Gerard Gallant decided less was more Saturday after a second period in which he thought his team was “skating in quicksand.”
The Golden Knights put only three shots on goal in the middle frame of their 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, so the coach shortened his bench and played 10 forwards in the third period. Center Cody Eakin, center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare along with wingers William Carrier and Ryan Reaves, mixed it up to form a modified “bottom six” which managed to generate a spark for the Knights.
“I didn’t like our second period at all and I just thought (about) trying to get the guys more into the game,” Gallant said Saturday.