The Vegas Golden Knights played at home on Wednesday without two of their best players. They managed to secure a point, but the New Jersey Devils won in a shootout.
On Friday, they head north of the border to play a back-to-back in Alberta. When the Golden Knights take the ice against the Calgary Flames on Saturday, they’ll do so without both Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore.
“[Theodore] is week-to-week, won’t travel,” said Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy on Friday. “He’s going to be okay, but maybe a little longer than we first thought… I don’t think this’ll be a long one, and hopefully that’s the case.”
Eichel won’t make the trip either. However, it sounds like his return might be considerably sooner than Theodore’s.
“Jack won’t travel, but he’ll still be day-to-day,” Cassidy said. “He’s got a lower-body as well. He wasn’t feeling well the other day, there’s a lot going on. Maybe next week, we’ll see.”
A unique new challenge
With Eichel out of the lineup, the Golden Knights face an interesting new challenge. William Karlsson, who hasn’t played since November 8th, is still injured. The Golden Knights simply don’t have enough centers on their roster.
And that means that they have to get creative.
“Today, we had [Ivan Barbashev] at center; we had Mitch [Marner] on left wing,” said Cassidy on Friday. “We put Mitch the other day at center. I talked to him a number of times about that when Karly got hurt, if someone were to go down… Sissons was sick in New Jersey. We ended up putting Reilly [Smith] there.
“Mitch is fine with wherever we put him. Barbie’s played center in St. Louis years ago, that one, we hadn’t done yet, but it was in our back pocket. So, tomorrow, that’s where he might play. [Barbashev and Marner] are on the same line, so if Barbie’s struggling or wants to go back to left wing, Mitch is an option.
“At the end of the day, with both Jack [Eichel] and Karly out, someone has to go in there [at center]. It’s been [Brett Howden], and someone else had to go in when Sissons was sick, that’s just the way it is.”
The difference between center and wing
Transitioning to center isn’t just sliding to the left or the right– it’s a little more nuanced than that. Bruce Cassidy broke down the difference between playing center and wing on Friday after the Golden Knights practiced.
“Some guys don’t mind it,” began Cassidy. “It’s a little more between the dots, a little more room, it’s just the down low stuff they’ve got to get used to… There is more to process, for sure… There’s less room to operate on the walls, there’s boards there. In the middle, it can usually go either way.
“On the wing, you’re a little bit more limited,” Cassidy continued. “Things are tighter, and time and space becomes an issue. Playing center, it’s a little more keeping your speed, or slowing down because you don’t want to overskate pucks. On the breakout, especially— now you’re above it, and if it doesn’t work out, you’re usually at a disadvantage. A center has to be a little more cautious on when he heads north.
“We have a lot of cerebral players,” finished Cassidy. “That’s why it’s not the end of the world. Reilly Smith is a smart player, so is Marner; Barbie’s played it.”
Cassidy admitted that one aspect of the game in particular now poses a threat: face-offs.
“Face-offs are obviously a challenge, we’ve got to be careful,” said Cassidy. “Sometimes a guy is taking a lot of draws, probably better off using him in the neutral zone where it’s less problematic if you lose it. That messes up your chemistry with lines too. So, sometimes, you’ve just got to hope that they get in there and maybe go for the tie, and people help them out if they’re having a tough night.”
Golden Knights Lines
Brandon Saad — Tomáš Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Mitch Marner — Ivan Barbashev — Braedan Bowman
Reilly Smith — Brett Howden — Mark Stone
Cole Reinhardt — Colton Sissons — Keegan Kolesar
Defense
Noah Hanifin — Brayden McNabb
Ben Hutton — Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon — Kaedan Korczak
