Welcome to the Three Stars of the Week segment. This will be a weekly post where I pick the Vegas Golden Knights’ three stars from the previous week. The first star will receive five points, the second star will receive three points, and the third star will receive one point. Points will be tallied throughout the season and one dollar per point will be donated to the charity of the winner’s choice at the end of the season.
The Golden Knights had three games since our last 3 Stars segment. They held leads in all of the games but were only able to come away with one win. They lost in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets, defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets and lost another overtime thriller against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith really carried the team this past week. They are scoring at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded and have been driving the offense for the Golden Knights. Along with some stellar goaltending, the team has recorded at least one point in five straight games.
Here are this week’s three stars.
Third Star: Malcolm Subban (70 saves on 76 shots)
Malcolm Subban played his first game since getting injured in early October. Even though he didn’t get a win in his two starts this week, he kept his team in each game and got them to overtime to help earn two standing points.
Against the Jets, he made 35 saves and was the reason they were able to build a two-goal lead. Unfortunately, a couple of unfortunate calls went against the Golden Knights and the Jets ended up tying the game and winning in overtime.
Against the Maple Leafs, Subban made another 35 stops and kept Toronto off the score sheet until midway through the third when the Golden Knights were whistled for their sixth penalty of the game. They lost in overtime, 2-1, but Subban made save after save in regulation to get them one point.
Second Star: Reilly Smith (2 goals)
Smith has found another gear in the last week. He has been all over the ice and is starting to find the back of the net. He scored both goals against the Blue Jackets and could have had more. Smith is the calming presence on the Golden Knights top line and plays smart in all three zones.
He is a big part of the Golden Knights’ penalty kill, which has only given up six goals all season. His game-winning goal against the Blue Jackets came shorthanded and he is up to two goals and an assist while being a man down this season. In total, the Golden Knights have scored five shorties this season, which ranks first in the league.
First Star: William Karlsson (4 assists)
Karlsson was a man on a mission this week. He created tons of scoring opportunities and was a dominant force in the game against the Blue Jackets. In the clip below, the Golden Knights are down a man and Karlsson skates the puck up the rink to find Smith with a beautiful backhand pass that he buried.
We are seeing glimpses of Karlsson’s first season in Vegas. With the amount of depth the team has up front now, he draws better line matchups and has the confidence to be more creative with the puck and create chances.
He and Smith have had chemistry from the start and along with five-on-five play, they both kill penalties together and are a big reason they are so successful playing a man down.
I will keep a tally of the points all season long and donate a dollar per point to the winner’s charity of choice at the end of the season. Stay updated all season long by following me on Twitter, @LAM1926, to find out who will be next week’s three stars!
- Mark Stone: 11 points
- William Karlsson: 11 points
- Marc-Andre Fleury: 8 points
- Paul Stastny: 5 points
- Jonathan Marchessault: 3 points
- Reilly Smith: 3 points
- Tomas Nosek: 1 point
- Nick Holden: 1 point
- Nicolas Roy: 1 point
- Malcolm Subban: 1 point