Lawless: Great Expectations

Half the plane was nodding off. The glow of tablets was interspersed throughout the rows of seats. And, of course, smack dab in the middle of the jet was the constant card game. Four vets laughing with and at one another, reveling as unguarded teammates alone in an airborne room but for the family surrounding them.

Seven straight wins on the road and returning from the most recent three-game sweep of Western Canada and division rivals in Vancouver, Calgary and most importantly Edmonton. A 4-3 overtime win against Connor McDavid's Oilers using the fourth goalie in as many games.
It was a definitive win. One of the best and biggest of the season. But it didn't feel different than the 45 other wins this team has collected during a season of 46 wins and 98 points with nine games remaining.
It did feel expected. Bruce Cassidy's Golden Knights expect to win. They have become predictable in their manner and they have come to know that when they play their game, the process will more often than not result in a win.
They're not cocky or arrogant. The understand the work and attention to detail they must provide to earn the desired result. But they have seen the evidence. They have accepted the ask. They have grown belief in themselves. Vegas has been among the best teams in hockey for long stretches this season and is playing at its highest level right now, running up a league-best 17-3-2 mark since the All-Star break.
Cassidy has instilled in this group an unwillingness to let the other team score. Vegas is top-10 in goals against and third-best in the league at limiting high-danger chances against. The 46 wins is also tied for third in the NHL and the Golden Knights sit fourth overall in league standings. They have developed a winning method and instinct. And they are doing things as a team.
Individuals have bought into proffered roles and flourished. Vegas is fourth in the NHL in goals for per games played since the break and 18 skaters have two goals or more in the stretch, which leads the NHL. Twenty skaters have four points or more since All-Star (fourth in the NHL), while 14 skaters have seven points or more (third). Cassidy has been able to spread the ice time around and no one is being over-taxed.
Since the All-Star break:
VGK General Manager Kelly McCrimmon often says, "every team runs its own race." This version of the Golden Knights has unfurled according to plan in many ways but not so much in others. There have been surprises along the way and none larger than losing captain Mark Stone for a large chunk of the regular season. Using five different goalies and acquiring goalie Jonathan Quick gets filed in the unexpected drawer as well.
The organization, from McCrimmon and his hockey operations staff to Cassidy and his coaches and ultimately the players, has prevented unexpected situations from rising above the hiccup level.
McCrimmon and his group added Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger and Quick at the deadline and all have made contributions. Rookie Pavel Dorofeyev was recalled a few weeks ago and Cassidy inserted him in the top six alongside William Karlsson. The 22-year-old is a VGK draft-and-develop product and in the seven games since his recall he's produced five goals and two assists.
They've all provided a late-season boost to a core which was already one of the NHL's best.
The blueline, anchored by Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb, is one of the NHL's most complete and effective.
Down the middle Vegas has a top-end talent in Jack Eichel, two-way excellence in William Karlsson, burgeoning dominance from Nicolas Roy and an elite checker Blueger.
It all adds up to a team which Cassidy says "can beat anyone." In all walks of life, knowing what a person or group can accomplish provides a level of self-assuredness.
Everyone says they want to win. But that's a specious statement in the NHL. To win, an organization has to be willing to spend the resources to put together the required personnel and that's not done from franchise to franchise. Vegas, under Bill Foley, George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon, has done that since Day 1.
Just as importantly, the players and coaches must be willing to win and to do all that entails. Buying into a system and matching that commitment with work, resolve and individual sacrifice.
These Golden Knights are collectively among the best the franchise has ever iced. They lead the division and conference heading into the final weeks of the regular season.
Is this a championship team? That's an unknown right up until the moment it happens or does not. But what we do know now is this team has crossed over into a state of predictability. We know what we're going to get from this team night in and night out. We're about to find out how far that can take them.