Lawless & Order The Blog: Feb. 7, 2022

The halfway point of the schedule is in the rearview mirror. NHL All-Star weekend with its trick shots, fountains, Machine Gun Kelly, magicians and Dodgeball Trevors are also a thing of yesterday.

For the Vegas Golden Knights, who sit atop the Pacific Division with 57 points and a record of 27-16-3 through 46 games, it's all about the stretch of hockey about to unfurl before them like a highway of potential highs and lows.
Vegas still finds itself shorthanded. Jack Eichel, Zach Whitecloud and Alec Martinez remain unavailable to coach Pete DeBoer. It's been a theme all season long with a long list of players.
Vegas has lost 20.5 standings points due to man games lost according to the website Man Games Lost NHL. That's the second largest impact due to injury in the NHL's standings behind the Buffalo Sabres at 23.3 points lost due to injury.
More than just tread water, Vegas has managed to grab top spot in its division and recently went 2-1-1 on a road trip through the Eastern Conference facing Washington, Carolina, Florida, and Tampa. The Golden Knights may not be on the Cup contender lists of many right now but parade routes are charted in late June and not early February.
From the moment Kelly McCrimmon went all in and swung the trade of the season acquiring Eichel from the Sabres in exchange for Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, this campaign has been about hanging around the playoff picture until all the pieces could be deployed and then seeing what this team can accomplish at the most important time of the hockey year. Vegas has been a final four team three times and been to one final. The Eichel trade is all about winning the Stanley Cup.
How Eichel will impact the Golden Knights remains among the largest questions of this NHL season. Who will he play with and how will he impact the team's win/loss ledger get us started in this week's mailbag posting.
DeBoer hasn't showed his hand in terms of linemates for Eichel but from this perspective, it's about duos. Think Eichel and Max Pacioretty. Or Eichel and Mark Stone. Chandler Stephenson and Stone or Stephenson and Pacioretty.
DeBoer will have to time to mix and match and see what he likes best. Even then, expect DeBoer to also have a loaded line in his back pocket to use when needed. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin don't play together most of the time. Until Mike Sullivan needs a bazooka and then he pairs up his two superstars.
Stone and Eichel don't have to always be on the same line. But sometimes such a combination will be required and available to DeBoer.
Time for some of your questions.
The Misfit Line is a big deal. To both fans and the team. The trio represents the origins of the franchise. But it only works as long as it works. If the line is productive. Great. If there are better combinations within the roster which will help the team win more games. So be it.
Value, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I know my family loves to go to games when they can and consider the hockey and entertainment experience to be the best they've encountered.

Jack and I haven't hit Starbucks or Dunkin or Timmies just yet. But I'll take a swing at it. Jack is a modern dude with an old school heart. I say he takes it black.

As a rule, our content team has a pretty good time in Nashville. Fort Lauderdale and a shift at the Elbo Room is also a favorite. We like our Irish bars and NYC gets the nod in this regard. Montreal has a bit of everything from great food to a vibrant night life. There's nothing like a stop in a hometown for a content team member. We've got folks from a number of NHL cities from Winnipeg to Boston to New York to Dallas. I'm missing a bunch of places here. We really like to have fun wherever we are and every NHL town has its pluses.

A billion is pretty high. But I'd say a million for sure.

Depends on what you like. Best content team meals in our five-year history: Park in Montreal. Filomena's in Georgetown. Late night pizza in Nashville after a shift at Tootsies. Breakfast at Falafel Place in Winnipeg.