Knights on Ice — Not So Fast, Marchy

On Friday before the team left for their first meeting of this season with the San Jose Sharks, Jonathan “Marchy” Marchessault said the rivalry between these 2 teams has cooled down. Not so fast, Jonathan.

I know you haven’t seen the Sharks for 418 days, so maybe it has slipped your mind? But yesterday it picked up right where it left off between these 2 teams that have a real dislike for each other. Especially Evander Kane, who was up to his usual chippy play. Kane took 3 minor penalties yesterday and the VGK capitalized on one to score a power-play goal on their way to a 3-1 win.

Vegas actually wound-up scoring 3 PPG in the game for the 6th time in franchise history. The last time Vegas scored more than 3 PPG in a game was exactly one year ago, 2/13/2020, when they scored 4 PPG against the St. Louis Blues on 5 power-play chances. Yesterday, the VGK scored 3 in 5 power play chances.

Marchy opened the scoring when he followed his original shot to the front of the net and while the puck was in midair, he knocked it past San Jose goaltender Martin Jones for a 1-0 lead. Marchy was slick enough to let the puck come down, so when he made contact, it was below the cross bar for a legal goal. The VGK are undefeated 9-0-0 when Marchy scores at least a point in the game. It was also his 3rd goal in the past 5 games.

Stone and Stephenson each added their own power play goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Stone’s was his 4th goal of the year and his 3rd game-winning goal. Stephenson’s power play goal in the 3rd period was his 4th goal in the last 4 games. All the VGK goals were scored from close in and this is exactly what Coach DeBoer is asking of his players: Get in front of the opposing goaltenders and create havoc. This style of play also leads to a few seeing eye goals and Chandler Stephenson’s 3rd period goal was exactly that, as the cross ice pass from Alex Tuch hit his skate and found its way into the net to regain the 2-goal lead after Tomas Hertl cut the 2-0 Vegas lead to 2-1.

Marc André Fleury started his 3rd consecutive game as Robin Lehner remains sidelined with what was originally classified as a “tweak,” but with Logan Thompson being called up from the Henderson Silver Knights, there’s a valid concern that this may be more than just a tweak. Logan is 3-0 with a .940 save percentage with the HSK. Vegas also called up forward Patrick Brown to fill in for the missing Tomas Nosek, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb as the injuries continue to prevent the VGK from having a full healthy roster. Despite this, they are an impressive 9-2-1 and were briefly back on top of the Honda West Division until St. Louis won last night in overtime against Arizona. Vegas is just one point behind St. Louis in 2nd place with 3 games in hand.

This was the 4th time this season that Flower has given up 1 goal or less. He is making a statement that he has a lot more left in the tank. He has only given up 7 goals in 11 games for a .924 save percentage and an impressive 1.58 GAA.

“It’s been about a year since I’ve had three games in a row,” said Fleury, who is 6-1-0 this season. “When you split [starts], you always get time for rest and to prepare for your next matchup. You feel the game a little better [playing more], feel more relaxed. You can feel more comfortable from the start.”

Back to Evander Kane and “picking his spots.” He engaged Ryan Reaves in a verbal spat that continued into the penalty box, but made sure to avoid Revo the rest of the game. Finally, with his team down 3-1 late in the game, Reilly Smith provided a better spot for him. According to Hockey Fights.com, Kane has 24 fights in the NHL and Reilly Smith has 2. So you can see that fighting is not part of Reilly’s game, while Kane is well versed in this department and engaging Reilly was not appreciated by the VGK.

Alex Tuch, who doesn’t say much, especially about other players, commented about how the entire team felt about Kane’s choice to jump Smith.

“Jumping a guy like Smitty, Evander’s got him by a few pounds, for sure. You know what? He’s going to have to keep his head up every game we play. For the next seven games, Evander better be looking over his shoulder, because a lot of guys are going to want to get him back for that.”

If Marchy really believed the passion between these teams has cooled down, the flame has been lit and its burning bright once again. Expect some fireworks when these 2 teams meet again on Feb 25 in San Jose.

Yesterday’s game marked the first-time coach DeBoer has faced his old team since being fired by the Sharks on Dec 11, 2019. This was the 32nd meeting of these 2 teams and DeBoer was behind the San Jose bench for the first 31. His first as the VGK coach was a satisfying win in a familiar place.

Keegan Kolesar, who has not scored his first NHL goal yet in 9 games this year and 10 games in his NHL career came really close a few times yesterday. He wound up with 4 SOG in 9:39 of ice time, along with 3 hits. Kolesar is looking very comfortable with his limited role and ice time so far this season

My 3 Stars of the Game: Chandler Stephenson (1PPG, 1), Mark Stone (GWG),
Alec Martinez (2PP assists)

The next game is today at 4 p.m. vs Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile. The VGK will play their next 4 games against Colorado on 2/14, 2/16, 2/20, and 2/22.

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

One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game?

Marchessault’s opening goal

Stephenson’s goal off his skate

Stone’s winning goal