Only one team can say they’ve beaten the VGK three out of four games this year: the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers won last night’s game 4-3, dashing any hopes of the VGK capturing the President’s Trophy, awarded to the team with the most points for the season.
Even so, Vegas’ probability of winning it this year was never even a consideration for 99.9 % of the hockey world. Actually, there wasn’t much hope outside of the VGK organization that this team would even make the playoffs. But we know how that worked out for the so-called hockey mavens.
Vegas did have a remote chance. They had to win last night and beat Calgary on Saturday to close out the season, while Nashville had to lose both of their two remaining games. When Nashville’s 4-3 win over Washington flashed across the screen halfway through the game, the VGK were mathematically eliminated from that chance.
Coach Gallant has had a difficult ball to juggle in these last games of the regular season. He would have liked to win the last three games, but he also wanted to rest some guys in the process. He has rested a number of players over the last couple, with the exception of Colin Miller and William Karlsson; both have played in every games this season.
Karlsson was chasing the Art Ross Trophy for the leading scorer in the NHL. He’s has been on a scoring heater, with 12 points during a five-game point streak — 4 goals and 8 assists, along with 2 shorthanded goals in back-to-back games. He also had 4 multi-point games in the five-game point explosion. I’m sure Karlsson wanted to play, but his point streak ended last night and winning the Art Ross is no longer a possibility. So I suspect that both Gallant and Karlsson will do what’s right for the team and award him a much deserved day off Saturday night in Calgary. Individual awards are nice, but this is a team sport and this team has played as a team unified for 81 games.
Even Marc Andre Fleury was given 2 games in a row off. The last game Fleury played was Saturday March 31. I believe you’ll see Fleury play on Saturday in the season finale; if not, he wouldn’t see any game action until the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday April 11. Eleven days off may be a bit too much time away.
A couple of other decisions now appear to be on Coach Gallant’s plate. While resting players, Brandon Pirri was inserted into the lineup and promptly scored 3 goals in 2 games. He scored 2 goals on Tuesday on his first 3 shots and tonight he scored his 3rd goal on his first shot. He even had a glorious chance to tie the game up with just 14 seconds remaining. Vegas was on the power play with goalie Malcolm Subban on the bench for an extra skater. Cam Talbot, Edmonton’s goaltender, make a pad save to deny Pirri back-to-back 2-goal games. Pirri’s performance could spell trouble for Oscar Lindberg, who might be scratched to make room for Pirri in game one of the playoffs. These kinds of problems are what coaches dream about, especially come playoff time. It’s hard to sit someone who is finding the back of the net.
In tonight’s game, Conner “NASCAR “ McDavid, who seems as fast as a human can possibly skate, once again caused multiple problems for Vegas. His speed has given Vegas problems in Vegas’ three losses Vegas to Edmonton. Tonight he assisted on 3 of the 4 goals scored and drew a penalty, as he just exploded past Deryk Engelland on his way to the net. That penalty he drew led to a power-play goal by Michael Cammalleri, which broke the 2-2 tie halfway through the 3rd period. Vegas has surrendered 3 goals in the 3rd period in back-to-back games.
Edmonton has exposed a weakness of Vegas that Vegas has been exposing in most of their opponents’ all year. Speed. At this time of year, other teams from the west are scouting potential opponents for the playoffs and the only solace that one can draw from this is that you can’t create speed on your team. If you don’t have it now, after 82 games, it’s just not magically going to appear for the playoffs. Vegas matches up well against big heavy teams who lack speed. But they seem to have trouble playing against their own style.
Edmonton had lost 5 games in row and is in the midst of a disappointing season, but they seemed highly motivated tonight. After missing the playoffs for 11 straight years, they had a deep run last year and lost in game 7 at Anaheim in round 2. The projection for this year’s team was bright, but they got off to a poor start by losing 4 of their first 5 games and winning only 3 of their first 10. They never fully recovered and this season is even more disappointing, considering their results from last year and their playoff run.
Edmonton’s goaltender Cam Talbot had this to say about beating Vegas tonight. “It would mean more if we were in the playoffs and they weren’t. It is a little bit gratifying knowing you can play with some of those top teams, but obviously, we didn’t play our top game enough this year to put ourselves where we want to be right now. It is bittersweet getting a big win against a team that’s in first place in your division, but after Saturday, they keep playing and we don’t.”
Other notes: Shea Theodore continues his offensive output, with 9 points in the last 9 games. Prior to tonight’s loss, Vegas had registered points in 8 of their last 9 games. They also posted a 9-2-3 record in their last 14 games.
VGK goal scorers: Mc Nabb (5), Pirri (3), 3 goals in just 2 games, Lindberg (9)
The VGK close out their amazing season on Saturday at Calgary at 7 p.m. Pacific time.
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