Knights on Ice — Déjà Vu All Over Again

Contributed by Eddie Rivkin

The VGK got totally dominated by the Sharks last night … in the faceoff circle. LOL.

Oh, and they got outshot too.

Neither of those facts really mean much of anything, as I’m sure you well know.

Please forgive me for the bad attempt at shock value.

As for the game itself, the VGK kicked the Shark’s ass up and down the ice for the second game in a row.

Once again, our favorite non-VGK goalie Martin Jones got things started for the Knights with a total softie at 5:01 of the first period. The Reaves-Nosek-Carrier line did what they do best, chip chase and wreak havoc on the forecheck. It paid off nicely with Carrier’s first of the season, beating Marty five hole. And just like opening night, the VGK were off to the races.

Jonathan Marchessault extended the lead to 2-0 at 14:09 with the help of the Sharks $19 million pair of D men, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. Together they coughed up the puck like my cat GG coughs up a furball. Marchy tipped in Shea Theodore’s wrister from the point. The raucous crowd in the Shark tank took their seats and the VGK finished a dominant period outshooting the Shark’s 13-9.

The second period was more of the same with the VGK dominating in all 3 zones. They dominated so completely that even when they were on the PK, they grew the lead. Arguably the best PK forward tandem in the NHL, Reilly Smith and Will Bill, combined on a great play to feed the streaking Brayden McNabb, who went top shelf short side at 15:22 to make it 3-0.

Just 1:28 later, Pirri and Nosek outhustled Joe Thornton to a loose puck and after Pirri banged one off the post, the rebound went in off Nosek, for his 1^st of the season. Another dominant period in the books for the VGK. Shots 23-15 after two periods. The sellout crowd at the Shark Tank sent their team to the locker room with a loud chorus of boos.

The game was, for all intents and purposes, over. And in what’s becoming a tradition in this rivalry, our guy Marty Jones’ night was over too. Pulled again after two periods for maybe the fifth time?

The only real questions going into the third period were: Is Flower going to get a shutout, even though we don’t get donuts? And would the Sharks revert to their typical cheap shots and dirty play after being dominated and run out of their own building?

After Nosek scored his second of the night, shorthanded, on a beautiful pass from Mark Stone to make it 5-0 at 9:10 of the third period, you could begin to tell the answer to #2 was going to be yes.

It took about 5 minutes to answer question #1 no, when the Sharks got on the board after a scramble in front of the net. It also confirmed question #2 when the only real scrum happened.

Sorenson cross-checked Nic Hague in the back to start things off. Equipment littered the ice. Thornton continued has pattern of sneaky dirty play, trying to rip the helmets off both Marchy and Karlsson during the scrum. And just for laughs, the Flower gave a Sharks player’s stick to a fan as a souvenir while the referees were sorting out the penalties. The scrum resulted in 5 misconducts. Two for the VGK and three for the Sharks.

So that’s pretty much it. The great rivalry really wasn’t much of one to start the season. It will certainly heat up around Thanksgiving if VGK enemy #1 Evander Kane can see his way to being in the lineup. But for now, it was two very dominating wins by the VGK.

My 3 Stars: Tomas Nosek (2G 1A), Mark Stone (2A and great work on the PK with Nosek), Marc-André Fleury (34 saves on 35 shots; 2 game total: 53 saves on 55 shots)

Bonus Stars: Martin Jones for ensuring the VGK got off to fast starts in both games and the crowd at the Shark Tank for being really quiet so I could concentrate on the game.

A couple of observations from my couch:

After two games, it’s clear the VGK are going to play this year with a chip on their shoulder. Not just against the Sharks either. Their intensity level was off the charts. I have a feeling that redemption is going to be a mantra/motivator this entire season.

Much was made of the VGK having a bad off season, losing key players and getting nothing in return, they wouldn’t be as good and would struggle, having to use kids in the lineup. Well, if two games are any indication, the joke is on the naysayers.

Next up, the Boston Bruins come to the Fortress on Tuesday night. I’m sure the VGK will be glad to play someone other than the Sharks, but I’m not sure why!

Joe Pane’s input from last night’s game:

I’m not really sure how to evaluate the results of yet another dominating performance by the VGK over the hated SJ Sharks. Someone at the NHL’s scheduling dept thought it would be a good idea to have the VGK open the season with back-to-back division games against the team that crushed their dreams of a deep playoff run for the 2018-2019 VGK — and those two were right after the last preseason game against the Sharks as well for the rivalry hat trick. Is the VGK 2019-2020 team better than last year’s team or are the Sharks being exposed as an inferior team when matched up against the VGK? I think you could have both opinions equally and no one would question you on either side.

