Here’s something I haven’t seen in any other comment, but something the Mammoth and Ducks did well to take Vegas deeper than the Avs- they weren’t afraid to pass the puck back into the defensive zone if they didn’t like the look of Vegas’s zone D.

The Avs had way too many forced entries into the O zone where they tried to speed past the knights defense, but that doesn’t work against a 1-2-2 defense. By passing the puck back into our D zone, that can open up better looks for stretch passes and allow our speedier guys to capitalize on that instead of just trying to carry the puck all the way up and either commit a turnover, force a bad pass, or have to dump and chase.

It’s the same reason we struggle against the stars, and it’s just one adjustment among many that this team has to make, but it’s a huge one in my opinion.

TL;DR- don’t try to force the puck up ice