Vegas Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar has scored more goals in just 33 games this season.
Kolesar’s career-high is eight goals, and he has now hit the mark for the third time in his career for the third consecutive season. What makes hitting this point so important is the time it took to reach it. In the past two seasons, it took the 27-year-old player 74 and 79 games, but this year, he only reached 33 games.
His ice time increased to 13:11, which is also a career-best, but Kolesar was more dangerous with the puck. He shoots a lot, averaging 1.2 shots per game and getting 20.5% of those shots. In his career, Kolesar averaged shots per game, 277 shots in 275 games, converting at 10.65%.
The increase in volume, combined with an increased emphasis on getting into dangerous shooting situations and improving his shot, has led to an increase in goals. Despite that, Kolesar believes his role with the team has not changed.
“I don’t think my role has changed at all; I still think I’m playing the same game from the beginning. It’s just the idea of shooting more and getting more pucks in the net and getting credit for more goals.”
Kolesar has been playing with a lot of confidence, and that’s because of his skyrocketing stats.
“Perhaps playing at a high speed, jumping through holes, being in the right place and trying to attack the net more often,” said Kolesar when asked what is different when he scores goals.
While the Golden Knights saw several key players depart in the offseason, questions arose about who would step up and fill the void of production. Not many people chose Kolesar to be part of the solution but he scored goals at the right time.
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