The reigning champion Vegas Golden Knights have offered Dallas, who won the Western Conference, a hard shock treatment in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Vegas, which suffered from injuries at the end of the regular season, unexpectedly took eighth place in the West and – depending on the point of view – could or had to immediately face champion favorite Dallas.
A healthy Vegas hit Dallas in the throat at the very beginning. It played two clinical, true championship-level away games in Dallas and won both of them. Now Dallas should beat tough Vegas Four times in five games.
A couple last season Roope Hintz led by Dallas’ number one joker (on the sidelines Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson) could with good reason even be called the best trio of the series. This season, the trio has not been able to fly like in previous years, even though the basic level is high.
If the picture is further focused on Hintz, something can be said to have changed. In the opening match, the chain did not create a single scoring opportunity and the center forward from Nokia did not shoot at the goal once.
In the second match, the game went better, but not significantly. The trio won their spot in the goal, but they didn’t score goals and didn’t particularly shine in the rink anyway. The power statistic remained -1.
– Vegas has done his homework wonderfully. Hintz is a direct attacking player like Connor McDavid, so we constantly get in the way and he is pushed to the sidelines. Hintz has played himself as a star center and according to that his game is also being watched. Three shots in two games, that’s how well he’s been blacked out, ‘s hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen says.
The Ilves breeder, known for his skating, is not currently flying in the rink as usual. Part of the credit goes to Vegas, but it doesn’t fully explain the current mood.
Hintz has scored a really modest 19 (8+11) power points in 37 matches since the end of January. The sample size of almost half a season is already significant. Hintz doesn’t slack off or steal from the game, but the flying weather of previous years has not been seen in a while.
– Dallas has already had to play against teams that play really important matches for themselves. For such teams, Hintz is always a target. You also have to remember that he is still a young player on the road to learning. Have been through similar growing pains Alexander Barkovwhich the younger Hintz is, Lehkonen reminds.
According to Lehkonen, what could be used to turn the sled in the middle of the playoff series starts with the basics.
– Everything starts from puck-free fighting play. You have to be able to fight and beat them. Stop-and-go playing, pressure skating and creating space through contact. Identify empty spot loose puck searches and so on. Now you just have to be able to take your playing to a whole new level compared to the regular season.
Hintz has been able to do this before. For example, a year ago, he scored 24 (10+14) power points in 19 matches in the playoffs.
Coaching reacts
The coaching staff also stated that after five Vegas games they had seen enough. The head coach Peter DeBoer moved Pavelski to the triple chain and from there to Hintz next to the sensational newcomer Logan Stankovenwhich immediately brought a completely different feeling of electricity to the chain.
– He was transferred to it purely to bring legs, directness and fighting power, Lehkonen sees.
Now the question is, what kind of lineups will Dallas start with for the weekend matches in Vegas. The stark reality is that Dallas practically has to win both of its games in the casino city. To succeed, it needs the best possible Roope Hintz and the best possible players next to him.
– Wyatt Johnston should bring Pavelski to that place, Lehkonen insists.
Lehkonen’s proposal is certainly an alternative for coaching as well. In the regular season, Johnston played with Hintz and Robertson for over a hundred minutes, during which the trio won their game with goals of 9–1. It dominated as much as 80 percent of the goal waiting area.
– Now Roopen has to step up to the front row. You just have to be able to get the upper hand in the chain against whom you are playing. If Hintz’s game takes off, it will help other chains a hell of a lot. Space and time are taken away there, but the ways and means must be found now.
– There was a lot of talk beforehand about how Dallas is the most attacking team in the series, that there are eight 20-goal men. Vegas, on the other hand, thought that let’s close the hatches and see what kind of panic can be created. Now there is panic in Dallas, Lehkonen packs.
The teams will next meet on Sunday morning Finnish time in Las Vegas. Continues with four wins.