Pair of win streaks help turnaround Golden Knights’ season
Gerard Gallant would never admit it at the time. But privately, the Golden Knights coach was hoping his short-handed squad could stay close to .500 when Thanksgiving rolled around.
“I knew it was going to be a battle at first with (Paul) Stastny going down in game three and then Nate Schmidt was out for 20 games,” Gallant said. “I think we were 8-11-1 after the first 20, so that was a big hole to climb out of.
“But I always had confidence in our team.”
The Knights rewarded Gallant’s faith with a pair of win streaks that helped put the wayward club back on course.
Bolstered by Schmidt’s return from suspension and the addition of an unlikely goal-scoring sensation in December, the Knights went on a 19-4-3 run from Nov. 18 to Jan. 8 to climb back into the race in the Pacific Division.
“I think we were a close group, but we believe in ourselves, we believe in our team and we know we’re better than that,” defenseman Jon Merrill said. “I think that’s kind of the theme all year has been we believe in ourselves and we know we’re as good as anyone in this league. Whether we win or lose, we believe that we can compete against everyone.”
After hitting rock bottom Nov. 19 in a 7-2 loss at Calgary, the Knights responded with a five-game win streak that included back-to-back shutouts by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury against Calgary (Nov. 23) and San Jose (Nov. 24).
In all, the Knights won nine of 11, highlighted by a 5-3 victory over Washington in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final.
“I thought we did a good job of getting back to our game — create turnovers and use our speed — and worrying about helping (Fleury) out,” defenseman Deryk Engelland said. “He’s going to make the first save. If we can clear rebounds and get quick on pucks and get it up to our forwards and let them go to work, that’s when we’re best.”
Stastny returned from a knee injury in mid-December, but just when the Knights appeared to finally be healthy, left wing Max Pacioretty went down Dec. 17 in a loss at Columbus.
Brandon Pirri was recalled from the American Hockey League two days later, and the 27-year-old journeyman erupted for eight goals and five assists in his first 11 games to buoy the offense.
“It’s a lot of fun. This was my goal at the beginning of the year, to be on this team,” Pirri said. “I put in the work, and I was fortunate enough to get rewarded. For me, it’s something that maybe I’ll look back on later and smile about, but right now it’s about putting in the work.”
With Pirri pumping in goals, the Knights took advantage of a soft spot in the schedule and compiled a season-high seven-game win streak from Dec. 27 to Jan. 8.
They climbed as high as second place in the Pacific Division, two points behind Calgary, and remained in a playoff position the rest of the way.
“I knew we’d rebound here sooner or later,” Gallant said. “I liked our team. You don’t go to the Stanley Cup Final with a bad team, and we had most of those parts back and we added some good players to our group. The injuries scared me. The suspension scared me. But I was confident in the group, for sure.”
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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
