Knights on Ice — Kane And Unable

Cain and Abel were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was a farmer who offered a portion of his crops to God, while his brother Abel was a shepherd whose offering of the fattest portion of his herd seemed to please God more. Cain eventually killed Abel over this. Ironically, Cain was subsequently killed by the same instrument as he used to kill his brother, when his house of stone collapsed on him.

Last night in a play on names, Evander Kane was Unable to once again control his emotions in the preview to opening night of the 2019-2020 season, which takes place on Wednesday. But Kane, no stranger to being ejected from VGK games, was in mid-season form, picking up 27 minutes in penalties, included for abuse of an official in the Sharks’ 5-1 loss at T-Mobile. The abuse penalty will generate a review from the league that could result in a suspension, preventing him from playing on Wednesday. I sure hope he’s not suspended; his inability to control his emotions is a valuable asset for the VGK to have in a game that finally has a meaning.

The play on names is not over just yet. Mark Stone was in the center of more mayhem when goaltender Aaron Dell, who replaced Martin Jones after the 2^nd period, laid a shoulder into Stone as he skated by the net on a forecheck. Stone was totally not expecting the hit, was knocked off his skates, and barely missed striking his head on the ice. Stone jumped to his feet and headed straight for Dell, cross-checking him, and the chippiness of the game continued. There were multiple scrums and punches thrown. The 18,131 fans in attendance were in a frenzy of their own, as the hatred for the San Jose Sharks from the players down to the fans is the real deal.

I grew up in New York City, where the hatred among the Ranger players and their fans for the Islanders, Devils, and Flyers was, and still is, intense. I sit in the press box in awe that in just two years, the Vegas sentiments for San Jose is equal in intensity. Even the Detroit/Colorado wars are matched to this young feud. It’s not going to subside anytime soon.

Kane even picked a fight with Zykov who, in his 40 NHL games, has never had a fight and has received only four minor penalties. If Kane really wanted to engage in a fair fight, he needed to look no further than #75 Revo, who would have accommodated his desire to drop the gloves. What Kane did last night is taboo: You don’t force or goad a non-fighter into a fight. He could have picked plenty of other players. Kane is a punk, a talented punk, but a punk nevertheless. His last two teams, Winnipeg and Buffalo, pretty much forced him out the door for his disruptive behavior, especially in the locker room. In short, he’s a cancer in the locker room. The Sharks must have a very strong leadership group that has kept Peck’s bad boy in line.

In last night’s game with both Eakin and Tuch not playing because of injuries they sustained in Friday’s game against L.A., this presented the coaching staff with another look at Cody Glass, currently on the bubble for making the opening-night roster. He looked good last night playing between Pacioretty and Stone and in my opinion deserves to be playing at least until Tuch returns to the lineup, which according to reports may be a week or two away, if not longer. Cody Eakin, on the other hand, is day to day.

Pirri also was inserted into last night’s lineup and played well.

Rookies Jimmy Schuldt and Nicolas Hague were given playing time as Nick Holden and Nate Schmidt were healthy scratches. Both Schuldt and Hague looked comfortable and played well enough to present McCrimmon and McPhee with a difficult choice before trimming down the roster for opening night. The final cuts are expected to be made tomorrow at a press conference at CAN, right after the team’s scheduled meetings.

In net last night, Martin Jones looked in mid-season form, surrendering 4 goals on just 21 shots in just 2 periods. He seems to wilt when playing Vegas. At the other end of the ice, Fleury looked strong, stopping 38 of the 39 shots he faced. Truth be told, the one goal scored on Fleury by Danil Yurtaykin would have been challenged by Gallant if it wasn’t a pre-season game for goaltender interference, as Fleury’s ability to slide from his left to his right was impeded by Tomas Hertl.

There were 114 minutes in penalties called in the game, 75 of them belonging in the Shark’s boxscore.

The attendance of 18,131 broke a franchise record for a preseason game that was just set 46 hours earlier when 18,103 attended the Kings preeason game. I was told that hockey would never work in the desert. At least that’s what the hockey experts said 2 years ago.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Jimmy Schuldt (1G, 1A), Jonathan Marchessault (1G, 1 A), William Karlsson (2 A and a complete 200-foot game)

The home opener with or without Kane and Unable will take place Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or visit my Facebook page Vegas Hockey Guy

Next up: Eddie Rivkin’s take on the game. Please note that Eddie and I write our articles without comparing notes or opinions. I hope that 2 different views of the VGK games are something you’ll enjoy. If you do, please let us know. If you hate it, tell Ken from Sin Bin. I’m only kidding about Ken; he has his own haters.

Take it, Eddie.

Let me just say how utterly disappointed I am about last night’s VGK game!
The VGK played arguably the best 40 minutes of this preseason. They dominated the Sharks. Then, 1:10 into the 3^rd period, some Shark I’ve never heard of completely ruined my breakfast this morning! You know what I’m talking about! No donuts! Gotcha!

