Knights on Ice — Pucks Flying at T-Mobile

In police jargon when the phrase  “Shots fired” comes across the police band, this is usually not a good thing. “Shots fired” takes on an entirely different meaning in hockey jargon.

Yesterday afternoon, a lot of shots were fired at T-Mobile by the VGK — 48 to be exact — on Jacob Markstrom, the bewildered Vancouver goaltender. It was a dominating performance that resulted in a 3-0 victory over the Canucks and increased the Golden Knights’ winning streak to four in a row.

It also was another shutout for Marc-André Fleury, not only his league-leading eighth of the season, but the second back to back after the VGK 3-0 win on Friday night in Anaheim.

My words after the 6-5 win over Florida in a shootout with Subban in net, that you just don’t see final scores of 3-0 much anymore in this new era of the NHL that’s built for increased scoring, have followed me now for two games in a row. In my own defense, I did say that when Marc-André Fleury is in net, he causes the average 5-7 goals per game to be on the low side of the curve. In fact, Fleury has set a career-high record of not allowing a goal in 168 minutes and 43 seconds, just shy of 8-1/2 periods. And it’s the second time this year that Fleury has recorded back-to-back shutouts. The first was a 2-0 victory over Calgary on Nov. 23, then the 24th with a 6-0 victory over San Jose.

Not to take anything away from Fleury’s shutout yesterday, but truth be told, he didn’t face a lot of shots, only 19 total, and very few would be considered high-quality chances. The VGK had control of the puck and play for just about the entire game. Vancouver had only one shot on goal from 1:20 to 15:49 in the third period. This is a team sport and they win together and lose together.

A lot of nights, Fleury saves the bacon for the team; yesterday, the team gave Fleury a walk in the park. Actually, Fleury could have had his own beach chair in the corner while sipping on a pina colada. Vancouver had six first-period shots, eight in the second, and only five in the third and I’d venture to say 15 of the 19 shots were from outside the dots/faceoff circles.

The VGK have had two wake-up calls this season. The first was the drubbing they received in Calgary back on November 19, when the Flames trounced them 7-2. They responded by winning five in a row and seven of the next eight. The second came on Feb. 22, when they were blown away by Winnipeg 6-3 at T-Mobile. This was the night that Gallant said post-game he was looking for his Golden Misfits. As much as players say they don’t read what we write or what’s said, trust me, they do. They heard Gallant loud and clear, man for man, in that locker room. It was the night that the sanctuary of the room was broken by a reporter who repeated something a player said that should neither have been said nor repeated.

In my opinion, that woke the team up. They clearly respect Gallant, a player’s coach. He manages their time properly and they especially appreciate the optional skates he offers them. They’re 67 games into a 82-game season and need to save their energy. This is a long grind and the playoffs are a war, with games every other night.

Since the Gallant comment and the 6-3 loss to Winnipeg, they’ve won four in a row and are playing the best, or close to the best, they’ve played all season. It also doesn’t hurt that Mark Stone showed up right after that Winnipeg game; the VGK haven’t lost with him in the lineup, even though he has only one point to show for it. But what he’s done on the power play is nothing less than amazing. He has a great stick, which helps with the zone entry on the PP that’s been a problem. And once in the zone, it’s no longer one shot and out.

Stone’s passes, especially cross-ice to Karlsson, are perfect and in Anaheim, Karlsson had an empty net to shoot at and he didn’t miss. Yesterday once again, Stone set up Karlsson in the left faceoff circle with another precision cross-ice pass that forced Markstrom to slide across to make a nice save. This play looks a lot like what Washington and Tampa Bay do with Ovechkin and Stamkos. Karlsson may not have as powerful a shot as Ovi and Stamkos, but he is a sniper and this play will give opposing teams fits. If they try to cheat back to Karlsson, Stone will bury the puck short side on the goalie.

The line of Karlsson, Marchessault, and Smith has struggled for the most part, but with the emergence of the second line of Stastny, Patches, and Stone, the first line isn’t seeing the kind of defensive coverage they’ve been subject to most of the season, without a secondary scoring line for the other team to worry about. Now that exists and the third line of Eakin, Pirri, and Tuch seems to be moving the puck well.

Carpenter was moved down to the forth line with Bellemare and Reaves, which seems to fit his style more than playing alongside Eakin and Tuch. Indeed, Carpenter had a goal yesterday and a point in the Anaheim game. He isn’t a pure goal scorer, but contributions like he’s had in the last two games make the VGK a tough team to play against. Rolling four lines was their recipe for success last season and may be just the fix that’s needed in these last 15 games.

Vancouver is another team headed in the wrong direction. They’ve lost six of their last seven games and 11 of their last 14. Their goaltender played well yesterday, but was offered no help offensively. Markstrom faced 48 shots, a season high for him, and saved 45 of them.

With yesterday’s win, the VGK moved eight points ahead of Arizona for the last playoff spot in the Pacific Division and are now nine points behind San Jose; the Sharks won their game yesterday against the Blackhawks.

Reilly Smith continues his hot hand with his third goal in the last three games. Max Pacioretty also continues his hot hand with his 21^st goal, the most on the team. Of course, Mark Stone’s 28 goals were scored as an Ottawa Senator.

For those who were screaming about Pacioretty for Tatar early in the season, well, things have kind of flip-flopped. In 65 games, Tatar has 22 goals, while in just 54 games, Pacioretty has 21.

For only the second time in franchise history, Vegas went an entire game without receiving a penalty. Once again, my words bite me on the ass. Or maybe it’s just a nibble. I made a point in a previous blog about zero tolerance for infractions on players with the puck. The other game where Vegas wasn’t called for an infraction was back on Feb. 11, 2018, against Philadelphia.

Fleury’s win was his 436th, which leaves him just one victory shy of Jacques Plante for eighth place in all-time wins in the NHL.

Not only did Vegas have 48 shots on net, they had 20 shots that were wide of the net and 21 shots that were attempted or blocked by Vancouver. That’s 89 times that Vegas had the puck in Vancouver’s zone in 60 minutes.

Speaking of police jargon, “donuts” is a good one. Everyone in attendance will receive a free dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme. That should make the men and women of Metro smile.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Max Pacioretty (game-winning goal and his 21^st of the season), Reilly Smith (his 13^th goal of the season), Ryan Carpenter (who scored his fifth goal of the season and seems to have found a home on the checking line).

Next game is Wednesday vs. Calgary at T-Mobile; note that game time is pushed back to 7:30 p.m.

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And for the most comprehensive coverage of the Vegas Golden Knights’ historic inaugural season, take a look at our book Vegas Golden Knights—How a First-Year Expansion Team Healed Las Vegas and Shocked the Hockey World.

My question to Gallant post-game