When you think of medieval times, you can’t help but think of kings and knights.
Usually, the kings and knights are on the same team. Last night, the only thing that the L.A. Kings and Vegas Golden Knights shared was the 200 feet by 85 feet of ice surface of T-Mobile Arena.
Truth be told, the VGK controlled much of the ice and tempo of the game, which they won by a score 1-0. They kept most of the Kings’ shots from the outside. Marc Andre Fleury earned his 63rd playoff win with 30 saves and the 11th postseason shutout of his career. All shutouts are difficult to achieve, especially in the playoffs, but last night’s was one in which Fleury didn’t have to make a lot of difficult saves, as his team had the Kings frustrated on the offensive side of the puck. Vegas continuously beat L.A. to loose pucks and their speed made this a game that should have and could have been a 4-0 shutout. Only Jonathan Quick in nets for the Kings prevented it; he made 27 saves on the 28 shots he faced.
With tonight’s shutout, Vegas becomes the fourth team in its inaugural season to have a shutout in a postseason game. The other three teams that Vegas joins in yet another first-year NHL record are the 1927 NY Rangers and the 1968 St. Louis Blues and the 1968 L.A. Kings.
When you have two world-class goaltenders with five Stanley Cups between them, scoring isn’t easy. On the only goal, scored just 3:23 into the game, Shea Theodore’s slap shot from the point hit one of his own players and slightly changed direction to give the Knights an early first-period lead that they never relinquished.
It was a classic playoff game that had the crowd at T-Mobile at a fever’s pitch. Post-game, some of the Vegas players said that they were having trouble hearing players who were right next to them when they tried to communicate with each other. One would think a game with only one goal scored wouldn’t create a lot of action and excitement, but it had both in spades.
The physicality of the game was put into question when Ryan Reaves, who was acquired at the trade deadline exactly for a playoff series against teams like the L.A. Kings and San Jose Sharks, was a healthy scratch. Coach Gallant made a game-time decision that he wasn’t going to match brawn with brawn with the Kings. His game plan was clearly to outskate the Kings and not engage them in a game that would feature scrums and glove washing to the face at every whistle.
However, William Carrier, inserted into the lineup in place of Reaves, had his own game plan. He was a one-man wrecking ball, throwing his body into any L.A. King he could find. His name appears nowhere on the last night’s score sheet, but he contributed to Theodore’s goal with a huge hit on L.A. Kings defenseman Christian Folin along the side boards that created the turnover leading to the game’s winning goal.
Carrier had a game-high 10 hits, even though he left the game halfway through the 3rd period when he took a shoulder to his head by Drew Doughty. Doughty was clearly frustrated as he was a target of Carrier’s. The hit that knocked Carrier from the remainder of the game was borderline dirty; it appeared to have Carrier’s head as the focal point.
The game plan was a perfect blend of the Knights’ speed, which has baffled most of the teams who have fallen victim to Vegas this year, with just enough physicality blended in to keep the Kings engaged in the physical part of the game. As far as I’m concerned, the only reason Fleury was named the #1 star of the game was because of his shutout; otherwise Carrier was the #1 star for Vegas. He played only 8:49 and got those 10 hits in less than 9 minutes of ice time.
Even without Reaves in the lineup, the hits were being distributed at a high frequency. The Kings have led the NHL in hits over the last few years with an average of 32.1 per game. This year they averaged 25.7. Vegas had an average of 21 hits per game this year. Last night, L.A. had 68 hits on Vegas and Vegas responded with 59 of their own — 127 hits dished out by both teams.
The hockey pundits were all saying that Anze Kopitar would make the difference in this series. Well, I know it’s only been one game, but so far he hasn’t been a factor, limited to two shots in 21:17 in ice time. When the VGK are outskating you and beating you to all loose pucks, it becomes difficult to be an offensive factor.
If Coach Gallant isn’t a unanimous choice for coach of the year, there is something wrong with the NHL. Even with home-ice advantage, where most coaches would go out of their way to avoid certain matchups, he played his top line heads up with one of the best defenseman in the league, Drew Doughty. He just rolls out his four lines and is confident in their ability to play no matter who’s on the ice for the other team.
Speaking of Drew Doughty, back on Dec 28 after the VGK beat LA in overtime, he said, “There’s no way they’ll be a better team than us at the end of the season.”
Well, Drew, the VGK wound up with 109 points and topped the Pacific Division, winning five more games than your team did, while your team slipped in as a wildcard. And now you have lost the first game and will have to win 4 out of the next 6 to not have to eat your words.
One win is in the books; 15 more to go to win the most cherished trophy in team sports. It’s not a massive trophy; it stands only 3 feet tall and weighs just 34.5 pounds. The base of this trophy is made up of 5 rings that hold the names of all previous teams and players. There are 13 teams listed on each ring. This year, a new ring will be added and the 2018 winner will sit alone on the new ring. Is it possible that a first-year team, which is on an impossible mission and has broken every inaugural NHL record, can complete this Cinderella story?
Who knows. But as I’ve said before, enjoy this ride. It will be something you’ll always remember no matter how deep our team goes. They have already surpassed our wildest imagination already.
Winning Game 2, Friday night at T-Mobile at 7 p.m., will put a stranglehold on this series and force L.A. to win 4 of the next 5 games.
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