the system to a T and know where everyone else should be at all times. This leads to a lot of easy breakouts, and a lot of puck possession. Guys don’t get trapped in the neutral zone and dump the puck in. They find the open man or even pass it back to the defense, regroup, gain the blue line, and set up shop. Even a shot with no traffic at the blue line with someone crashing the net gets you an o-zone faceoff. I would take that 9 times out of 10 over a dump in at the redline which is...9 times out of 10 a turnover. Gallant seems to agree.
The defense does tend to collapse, and block shots. Literally every single blue liner is a good to very good shot blocker outside of Hunt and Theodore, but even Theodore jumps in front of the odd puck. Engelland, Sbisa, Miller, and McNabb are all very good in that regard. Schmidt is a very underrated shot blocker.
If you wanted to sum up the Knights in 3 adjectives, you’d have speed / counterattacking / puck possession. A ton of credit goes to Gallant, he’s always been a wonderful coach (Florida should fold their franchise...wow) but the players deserve every bit as much credit as the coach.
Every player has checked their ego at the door and bought into the system. There are no selfish players on this team. They make the correct, unselfish play every time. Not going to deny they do outwork every other team which is to be expected from an expansion team. I also do slightly worry that others will catch up on them when the games become real, but this time is for real.
Do I foresee a Cup this year? No...but I would be over the moon for a WCF appearance. Even a playoff round win would cement this team in the record books.
Next year will be an interesting one. Suzuki, Glass, or both replacing Eakin +, and possibly Brannstrom in for Hunt makes this team even better in the future.