Yes, a simple bounce and a well-timed forecheck by the Edmonton Oilers ended the VGK’s 5-game winning streak, along with Marc-André Fleury’s personal 6-game streak in which he allowed only 8 goals prior to last night’s 2-1 loss.
Fleury has been nothing less than spectacular in these last seven games and it’s the main reason the Knights find themselves back in playoff contention in the Pacific Division, which every day looks more like a scrambled-egg sandwich with teams flip-flopping from one spot to another.
After the VGK’s win against Vancouver on Thursday, they moved to one point from the division lead, tied with San Jose for second place. After this loss, Anaheim jumped ahead of both Vegas and San Jose into second.
The teams are so close that the entire division changes from game to game. Of the 8 teams in the division, 7 are separated by only 7 points. Calgary currently leads with 32 points, while seventh-place Vancouver has 25.
Last night’s loss hurts because of the volatility of their division, but as I wrote in my Nov.12 post after the loss in Boston, the next 10 games would be a major factor in determining the VGK’s playoff chances. Well, not only did our team respond in the 10 games, of which 8 were played within the Pacific Division, but Fleury was so good that he was named third star for the month of November.
Fleury led the NHL with nine wins and four shutouts in November, compiling a record of 9-4-0 with 2.32 goals-against average and .920 save percentage to backstop the Golden Knights (14-12-1, 29 points) to a 9-6-0 month. He yielded three or fewer goals in 10 of his 13 appearances, highlighted by shutouts Nov. 3 vs. CAR (34 SV), Nov. 14 vs. ANA (29 SV), Nov. 23 vs. CGY (29 SV), and Nov. 24 vs. SJS (33 SV). The final such performance moved him into a tie — with Nashville’s Pekka Rinne — for 23rd place on the NHL’s all-time shutouts list. Fleury, who won his final six starts of the month, now also sits five victories shy of tying Tony Esposito for ninth place on the league’s all-time-wins list among goaltenders. The 34-year-old Sorel, Quebec, native paces the NHL with five shutouts and shares the league lead with 14 victories in 23 contests this season (2.39 GAA, .911 SV%). He’s 43-21-5 (2.29 GAA, .922 SV%, 9 SO) in 69 total regular-season appearances since joining the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL expansion draft.
In the 8 games against division foes, the Knights won 6 and lost 2, picking up 12 out of 16 points. Before these 12 points, they were sitting in seventh place and out of a playoff spot. So even though last night’s loss hurt, they do have a little wiggle room — thanks to their superstar goaltender, his six-game winning streak, and his incredible November.
And last night’s loss can’t be placed on his shoulders. Actually, it looked more like Murphy’s Law on both goals scored by Edmonton. First, a bouncing puck skipped over Nate Schmidt’s stick and this is where Murphy’s Law kicked in. The only player in the entire NHL who could have accomplished what transpired slipped in behind Schmidt along the left-wing boards. Brayden McNabb picked up Connor McDavid, attempting to force him wide — a lost cause, as McDavid is the fastest skater in the NHL, not to mention the best player. He swooped in on Fleury who stayed with him as he carried the puck left to right across the crease, but when Fleury overcommitted to his left, McDavid dragged the puck back to the right side of the net and roofed it top shelf for the 1-0 lead. It was the only goal scored in a first period that for the most part was all Vegas.
The Karlsson, Smith, and Marchessault line was buzzing in the first period and had multiple quality scoring chances. During the first period, the shots were 9-1 in favor of Vegas, but the winner of games is determined by goals scored, not shots registered.
Karlsson tied the score at the 12:17 mark of the second period on a goal that was recorded as unassisted, but it was a set play that worked exactly how the coaching staff drew it up, at least as far as moving the puck out of their defensive zone. Karlsson won the faceoff to the right of Fleury who drew it straight back to McNabb while Marchessault quickly exited the zone up the left boards. McNabb made an excellent pass to Marchy while Reilly Smith followed up the right wing. Marchessault attempted to pass the puck across the ice to Smith who was driving to the net. When the puck bounced off Edmonton defenseman Oscar Klefbom, Karlsson, who was trailing the play, pounced on it. It was the only goal that Edmonton goaltender Mikko Koskinen surrendered of the 32 shots he faced. Mikko has won all of his last four starts, while surrendering only 6 goals. Unfortunately, Vegas ran into a hot goaltender, out-dueling Fleury, who made 32 saves on the 34 shots he faced.
The winning goal was the result of a relentless forecheck by Ty Rattie, who chased Cody Eakin deep into the zone, forcing him behind the net on his backhand. It’s a play that comes natural to a defenseman, but is uncomfortable for a forward. Rattie’s play was instrumental in Eakin losing the puck to Jujhar Khaira, who quickly sent it out front to Ryan Spooner. Spooner put it past Fleury who was facing Khaira behind the net for the game winner at the 5:50 mark of the third period.
It was Spooner’s first goal as an Edmonton Oiler; he was traded by the NY Rangers on Nov 16. Edmonton is Spooner third team in 2018. He was acquired by the NY Rangers in a trade that sent Rick Nash to Boston in February.
Edmonton has had 7 different coaches since the 2009-10 season, changing coaches every year from the end of the 2012 season till the 2015 season. With the hiring of Ken Hitchcock, the emphasis will be on defense. This hasn’t been the model of the Edmonton Oilers; for many years offense was their weapon of desire. But under their new coach, they have a 4-1-1 record, which has gotten them right back into the scrambled-egg sandwich of the Pacific Division.
Connor McDavid’s goal, his 14th of the season, represents 20% of the Oilers’ 70 goals.
On the flip side of this, adding the 10 goals by Marchessault, Pacioretty to Eakin’s 10, Karlsson’s 9, and Tuch’s 8, these 47 account for 47% of the goals Vegas has scored so far this season. Spreading your scoring around makes your team harder to defend against. But I guess if you can skate as fast and are as skilled as McDavid, that might not be so bad of a problem.
William Karlsson’s goal, his ninth of the season, also extended his goal-scoring streak to four straight games.
Fleury’s winning streak of six, Pacioretty’s seven-game point streak, and Tuch’s five-game point streak all ended with last night’s 2-1 loss.
My 3 Stars of the Game: Connor McDavid (1 goal and a game-high 8 shots on goal), Mikko Koskinen (31 saves on 32 shots, a .969 save percentage), William Karlsson (1 goal to extend his scoring streak to four games).
Next game is a Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Washington Capitals and bad boy Tom Wilson on Tuesday Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. Will Tom Wilson have to answer for his late hit on Jonathan Marchessault in the Final? Only Ryan Reaves knows that answer.
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