It should come as no surprise that there might have been a slight playoff hangover for the VGK. This could account for last night’s result, especially when their opponent was the Arizona Coyotes who have never beaten the VGK. Did they overlook Arizona, knowing they’d beaten them four times this season? I can tell you that once again Vegas failed to play the entire 60 minutes. This has now happened in at least their last three games and it’s not a good way to be preparing for the playoffs.
Coach Gallant acknowledged this in his post-game remarks when he said, “We had a great first game on the road trip in San Jose, even though we lost two to one in overtime. The last three since then, we’ve been chasing. We’ve got to be more prepared for these starts.”
He went on to say, “I want our team to have a consistent solid sixty-minute effort. We haven’t had that the last three games. We’ve got to pick it up.”
Even Alex Tuch, who scored a power-play goal and his second goal in back-to-back games, said, “We need to come out and play desperate intense hockey and get ready for playoff hockey.”
In the 3-2 loss, Arizona outshot Vegas 15-5 in the first period. This is, in my opinion, unacceptable especially a team above which they’re clearly head and shoulders. Granted, Arizona has been playing much better of late. They started the season with a 1-11-1 record, but is 9-5-1 over their last 15 games.
Fleury, who has started 28 of the last 31 games for Vegas, made 27 saves on the 30 shots he faced. This has to be a double-edged sword for Coach Gallant. He wants to win the Pacific Division, which will guarantee him home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. But getting Fleury some much needed rest before he rides him into the playoffs is imperative.
Visiting teams spending multiple days in Vegas have had their problems. This town has a lot of distractions if you’re not a local.
Last night’s loss should be a wakeup call for Vegas. Even though they haven’t been playing 60 minutes, they have dodged a few bullets; they were 3-0-2 in their last five games before tonight’s loss.
Their lead in the Pacific Division is now only 5 points over San Jose, who will be at T-Mobile on Saturday. This game now looms as the one that could decide the Pacific Division Champion, especially if the VGK don’t play a complete game.
Arizona Goaltender Antti Raanta had a solid performance, stopping 27 of the 29 shots. Raanta has now won 7 of his last 8 starts.
Vegas cannot seem to get back to a full lineup. Even though Oscar Lindberg returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb 26, David Perron was a scratch. Vegas is also still missing Reilly Smith from their number number-one line, along with defenseman Luca Sbisa and forward William Carrier.
On some positive notes, Jonathan Marchessault extended his point streak to 6 games with an assist, giving him 8 points over the last 6 games (3-5-8).
Alex Tuch, who had 2 goals in his last 2 games, now has 33 points in his rookie season (15-18-33).
There was some speculation that hockey in Las Vegas was a gamble. In a town that offers everyone a gamble, hockey turns out to not have been that big of one. With last night’s full house at T-Mobile, more than 700,000 fans have attended games there, with tw home games yet to be played.
Vegas’ next game is tomorrow vs. St Louis at T-Mobile at 7:30 p.m.
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