Well, the NHL scheduling idea turned into a back-to-back series that may take the SJ Sharks weeks to recover from. We all know how last season ended and we all had to listen to the fans of the Sharks who were quick to remind us that our penalty killing unit combined with their power play was what caused the Sharks to overcome a 3-goal deficit late in the 3^rd period of game 7.

It didn’t sit well with the players and the VGK fans. At the charity golf tournament that was held right before training camp opened, I asked Alex Tuch if what happened in game 7 could have created a situation among the team where they might use that crushing defeat as motivation this season, maybe even draw on it, thus creating a chip on the shoulders of every player on the team. They clearly used that chip in their inaugural season for motivation. Tuch graciously sidestepped the question, which I knew he would, and just said they’ll treat every game in the same manner. It’s what he had to say, what he was supposed to say, but I along with anyone who follows this team knows there is and will always be a desire to amend what happened that unfortunate night in April.

Alex Tuch wasn’t available in the season opener and neither was Cody Eakin. Then after only 3 minutes and 11 seconds of ice time in the opening game, Nate Schmidt was also not available.

But that’s okay. The other 18 skaters are healthy and their shoulders, along with Marc-André Fleury’s, have their chips clearly visible. And their penalty killing unit has scored 3 shorthanded goals in the first 2 games while holding the San Jose power play scoreless in 10 power play chances, 0- 5 last night and 0-5 on Wednesday night. San Jose may want to consider refusing any future power play chances against Vegas.

Vegas also chipped in with 1 power play goal in Wednesday night’s opener and added 1 shorthanded goal to go along with their 2 shorthanded goals last night.

Even though their $11.5 million per year defenseman Erik Karlsson was back in the lineup after missing the opening game for a family matter, he was on the ice for 4 of the 5 VGK goals scored, including the 2 shorthanders. Let that sink in: $11.5 million. Some people in the hockey world had a vision that George McPhee would somehow get the Senators to ship Karlsson to Vegas. Thank you, Mr. McPhee, for having the vision to see that $11.5 or anywhere close to that number would never work with the chemistry this VGK team has. When you look at  the contracts issued to Stone and Pacioretty, Karlsson, Schmidt, Tuch, and Theodore, you start to realize that they’ll all be a bargain 2 to 3 years down the road, whereas the $11.5 million horse collar that San Jose has taken on will handcuff this team going forward.

In last night’s game Martin Jones was the goaltender we’ve grown to know and love when he is in goal against Vegas. He surrendered 4 goals on just 23 shots and was once again replaced in the 3^rd period by backup goaltender Aaron Dell.

Vegas has outscored San Jose in these first 2 games 9-2 and increased their impressive regular-season record to 7-1-2 in 2 seasons.

Fleury once again looked impressive last night, giving up 1 goal in each of these first 2 games. This was also Fleury’s 800^th NHL game.

Tomas Nosek scored 2 goals and had 1 assist for his first-ever 3-point game.

Mark Stone is off to an impressive start, adding 2 assists to go along with his 1 goal and 1 assist in Wednesday night’s game.

I would be remiss If I didn’t have a Nikita Gusev watch update. Gusev scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game at the age of 27 with the NJ Devils, who lost 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Tomas Nosek (2 goals, 1 assist, with one of the goals shorthanded and his even-strength goal was just as Brandon Pirri exited the penalty box), Mark Stone (2 assists; he always seems to have the puck on his stick and in good position), Marc-Andre Fleury (who had 19 saves just in the 3^rd period)

Things got a little testy right after San Jose scored their only goal, especially with Old Man Thornton, who seemed a little jelly about Karlsson flow, some say the best in the league, and he wanted a closer look at it. He ripped the helmet off of Wild Bill in the scrum. If you had a beard and hair like Thornton, you could not help being jelly about Wild Bill’s flow.

The best laugh of the night was Fleury giving Brent Burns’ stick to a fan after Burns dropped it to partake in the scrum. Burns was headed back to pick up his stick when the Flower beat him to it and passed it to a fan through a hole in the glass. Flower does make things interesting; if he’s not tickling the back of a player’s ear during a scrum or doing the wave with the crowd at T-Mobile. He’s a character

Next game is Tuesday Oct. 8 vs. Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile

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

The videos

Game recap

Fleury handing Burns’ stick to a fan