FSM Essential Preview: Golden Knights vs Avalanche- Game 16

The Vegas Golden Knights will head into Monday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche looking to even up the series before moving on to San Jose on Thursday night.

Saturday night’s game was disappointing in many ways for Knights fans and NHL fans alike due to poor ice quality and the game being postponed until 9 PM local time. While player safety is always of utmost importance it, was nearly impossible not to be disappointed as the beautiful venue that was set up could not be fully enjoyed. Additionally, the Knight’s play left much to be desired as they looked a step behind the Avalanche and could not find a way to contain Nathan Mackinnon. The star forward had three points on the night and was instrumental in getting his team the win. Slowing down his performance is something that coach Pete DeBoer will want to figure out, as it looks like both teams will face off at some point in the postseason; hopefully, we can see that plan take form tonight.

It is hard not to look at the past few games and be a little jealous of a team that has a true superstar in it’s ranks.

While VGK has had plenty of success for an expansion team that just entered the league in 2017, anyone familiar with competition knows that championships are really the only thing that matters. When evaluating the Knight’s roster, they have a lot of pieces that a championship team requires. They have a great goalie with a championship pedigree, a solid defensive group with two former Stanley Cup champions, and plenty of scoring depth along the wings. The one glaring piece missing to me is a true first-line center that can take over a game and make other teams alter their game plan to defend him.

While I do not want to take anything away from the current group of centers, it is clear to me that Vegas does not currently have a player like, say, Nathan Mackinnon. Now that is not to say that a player of his caliber is an easy find, as superstar players do not grow on trees and most teams are not in a rush to let their star centers leave via free agency or a trade. Since VGK has no cap space currently, I do not expect them to pull off some crazy trade either. So that means that the team Vegas is currently deploying on the ice will most likely be what see the rest of the season outside of players returning from injured reserve.

With all that in mind, management will have to find a way to maximize all the talent they currently have and be creative in finding ways to stop elite players on other teams.

VGK will have another opportunity to do that in downtown Denver tonight as they take on the Avs for the last time until March 25^th. Getting a win and evening the season series will go a long way in easing Knight’s fans’ minds and will end their first losing streak of the season. A quote that I have found to be relevant as a sports fan is that “Happiness is defined by expectations,” It is no secret that VGK fans expect a great deal from their beloved team. However, the Knights are still in second place in the Honda West and have three games in hand in the first place, St. Louis Blues, so fans should not panic even if they do lose.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play this evening taking on the Colorado Avalanche for their fourth game in a row at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. The puck drop is set for 6 p.m. and will be on AT&T Sportsnet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

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-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

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