Shea Theodore ends long scoring slump for Golden Knights

Shea Theodore’s goal celebrations are a two-step process, as the Golden Knights defenseman first grabs his mouthpiece and follows with a fist pump.

The amount of force that Theodore uses to punch the air is a good barometer for how he is feeling in the moment.

Sometimes, it’s a casual jab. Other times, like when he scored in Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks last season, Theodore delivers a heavier strike.

After his first-period goal Saturday at St. Louis, Theodore threw a mean right cross that served as the knockout blow to his 16-game goal-scoring drought.

“I think any really extended period of time you’re not scoring you start to think about it a little bit more,” Theodore said Saturday. “It was a great play by (Jonathan Marchessault), and it was good to see it go in.”

Theodore hadn’t scored since the fifth game of the season Jan. 22 at Arizona, back when he was a trendy pick as a Norris Trophy candidate. Through the first 10 games, Theodore produced three goals, 10 points and a plus-8 rating.

But an open-ice collision with Anaheim’s Nicolas Deslauriers on Feb. 9 forced Theodore to sit out for three games. When he returned to the lineup, he struggled to regain his early-season form.

During a 10-game stretch from Feb. 16 to March 10, Theodore produced five points and a minus-1 rating despite being paired often with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. He had two assists and was plus-3 against Anaheim on Feb. 27 or those numbers would look significantly worse.

Theodore also made several miscues in the defensive zone, notably against Minnesota on Wednesday when his turnover led to Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal 19 seconds into the first period.

The two-game series against St. Louis might have been a turning point.

Theodore assisted on Alec Martinez’s tying goal in the opener Friday and had a plus-2 rating in 23:51 of ice time.

On Saturday, he had his fourth multipoint game and extended his points streak to three games. The Knights produced 69 percent of the shot attempts at five-on-five with Theodore on the ice in a 5-1 victory over the Blues.

Theodore’s resurgence comes at a key time for the first-place Knights (18-6-1, 37 points), as Pietrangelo is sidelined because of an injury to his left hand/arm for the “foreseeable future,” according to coach Pete DeBoer.

Theodore leads all Knights defensemen in goals (four), assists (14), points (18), shots on goal (59) and takeaways (11) entering Monday’s game against San Jose at T-Mobile Arena. His 0.82 points per game ranks eighth in the NHL among full-time defensemen.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.