Yes, Marc-Andre, the 2.3 million people who live in Clark County thank you, the 628,711 who live in Las Vegas thank you, the 18,000-plus who somehow got their hands on the hottest ticket in sports and were lucky enough to witness your amazing performance at T-Mobile last night thank you, and I thank you. The VGK took a 2-1 series lead with a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, a team that, prior to last night, were 4-0 following a loss.
Mais oui, Mark Scheifele, the leading playoff goal scorer with 14 goals in 15 games, scored two goals against you. But your incredible back-to-back saves halfway through the third period off Scheifele’s stick with the score 3-2 denied him his 15th goal and a hat trick that would have erased the 3-1 lead your team had entering the third.
Are Fleury’s saves the most incredible you’ve seen as the Vegas Golden Knights’ coach?
“He’s made unbelievable saves and they were obviously important in a key time for us,” Coach Gerard Gallant said after the game. “That’s Fleury. He’s been great throughout the playoffs and all year for us. He’s also a guy who has fun out there. I’m sweating on the bench, yelling my head off, and I look down there and he’s just having fun.”
A mere 30 seconds into the game, Brayden NcNabb intercepted a weak pass from Scheifele just inside the blue line and stretched a pass out to Jonathan Marchessault. Marchessault beat the Jet defenseman and broke in on Connor Hellebuyck and just like his two goals in Game 2, Marchessault went to his backhand. When Hellebuyck tried and failed to poke-check the puck away, Jonathan had an open net to slide the puck into.
Vegas completely dominated the first period, allowing the Jets only three shots on Fleury in the first 20 minutes.
Scheifele scored his first goal to tie the game up 1-1 at the 5:28 mark of the second period when he made an amazing tip that not only went between his legs, but somehow got behind Fleury. Scheifele’s score could have changed the momentum of the game that Vegas had on their side.
“That was huge,” Gallant commented. “Scheifele was on the side of the net and he got that goal on the deflection-tip play. It was a good play by him; he’s got great hands.”
The VGK response was swift. Just 12 seconds after Winnipeg tied it up, James Neal buried one.
Neal had to leave the game in the first period when he took Dustin Byfuglien’s elbow to his face. Post-game, Neal had a noticeable bruise under his left eye. As per concussion protocol, Neal left the ice to be examined; his return had to be approved by the medical staff.
“I think Dustin Byfuglien hit me with his right elbow. It got me in the eye and mouth, and then I have to go off for protocol. I can’t stay on the bench, I have to do all my testing. Once that’s done, if I pass, I can come back. It just took some time, but I came back.”
Neal came back strong. Erik Haula intercepted a pass by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who went behind the net in an attempt to help move the puck to his defenseman. With his back to Neal, Haula passed it out front and Neal had a completely open net to hit.
Coach Gallant: “In tight hockey games when two teams are pretty evenly matched, for us to respond that quickly was real big.”
“I think he probably saw that I was around there,” Neal described Haula’s play. “He did a great job on the fore-check, so that was a great pass by him. When you score and the other team gets one right after you, it sucks the wind out of you, especially in your own building. It was great that we got one back and the energy turned around right away.”
James “Big Game” Neal has that name for a reason: He thrives in high-pressure situations. In the VGK’s 13 playoff games, he has 4 goals and 5 assists. Career-wise, he has 29 goals and 24 assists in 93 playoff games.
Just 2:33 seconds after his goal that broke the tie, Nate Schmidt stripped the puck from a Jet player inside the blue line. Schmidt chipped it up to Neal in the neutral zone. Even though Big Game isn’t one of Vegas’ fastest skaters, he blew by Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom down the right wing and came in alone on Hellebuyck, who made the save on Neal’s shot. Neal picked up his own rebound, went behind the net with the puck, and found Alex Tuch trailing the play and alone. Both Enstrom and Byfuglien were facing Neal, which allowed 22-year-old Tuch an uncontested shot.
With the score now 3-1 entering the third period, Mark Scheifele scored his second goal just 18 seconds in and all of a sudden, it was white-knuckle time at T-Mobile.
The Jets dominated the first 14 minutes and saw a complete flip-flop of the first period, as Vegas went more than 10 minutes without a shot on net. Wave after wave of Winnipeg players descended into the Vegas defensive zone, only to be denied by Fleury time after time.
With 9:30 left in the game, Fleury made those back-to-back saves. I believe they might be the reason this series is now 2-1 in our favor and we didn’t have to endure another heart-stopping overtime or suffer a loss after a 3-1 lead.
When Hellebuyck was asked about Fleury’s game, he said, “He’s obviously a big part of that team and playing very well. I like my game. I like it a lot more.”
I wonder if Hellebuyck likes the part of his game that gave the puck away to Erik Haula who sent it to James Neal for an easy goal.
Winnipeg wasn’t going down without a fight and the physicality, which was intense throughout the game, heated up in the third period, then exploded when the game ended with a 10-player scrum at center ice after Jonathan Marchessault scored his second of the game into an empty net and his fourth in the last two games. And with that goal, Marchessault became the first player in the NHL’s entire history to score in the first minute and the last minute of the same playoff game.
Both coaches had the big boys out for the last 2.7 seconds and they didn’t disappoint. Ryan Reaves went after Adam Lowry, joining Deryk Engelland who got a few in on Lowry as soon as the puck was dropped. Lowry had been taking liberties with a few of the Vegas players throughout the game and with the score 4-2 and just 2.7 seconds left, it seemed like a good time to respond.
In Game 2, Winnipeg had 19 hits and Vegas had 7. In last night’s game, Winnipeg got in 48 and Vegas responded with 41 of their own. Winnipeg is exhibiting a lot of frustration over not being able to handle Vegas’ speed and fore-check.
For the eighth time in 13 playoff games, Fleury gave up two or fewer goals. A few of his 15 saves in the third period could easily be called spectacular.
The VGK are 5-1 at home in the playoffs. They’ve scored 22 goals in the six games, while surrendering only 10. They’ve scored five power-play goals in 26 attempts and have killed off 20 of 24 opposing teams’ power plays.
In the six playoff home games, Vegas has scored nine first-period goals while surrendering none. Zero. Scoring first in the playoffs has a huge effect on the final outcome. This year, the team scoring first has won 57 games and lost 19 games, for a 75% win ratio.
The VGK led 59 minutes and 13 seconds of this 60-minute game.
In the first 12 games playoff games, Vegas has a Goals Against Average of 1.83, which leads all teams; Vegas’ four shutouts lead all teams; and Vegas averages 41 hits per game, which also leads all teams.
VGK scorers: Jonathan Marchessault (7-8), James Neal (4) 1 assist and a +3 for the game, Alex Tuch (5)
My three stars of the game: Marc-Andre Fleury, James Neal, Mark Scheifele
Game 4 is Friday at T-Mobile at 5 p.m.
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