Knights' regulars show little rust in 5-4 OT win over Utah

LAS VEGAS — Dress rehearsals are never a finished product. There’s always something to adjust or correct.

But what those rehearsals do is it gives you an idea of what you can expect when the curtain goes up on opening night.

So what to make of the Vegas Golden Knights’ preseason game at T-Mobile Arena Thursday against Utah?

Ryan Craig wants his team to play with speed, with energy, transition quickly out of its own end and put pressure on the other team’s goaltender. We saw a lot of that against the Mammoth as Vegas’ third preseason game was played with what will be its predominant lineup come next Tuesday when they kick off their 10th season as an NHL franchise at home against Chicago.

And given it was the first game action for most of these guys since they lost Game 6 to Carolina fun the Stanley Cup Final back on June 14, rallying from a two-goal deficit to defeat Utah in overtime, 5-4, is a nice reward.

Vegas benefitted from having a variety of situations to work in and learn from. There were four power play opportunities that produced one goal, that from Mark Stone. There was an empty net situation late and Tomas Hertl scored with 28 seconds remaining to tie the game at 4-4.

There was the chance to perform in overtime, a situation Vegas struggled at times last season. Thursday, Jack Eichel got the puck on his stick early on, curled into the slot and put a wrist shot past Sebastian Cossa for the game-winner.

“We got to see some things, which was good,” Eichel said. “I thought we got better as the game went on. For most of us, this was our first game in a while, so it was good to be out there.”

And given how long Vegas played into mid-June last year, defenseman Noah Hanifin said two games to prepare are enough, which is the maximum players with 100-plus games of NHL experience are allowed to participate in.

“There’s a lot of veteran guys on this team so we don’t need a lot of time to get ready,” Hanifin said. “We had tonight. We’ll have a good practice Friday and then play Saturday (vs. San Jose).”  

Craig needed to see how some of the new lines and faces fared. It was a chance for Trevor Connelly to show he belongs in the NHL, not in Henderson of the AHL. It was an opportunity for Parker Wotherspoon to get settled in as a second defensive pairing with Rasmus Andersson. And Adin Hill had some time in the Vegas net to work out things as he prepares to back up Carter Hart.

“We wanted to see how different guys played with certain people and then as the game went on we went back to the original lines,” Craig said. “Seeing some familiarity with some guys. (Victor) Olofsson jumped around left to right. (Braeden) Bowman did the same thing. (Jonas) Rondbjerg did the same thing.

“It was our core group’s first (exhibition) game and the puck was a little sticky at times. Those little details I thought came through.”

Up front, the top six had a lot of familiarity to it. Eichel was centering for Stone and Ivan Barbashev. The second line had William Karlsson between Mitch Marner and Brett Howden. Craig had put those trios together from the outset of training camp last week and it makes sense to keep them together.

The interesting lines were the bottom six. Hertl had Connelly and Olofsson on his flanks while Nic Dowd was with Bowman and Rondbjerg, the latter who is trying to win one of the few openings along with Marc Gatcomb, who didn’t play Thursday but is likely to be on the ice Saturday in the final preseason tuneup against San Jose.

Olofsson, who is in his second tour of duty with the Knights, unleashed a one-timer from inside the right faceoff circle midway through the first period, beating Cossa to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.  

“It feels like I never left,” Olofsson said of fitting in with this VGK roster. “I felt comfortable. We have a lot of different options if we need it.”

As for Connelly, he kept up with his linemates and didn’t look out of place against NHL players. He is being given every chance to make this team and to do so, he will need to contribute offensively. Connelly had a chance to find the scoresheet in the second period when he was sprung into the clear on a breakaway but he was unable to finish, missing the net from close range.

“I thought Trevor played well,” Craig said. “He showed a lot of energy and he played to what his identity is as a player. He used his speed to attack and that’s what Trevor does.”

Olofsson thought Connelly competed and held up his end on the line with he and Hertl.

“He’s a very skilled player and he made a lot of good plays,” Olofsson said of the 20-year-old rookie. “He created a lot of chances for us. He’s very fast and dynamic and some good vision too. He’s an exciting player.”

Overall, this was the kind of night every coach relishes. The team showed character in coming back. It had every kind of game situation prop up and there’ll be teaching points galore from Thursday.

“We can take a lot from this game,” Craig said. “We got some of the rust off and we did a lot of good things. Definitely something to build on.”