The first home game for a team following a long road trip is much more difficult than any on the road. The players have to travel from that last city, settle in to home life, and deal with matters that occurred while they were gone. Before they know it, they have to head out to the arena and play a game when they might not be entirely focused.
On the other side of the coin is the team that travels to play the new Vegas franchise and has too many days off before the game.
In my last blog, I mentioned my friend and fellow hockey maven Eddie Rivkin and his VIP nightclub service. It was just a joke and a way of bringing to light a possibly valid trend: the effects on a visiting team arriving in Las Vegas with a few free days after their last game.
Everyone knows that Las Vegas has a ton of distractions. For example, slot machines are everywhere—except in the bathrooms, the only place here where you have a small chance of recovering your common sense.
Professional athletes are, after all, human. They’re young men full of testosterone and they have strong appetites and emotions, especially when they’re on some kind of quest in an adult fantasy world. This could very well be a trend that we may be on to.
First, the VGK have played eight home games and after last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, they’ve won seven of them.
In three of their wins, they faced the Chicago Blackhawks, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Winnipeg Jets, all of whom had two free nights and three free days in Las Vegas; they outscored these opponents 16 goals to 4. I know it’s a small sample, but a trend has to start somewhere!
Keep in mind that with the condensed NHL schedule, most teams arrive the night before a road game and check into their hotel sometimes as late as 3 a.m., coming in from a game they played the night before. They have very little free time. Most have a morning skate around 10 to 11, then the players return to their rooms for a pre-game nap and arrive at the rink a couple hours before game time.
So the VGK’s home-ice advantage could be the best in the league, especially if the team arrives two to three days before the game.
The Winnipeg Jets were on a roll, winning eight of their last 12 games; only one of those losses was in regulation time, while the other three went to overtime. They started the season 0-2, but coming into last night’s game they were 8-3-3. They’d scored six power-play goals on their last nine PP attempts. Last night, they had 6 PP and scored on only one of them.
VGK have outscored the opposition 35-19 in games at T-Mobile Arena, a +16 goal differential. They were scoring on average 4.29 goals per game at home before they added to that number by putting a whopping five past the Jets’ undefeated goaltender, who was 8-0-3 until last night’s game when he was replaced after the 2nd period.
NHL teams with the best home record for this season:
Pittsburgh 5-0-1
Vegas 7-1-0
St. Louis Blues 7-0-1
NY Islanders 5-0-2
VGK had another 5-on-3-man advantage last night and didn’t even register a shot on net. But William Karlsson scored their second shorthanded goal of the season last night; he also had the first one. Most shorthanded goals come off a blocked, deflected, and uncontested shot from the point. But last night’s was unique, as all four players on the penalty kill actually touched the puck.
In just 16 games, Karlsson has scored six goals—the same number over his entire season last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
I’m not sure if the coaching staff reads this blog, but all of the points I raised about what they were lacking in their last few games were not only addressed, but played to perfection. Their fore-check, for example, was highly evident, especially by William Carrier who delivered two booming body checks while getting in deep on the fore-check; his relentless pursuit was a key factor in VGK first goal of the game.
On VGK’s second goal, David Perron back checked Dustin Byfuglien, a defense man who’d pinched in deep into the offensive zone. Perrone knocked him off the puck with a body check, then proceeded to beat him back up the ice on a 3-on-2 with only one Jet defense man back. Perron wound up scoring the goal with good hustle—something else that was lacking in their last few games.
VGK now have four players who’ve scored two goals in the same game: James Neal, Reilly Smith, David Perron, and William Karlsson.
In the last two games at T-Mobile, VGK have outscored the opposition 12-2.
Unfortunately, this was a one-game home stand. The VGK are back on the road when they play the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. So the newly discovered home-ice advantage awaits its next test.
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