Looking to defend their Stanley Cup championship, the Vegas Golden Knights moved boldly at the NHL trade deadline to add three key pieces.
Suddenly, all three of those pieces are delivering puzzling results.
Defenseman Noah Hanifin was accounting for three points (1-2-3) in the two Vegas wins at Dallas to open the Western Conference first-round series between the Golden Knights and Stars.
Hanifin was pointless in two losses at T-Mobile Arena. He was minus-two in Monday’s 4-2 defeat by Dallas. Center Tomas Hertl was also a minus-two in Game 4. He’s pointless in three games since scoring in Game 1.
Winger Anthony Mantha was watching Game 4 in civvies. Pointless for the series, he was a healthy scratch for Game 4.
Amadio Delivers For Golden Knights
Inserted for the first time in the series in place of Mantha, Michael Amadio would open the scoring for Vegas.
“I thought he was good,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said of Amadio. “Gave Karly (William Karlsson) some familiarity. Mike does a good job for us.
“We’ve had Anthony in that spot, so we’re trying to piece together the best lineup. We felt it was time to give Michael a go.
“(Amadio) probably got squeezed because we bring a guy in at the end that’s got a history of scoring goals in this league and is a big body.”
What the Golden Knights are learning is something Detroit Red Wings fans could’ve told them. While Mantha is big, seldom does he play big.
Cassidy was stressing the need for his club to bring the physicality against their smaller opponents from Dallas. In other words, Mantha might want to get used to not donning his skates on game night.
“We want to be aggressive on the forecheck,” Cassidy said. “We’re a big team, we’re gonna finish checks.
“They have a lot of skill. Some of their skill is not big, big skill. We have to be hard on them, make them earn their ice and go through people.”
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