(Photo Credit: NHL.com/panthers)

Since heading on the road to Florida, the Golden Knights’ offensive game has hit the bricks. They’ve scored just one goal and have generated just 3.37 expected goals in the last two games. The power play is 0 for 5, and they’ve been outshot 54-36.

The loss of Mark Stone has thrown the lineup off, and so far, they can’t find the right combination to create consistent offense.

The third line has remained the same, with William Karlsson centering Reilly Smith and Alex Holtz. They scored VGK’s only goal, have outshot the opponents while on the ice, and are holding their own in respect to expected goals. However, in the last three games, they have failed to generate a single change that is considered high-danger.

The fourth line has stayed steady too, with Colton Sissons between Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden (when healthy). They have not held up as well as the line above them. Sissons has been on the ice for each of the last four goals VGK have allowed at 5-on-5, and he and his linemates have been outshot 16-5 over just 25 minutes of ice time.

If this version of the Golden Knights wants to lean on their depth, that line must be much better.

However, the biggest issue with the group at the moment is the flux inside the top six. Just in the last two games, Bruce Cassidy has tried three different setups for his top two lines, and none of them have yielded positive returns.

Here are the three combos Cassidy has rolled out:

To Start Both Games
Saad-Eichel-Barbashev
Dorofeyev-Hertl-Marner

End of Florida Game
Barbashev-Eichel-Marner
Saad-Hertl-Dorofeyev

End of Tampa Bay Game
Howden-Eichel-Marner
Barbashev-Hertl-Dorofeyev

With these combinations, Jack Eichel, who still leads the NHL in points despite going pointless in the last two games, has been on the ice for just 11 scoring chances in 29 minutes. He and his rotating cast of linemates have generated a measly 1.03 expected goals in two games, well below his season-long per 60 average.

As for Mitch Marner, he has been on the ice for just two high-danger chances in his last 26 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time. He and his linemates have landed 18.81 shots per 60 minutes in the last two games, a whopping eight fewer than his season-long average.

Finally, leading goal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev. He has attempted 10 shots in the last two games, with just three making it to the goaltender. His minute load has dropped significantly, and despite a 73% offensive zone start rate (behind only Marner at 75%), he and his linemates have been outshot 10-8.

Mark Stone isn’t coming back any time soon, and there aren’t really other options in the system to shake things up among the forward group. This group of 12 forwards must pick their offensive game back up if they want to return to being the offensive juggernaut they looked like in the first seven games.