One of the best things about being able to write an article like this is that I’m not constrained by traditional journalist rules or political correctness. Those freedoms allow me to share with you observations and opinions traditional writers can’t. So far, I haven’t used any “adult” language in any of my writings. I’m 99% sure that is going to change today. I apologize in advance if any of you are offended.

For the first time in the last 5 games, the VGK got started on time—puck drop in the first period. Both teams came out playing a fast game. Even though they did their best to downplay the game as only an exhibition game, it was clearly not. And that was clear in the first 5 minutes.

The VGK dominated play throughout the period. I can’t believe I am going to say this, but Martin Jones kept the Sharks in the game in the first period. But don’t worry, VGK fans, the Martin Jones we all know would soon show up.

The 4^th line of Carrier, Nosek, and Reaves had an outstanding period. Their dominant offensive-zone work finally paid off when Carrier tipped in a beautiful centering pass from Nosek for a 1-0 lead at 17:36. Of note, Nosek made a beautiful play in out-hustling the $14.5-million Shark defenseman Erik Karlsson leading to the goal. The shots ended 14-12 and the VGK thoroughly outplayed the Sharks.

At 5:47 of the second period, Jimmy Schuldt made it 2-0 with a bomb from the right point on the power play. In a different look than last year, both VGK power-play units featured 4 forwards and 1 defenseman, with Shea Theodore quarterbacking PP1 and Schuldt PP2. Often, special teams are last to come together in a training camp, simply because of the lack of actual game time that you have to work on them in the preseason. Last night the VGK power play had a lot of quality zone time and great puck movement. They scored twice on the power play and created a lot of Grade A scoring chances with the man advantage.

7:30 into the second period, the game everyone thought might break out did. And to the shock of absolutely no one, Evander Kane was at the center it. There was some back and forth between Kane and Valentine Zykov and toward the end of their shift, they came together inside the VGK blue line. Kane went after Zykov just missing with a vicious cross check. After some pushing and shoving, we had our first scrum of the night and both Zykov and Kane got 2 for roughing. On the ensuing 4-on-4, Marchessault made it 3-0 VGK when he chipped the puck past the $14.5-million Shark, raced down the left side, and beat Jones to the glove side. You remember Jones’ glove side from the last article I wrote, don’t you? Marchy got him again! Just like he got Quick in L.A. for the game-winner last week.

On the first shift after their roughing penalties were up, Kane went after Zykov again, challenging him to drop the gloves. Let me say this right here right now. That was a total chickenshit move by Kane.

Let me explain. There’s a code in hockey. Call it an unwritten rule, whatever you want. Fighters fight other fighters and non-fighters fight each other. Zykov has played 40 NHL games and has 4 penalty minutes. He has been in exactly 3 fights in his entire hockey life at any level. Kane, on the other hand, has about 30 fights in the NHL alone. He knew that he was going after a non-fighter and chose to do it anyway. Zykov to his credit acquitted himself well. He didn’t back down one step and did as best as he could against an experienced NHL fighter.

But back to Kane, don’t think for one minute that note wasn’t taken of this blatant “code violation.” I guarantee that payback is coming for Kane. And if I were a gambling man, my money would say that payback wears 75 on his jersey.

Less than a minute after the fighting majors expired, Schuldt made a great bank pass (around the $14.5-million Shark) to Pacioretty at the blueline. Pacioretty found Mark Stone cutting through the slot and Stone buried high glove side over Jones to make it 4-0 at 16:09. That effectively ended the night for Jones and the game for the Sharks. Shots on goal in the 2^nd, 12-7 in favor of the Sharks. But hey, 3 goals on 7 shots isn’t too bad, is it?

You already know my donut breakfast got ruined at 1:10 of the 3^rd. The VGK got that goal back 2:21 later, on the power play, when Riley Smith tipped in a shot pass from William Karlsson. That was it for scoring, but hardly the end of the hostilities.

The Sharks spent the rest of the period taking runs at VGK players, taking stupid penalties, and embarrassing themselves in front of an exhibition game record 18,131 fans at the Fortress.

114 minutes of penalties in an exhibition game is absurd. But the Sharks earned everyone of theirs, including 3 for abuse of an official. Among those, Kane accidentally (?) slashed a linesman, then shoved him when he was being separated in another scrum. I really don’t want him to be suspended for Wednesday night’s home opener. But I have a sneaking suspicion the league office will be taking a look. Credit the VGK for standing their ground every single time and not getting suckered into stupid meaningless fights. Because after all, it was only an exhibition game.

A couple of quick thoughts from the couch:

Jimmy Schuldt had his best game of the preseason. Sound in the D zone. A bomb from the point for the game-winning goal and a great secondary assist on Stone’s goal and +2 for the night.

The Flower was rock solid making, 38 saves on 39 shots.

My three stars: Marchessault, Fleury, and the entire 4^th line.

Wednesday can’t come fast enough! It’s finally Knight time!