Is the Vegas Golden Knights’ Magic Wearing Off?

Last season, the Vegas Golden Knights shocked the hockey world with one powerful reminder: This is fundamentally a team sport. In just their first year as an NHL franchise, they displayed more chemistry than any other roster in the league — and this unmatched cohesion carried a group of castoffs to the Stanley Cup Final.

After taking a minute to incorporate new players and recover from injuries, Vegas looked poised for bigger and better things in 2018-19. It addressed its biggest weakness by upgrading its offensive arsenal with Paul Stastny (24 points in 30 games) and Max Pacioretty (32 points in 47 games), who have partnered with Alex Tuch (42 points in 52 games) to create a formidable second line. From the end of November through early January, it broke off a remarkable 18-3-3 streak that pushed the team to the head of the class.

Unfortunately, it’s now in the midst of a 5-9-0 slide. While slumps are inevitable, this one feels more concerning. The losses have piled up because the Golden Knights have seemingly lost some of their identity.

They still perform well in shot (54.0 CF%) and scoring chance (55.3 SCF%) shares. They still work hard too, but that hustle is lacking the single-minded drive that guided and defined last year’s club. Without that glue to bind them, the team appears…scattered. It’s no longer greater than the sum of its parts. It’s playing the right way for 95% of its shifts and then crumbling at the point of attack.

The top line has paid the price, as William Karlsson (38 points in 60 games), Jonathan Marchessault (40 points in 60 games) and Reilly Smith (32 points in 53 games) haven’t managed to follow up their remarkable campaigns from 2017-18. A year ago, they were fueled by a stunning, almost Sedin-like level of anticipation. They always knew where their linemates were headed and could thus slice open defenses. This season, they’re a half-step out of sync, resulting in far less production.

Karlsson is pacing for 25 goals after notching 43 last season. Marchessault is set to miss his previous points mark by 20. Smith posted 60 points in 67 games last year. This season? He may not reach the 50-point plateau. As a unit, their GF60 has dropped from 3.98 to 2.07. In terms of overall performance, their GF% has plummeted from 67.1 to 44.4.

That’s tough for any team to overcome.

You could point to a low PDO (97.0) — or a rather high one last year (104.2) — but puck luck represents only part of the issue. The line simply isn’t clicking the way it once did. It doesn’t navigate the neutral zone or exploit defensive weaknesses as easily. The spacing isn’t quite right. The timing is a fraction of a second off.

Naturally, the defense isn’t immune to this problem either. Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs was a prime example: Tied 3-3 in the third period, Vegas completely unraveled by conceding three goals in the span of six minutes to ultimately lose 6-3. It wasn’t overpowered by Toronto’s young guns, though. It granted them chance after chance by taking careless penalties and turning pucks over in the defensive zone.

Struggling to contain world-class talent is understandable. Handing opposing stars opportunities on a silver platter is much more difficult to stomach.

Across all three zones, Vegas isn’t dialed in. There are giveaways and ill-conceived pinches at the offensive blue line. In the neutral zone, the forwards aren’t as committed to backchecking. On defense, the positioning is basically correct yet just loose enough for the other team to capitalize on. Most importantly, the Golden Knights aren’t controlling the front of their net. Games are won and lost in the trenches, but the players aren’t getting to their spot in time to nullify rebounds and direct pucks to safety.

Being in the general vicinity of the play with a weak stick won’t cut it. They need to engage in the action and actively disrupt their opponents. Gerard Gallant’s men usually thrive on these details, but that diligence is a rare sight these days. The opposition isn’t being forced to earn its chances.

As such, the team is allowing 3.43 goals per game during this slump.

While this issue largely boils down to execution, general manager George McPhee would be remiss not to explore defensive upgrades. 36-year-old Deryk Engelland has performed well below the team average in key metrics, as he can’t keep up in an increasingly fast league. He’s forced to back off and concede space, and when he does survive one wave of attack, his sluggish decision-making and poor puck skills prevent the club from breaking out cleanly.

He’s never really fit the team’s makeup, but this is becoming more visible with every passing game. Vegas has been markedly better with him on the bench over the past two seasons.

While experience is a wonderful asset, the Golden Knights should be able to find a more competent veteran blueliner before the trade deadline. Icing Engelland for nearly 20 minutes a night will eventually catch up to you.

Starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (2.61 GAA, 90.8 SV%) has felt the brunt of these all-around shortcomings over the past month. His numbers in February (3.49 GAA, 88.9 SV%) are horrible and his heavy workload (51 starts) is only exacerbating the problems. Since Vegas is in a relatively comfortable playoff position, Gallant would be wise to give him the occasional break.

That certainly proved beneficial on Saturday. With Malcolm Subban (2.72 GAA, 91.1 SV%) between the pipes, the Golden Knights took down the Nashville Predators 5-1 in a stellar bounce-back showing.

Even though it was just one game, the team looked laser-focused once more. The tricky part for the coaching staff will be summoning that drive and cohesion on a consistent basis. Last year’s group possessed that ability…but this isn’t last year’s group. The offense is more potent — on paper anyway — and the players may not feel as though they have as much to prove, which opens the door for them to fall back on their skill.

It’s on Gallant to remind them that they haven’t accomplished anything yet. A close call in 2017-18 doesn’t mean they can rest on their laurels now. Besides, they don’t boast the kind of high-end talent that can afford to coast for extended stretches and still win. They’ll only reach the promised land by rallying around their identity of airtight team play.

In the end, this is a club that finds its strength in numbers. Not star power.