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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Now, the finals of the Western Conference between Dallas Star And vegas golden knight has finally arrived (Game 1, 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+), chances are you’ll hear a few familiar names.
What if it was a conversation about the stars? Looking forward to hearing more about Jamie Benn, Miro Heiskanen, Ropee Hintz, Jake Oettinger, Joe Pavelski And Jason Robertson. When the discussion turned to the Golden Knight, the players liked Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Pietrangelo, Chandler Stephenson And Shea Theodore will be hard to ignore.
There could also be an argument that Ivan Barbashev, maximum domi, Wyatt Johnston, Tyler Seguin, Reilly Smith and whoever starts scoring for the Golden Knights will get the same treatment.
But what about the less-noticed players who can take on key roles where the winner gets to make it to the Stanley Cup Final and the loser kicks off his summer break? Below is a list of Golden Knights and the Stars players who may not be among the first names mentioned, but whose contributions could prove to be crucial to success. of the respective teams.
Entering the trading deadline, more than 66% of the Stars’ goals came from six players. That’s what made them trade for Domi and Dadonov. The fact that Domi has scored 18 goals and has 49 points in 60 games with Chicago Blackhawks made him the focus when compared to Dadonov, who came with 4 goals and 18 points in 50 games with Canada Canada. Dadonov has three goals and 12 assists after arriving in Dallas, giving him 15 points in 23 games. In the post-season, his four goals and nine points from 13 games gave the Stars the depth they were looking for. Five of those points came in the second half, including the assist he got in Johnston’s winning goal in Game 7.
Then there’s the fact that Dadonov along with Benn and Johnston recorded the most 5v5 ice time of any Star lane combination in the post-season period, according to Natural Stat Trick. They played each other for almost 132 minutes, 45 minutes more than the line Hintz-Seguin-Robertson saw in the 5v 5 game. An unrestricted free agent pending, Dadonov is putting up a field. strong case for the Stars to re-sign him or why another team might seek his services. Especially if he can bet his success on the conference final with one of his men. former owner.
Thomas HarleyEASY
Drafting and developing Homegrown talent is the center success of the Stars, and that’s another reason Harley’s performance matters. Just look at what he did in the previous second series victory Seattle Kraken. Harley went from not scoring any points in the first lap first Wild Minnesota up to seven points in multiple games against Kraken. His strongest performance was in Game 4 when he finished with a goal and an assist in the Stars’ 6-3 win to end the series before returning to Dallas .
His seven points are the second most of any Stars defender and just two behind Heiskanen. His points all come from a 5v5 game with Harley serving as the third pairing option. His production gives the Stars another layer and shows why they aren’t willing to part with him or any of their potential clients before the deal deadline. An internal belief in the Stars’ main office is that they know that Harley can help them at some point in the knockout stages. And so far? He is doing that.
Esa LindellEASY
Finnish players succeed with the stars? Who knows? Lindell may only have two points, but he’s averaging over 21 minutes per game, ranking third among the Stars defenders after this season. He is playing the second pairing role with his colleague Finn Jani Hakanpääwho could also make the case that being one of the under-target players could have an impact in the grand finals.
Several factors have led to the Stars being just four wins away from the Stanley Cup Final. Their death penalty was one of those reasons. It was the #3 short sleeve unit in the post-season with a success rate of 83.3. Lindell led them in the short ice time, with Hakanpää behind by 20 seconds, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Nicolas Hague And White Cloud ZachEASY
Others are mentioned separately, so why not Hague and Whitecloud? Simple. Because they did pretty much everything else together after this season in a way that most might have overlooked. Big one? Guess which defensive pair has recorded the most 5v5 ice time for the Golden Knights after this season? Yes, that’s them. In fact, Natural Stat Trick put them 10th out of all defensive pairs during the 5v5 ice. Pietrangelo’s suspension helps explain why he and Alec Martinez not lead the team. Although, there is another statistic that reinforces the value of their partnership. The opponents only scored three goals in a 5v5 match when Hague and Whitecloud played together. That is associated with Hurricane Carolina couple Brent oil And Jacob Slavin to get the fewest goals allowed after this season among matches with at least 150 minutes of 5v5 on ice. That’s another reason why Hague leads them in 5v5 ice time while Whitecloud is third.
Stephenson has emerged as one of NHL’s top No. 2 centers while Stone, when healthy, is a two-way winger who creates problems. Together, they created one of the more versatile combinations in the league. Howden is the third member of that group, and has used these knockouts to prove his place as a winger in the top nine. They played each other for more than 67 minutes in a 5v5 playtime, according to Natural Stat Trick. But that also comes with the caveat that Stone is limited to playing 43 games following his second back surgery in less than a year. In the knockout round? Cassidy used the Howden-Stephenson-Stone formation more than any other combination, with the trio playing nearly 95 minutes together in 5v5 situations.
Howden has 5 points from 11 games, a strong comeback for a player who has totaled 13 points from 54 games of the regular season. Howden was also part of the Golden Knights’ penalty kill, a role he has retained with the sixth-shortest game minutes among the Golden Knights forwards this season.
Coaches are always making adjustments in an attempt to find an advantage. Cassidy was no different and that’s why of the top eight combinations he used in the knockout stages, Roy joined three of them. Roy, who has mostly played at the bottom of the table this year, is one of 12 players to have scored more than 10 goals in the regular season.
The bottom six strikers with consecutive seasons scoring more than 14 goals show why the Golden Knights are among the NHL’s deepest teams. When they use Roy in the center, he gives them a spine in the middle starting with Eichel, Stephenson and Karlsson before ending with him. As they pushed him to the wing, he provided them with a third-line combination featuring Karlsson and Smith. Together, the three of them give the Golden Knights a checkable two-way lane, forcing a turn and creating a scoring opportunity in the other direction. Possessing that flexibility is also how Roy worked hard to get the minutes to successfully take the penalty and play power.
