Knights on Ice — A Knight of Many Firsts

Last night, the VGK:

• won their first home game this season, beating Buffalo 4-1.
• scored more than two goals in a game for the first time this season.

• ended the first period with a lead for the first time this season.

• scored their first power-play goal of the season, after going 0-16 in their first six games.

• had the first goal of the season scored by William Karlsson.
• had two assists by Reilly Smith, including his first assist of the year.

In last night’s game, the Golden Knights, for the most part, played the type of hockey that the sold-out crowd at T-Mobile has grown accustomed to — speed, a relentless forecheck, and a lot of goals.

The checking was especially evident from the line of Marchessault, Karlsson, and Smith. These three played the entire 200 feet on the ice surface, forechecking, back checking, and adding their much anticipated offense. The VGK’s first line combined for three goals and four assists. Jonathan Marchessault scored his third and fourth goals of the season; he also has four assists for eight points. William Karlsson’s goal was his first of the season; this year like last, he didn’t score his first goal of the season until game seven, so he’s on pace to score 43 goals once again.

Cody Eakin scored an unassisted shorthanded goal, his third in his first four games after missing the first three due to an injury. Eakin’s goal came during Nick Holden’s tripping penalty 1:07 into the first period.

One thing that was uncharacteristic of the Knights was their parade to the penalty box six different times. Last season, the VGK were the second-least penalized team in the league. They did manage to keep Buffalo from scoring a power-play goal all six times, though the Sabres haven’t been a real threat on the power play of late, scoring one in their last 16 attempts. Jonathan Marchessault scored the VGK’s first PP goal out of 16 power plays off a pretty pass from Karlsson with just 1:01 left in the first period.

The first 10 minutes were a bit sloppy and choppy, which could be expected from a team coming back from a long road trip from the east coast. That all changed when Coach Gallant inserted the line of Bellemare, Reaves, and Carrier around the nine-minute mark of the first period. He’d been rolling all four lines, but there was really no flow to the game until then. The checking line changed the entire tempo of the game and it seemed to energize their teammates and the crowd. Buffalo never seemed to recover from that point, and even though that line saw only about nine minutes of ice time, the three combined for nine hits and caused havoc for the Buffalo defensemen who were trying to headman the puck out of their defensive zone. They also had a few quality scoring opportunities. Their ice time was limited due to Vegas’ six penalties. Bellemare had nearly 13 minutes of ice time, because he plays on the penalty-killing unit, where Reaves and Carrier don’t. In his post-game presser, Gallant made it a point to mention that that line was instrumental in the VGK getting energized and playing VGK hockey.

The VGK with Marc-André Fleury in net have surrendered one goal in their last two games, after giving up 19 in the first five games. Fleury’s 407^th lifetime victory in last night’s game moved him into a tie for 10^th place all time with Glen Hall. Next on the list is Chicago Blackhawks’ legend Tony Esposito, who notched 423 victories. Fleury should surpass Esposito by the end of the year.

Fleury, who had an impressive shutout on Saturday, was 37 seconds from having back-to-back shutouts until Vladimir Sobotka deprived the sold-out crowd of a free dozen donuts. If you haven’t heard, Krispy Kreme has pledged a dozen donuts to all fans attending a home shutout. The crowd was in a festive mood with the outcome of the game known early in the third period when Karlsson put the Knights up 3-0 with just 9:20 left. They started chanting, “We want donuts! We want donuts!”

With the win assured and Buffalo pulling their goaltender with 4:25 left, the possibility arose that Fleury might try to check off one of his bucket-list items by scoring a goal into the net empty.

In the locker room, I asked him if he’d rather have back-to-back shutouts or score a goal. He quickly answered the shutout; that would mean the team would win. But when I pointed out to him that with a 3-0 lead and less than a minute to go, the win was already assured. He then gave that Fleury smile we’ve all come to enjoy and quickly changed his answer: He’d forgo the shutout and score a goal. Not only is it a dream of his, but believe me, it would blow the roof off of T-Mobile.

Fleury made 26 saves on the 27 shots he faced and the only goal that did sneak by him was challenged by Gallant for goalie interference as Sobotka made contact with Fleury while the puck was under his pads. When the goal stood, the second-in-a-row shutout was lost — along with 18,000 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, 216,000 to be exact.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and the entire line of Bellemare, Reaves, and Carrier.

The next game is Saturday vs. the Anaheim Ducks, who are 4-1-1 and lead the Pacific Division.

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