Knights on Ice — “You’re in the final four. Every team is good here.”

“Tonight, it just took us too long to get into the game, too long to get that energy, that fire, that bravado you need to play in these types of games,” Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “You’re in the final four. Every team is good here.”

True. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Dallas Stars to get into the game. In fact, John Klingberg scored on the Stars’ very first shot on Fleury just 2:36 in.

Some were surprised that the Flower was the starter in goal last night, since Dallas won by a score of 1-0. The Flower stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced for a respectful .960 save percentage and he deserved better than suffering his first loss in the 2020 playoffs.

On just about any other night that Fleury surrenders 1 goal, the VGK are most likely winning, but especially against the current Dallas Stars. Of the 4 teams left in the playoffs, they’ve given up on average 3.5 goals per game, the most of the four. But last night’s game was anything but average.

When Mark Stone doesn’t register a shot on goal the entire game and Nate Schmidt has a team-high 6, it’s clearly a strange night. Vegas registered only 4 shots on goal in the 2^nd period, which tied a VGK record for the least amount of shots taken in a period of a playoff game. Vegas had 48 shots in Game 6 against Vancouver and has averaged 39 shots on goal in their last 7 games.

Vegas has scored a single even-strength goal and just 2 goals in the last 4 games (not counting the 2 empty-net goals in Game 7). What has caused this lack of production, not only last night, but over the last 4 games? I wish I had the answer. I can tell you that the 7-game series against Vancouver was draining and having to play 3 games in 4 nights probably left them with heavy legs and low on fuel. They seemed to be one step slower than Dallas, who were playing their 3^rd game in 5 nights. The extra day of rest might have made the difference.

It wasn’t because the Dallas goaltender was standing on his head, like Thatcher Demko did in the last three games in the Vancouver series. Fleury was the better goaltender last night, as Dallas did a super job of clogging up the neutral zone, and their forecheck was head and shoulders better than Vegas’.

Did the 1-game suspension of Ryan Reaves have an impact? Not on the offensive side of the game, but Revo’s presence is important in the VGK forecheck, of which they had very little.

My opinion will either be proven correct or not in Game 2, when Revo returns and Jamie Benn might not be so aggressive with his style of play with Revo close by. Time will tell.

If you were wondering why Pete DeBoer went with Fleury last night, here’s his post-game explanation.

“I thought Fleury gave us the best chance to win tonight. He was fresh. He’s played well against Dallas (4-0-0 with Vegas prior to the loss) and he gave us a great game. I thought he was our best player. He gave us a chance to hang around when we didn’t deserve to be in the game early.”

This is the only playoff game in NHL history to end 1-0 with the goal scored on one of the first two shots and on the first shot by the winning team (since 1955-56).

The 25 shots on goal were the fewest this postseason for the Golden Knights, who had at least 33 in each of their prior nine games. 

My 3 Stars of the Game: The Dallas game plan of clogging up the neutral zone and stifling the speed of Vegas, Anton Khudobin (who stopped all 25 shots he faced and held off Vegas and their 3rd-period push), John Klingberg (GWG and the only goal scored in the entire 60 minutes)

The next game is tomorrow at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you can contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy or on Twitter @TheRealJoePane.

Klingberg’s winning goal

Khudobin’s save on Reilly Smith