Brett Howden was acquired from the NY Rangers on July 17 of this year. The last goal he scored came a month ago on Nov16 vs. Carolina in a game that the VGK lost 4-2. Last night he scored the first VGK goal and assisted on Dylan Coghlan’s late 3rd period goal for the VGK 3-2 overtime/shootout victory. The 5-minute overtime period was nerve racking, with non-stop action and not one stoppage of play. Laurent Brossoit shined, turning aside multiple grade A scoring chances. LB was spectacular, sending the game to a shootout to determine who was going to get the 2 points and who would have to settle for the 1 consolation point awarded to the loser of the skills competition.
Once again Jonathan Marchessault was called upon as the last of the 3 shooters in the shootout. Nicolas Roy and Evgenii Dadonov failed to beat NY Ranger netminder Alexandar Georgiev in rounds 1 and 2 of the shootout. Marchessault scored and all Brossoit had to do was stop the last NY Ranger shooter Ryan Strome He did so and the VGK won their 4th game in a row and now the first 3 games of this 4-game road trip, which increases their record to 19-11-0. Not a bad record, especially when you consider that after the first 5 games of the season the VGK record was 1-4. So, in the last 25 games the VGK are 18-7-0, a .720 winning percentage. They sit in 2nd place in the Pacific Division, just 2 points behind division-leading Anaheim with Vegas having played 2 less games.
Vegas had a strong first period and led 1-0 after the first 20 minutes. The Rangers came out for the 2nd period with a different approach and started dictating the play, with an 11-4 shot advantage in the period. Zibanejad used Zach Whitecloud as a screen, firing a shot between his legs just 17 seconds into the period; Brossoit never saw it. That tied the game. When Kris Kreider scored a power-play goal halfway through the period, the Rangers had their first lead of the game, 2-1, which they took into the 3rd period.
The VGK, playing their 6th period in the last 24 hours, dug deep and found that extra push that was going to be required to win this game or at least get it to overtime. They took control of the game, as the Rangers seemed content to sit on a 1-goal lead. New York had 2 shots on goal for the entire 20 minutes. The VGK had 11.
With just over 5 minutes to go and Vegas still needing a goal to get it even, former NY Ranger Brett Howden won a key faceoff. The puck wound up on Dylan Coghlan’s stick at the blue line and with Mattias Janmark positioned in front of Georgiev, taking away his eyes, Coghlan’s shot puck flew past him and the Rangers’ decision to try to sit on a 1-goal lead created the opportunity for Vegas to find a way to win a game where they might have been playing on fumes. The VGK earned a much-needed day off today before they conclude these 4 games in 6-night road trip, not to mention the 3-hour time change.
Other notes and game quotes
“It was a pretty fun night,” Howden said. “Obviously, I was really happy we got the win. I think I’m probably playing some of my better hockey right now. I just want to keep building on that and keep trying to do the right things.”
When former VGK coach Gerard Gallant was asked about facing his former team for the first time, he said, “Nothing changed, really. It wasn’t like it was two months ago. It was two years ago. I know a lot of players there very well. It was fun. I enjoyed it. ”
Golden Knights Coach Peter DeBoer said about Howden, “Anytime you’re playing against your old team, there’s always extra motivation, but that doesn’t happen by accident. I think he’s worked to have the success he’s having, and it hasn’t been easy, and it hasn’t been given to him. He’s earning the shifts and the opportunities he’s getting.”
When asked about the last 2 games, DeBoer said, “I saw us running out of gas a little bit, but I really liked our first period. You have to give the Rangers credit. I thought Zibanejad’s line, particularly, took a step in the second period and they had us on our heels there for a good chunk in the middle of that game.”
Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo’s five-game point streak ended.
Rangers forward Ryan Reaves had six hits in 10:33 of ice time. Once again, the VGK only had 12 hits total in 65 minutes of play. This trend continues and there is no explanation that makes sense unless you want to say they are trying to avoid any additional injuries.
In a game that everyone was focused on Gallant and Reaves, a young 23-year-old kid and a 1st round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2016 draft was the story of the night on HOW-DEN do you beat the NY Rangers.
My 3 stars of the game: Brett Howden (1G, 1A and a key faceoff win that set up Coghlan’s tying goal late in the 3rd period), Dylan Coghlan (game tying goal and his 2nd in back-to-back nights), Laurent Brossoit (stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced and was perfect in the 5-minute OT and the shootout)
Next game is tomorrow vs. the NY Islanders at UBS arena at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. The VGK return to Las Vegas immediately following Sunday’s game which concludes this 4-game east coast road trip
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
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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.
Brett Howden opens the scoring
Kreider’s PPG for the 2-1 Ranger lead
Coghlan’s goal that tied the game
Marchessault’s shootout winner
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Johnny Lawless sent this opinion in
I would have liked to see Howden play a bit more. He had the least ice time of anyone.
Johnny
Keep in mind that with Howden playing on the 4th line his ice time along with his linemates will be among the lowest of the 12 forwards playing in the game. It’s just the way it works out coaches tend to play their top 6 forwards more when they are trailing in a game. but Howden did make a case for earning more ice time especially in last night’s game.
Joe P.
Howden is horrible..He had 16 goals in 178 games with the Rangers over 3 seasons..He had plenty of chances with them playing on the 2nd line , then down to the 3rd line and finally the 4th line..His only goal last year was an empty netter..In 42 games !!
Well Ed he has made the most of his 3 goals with the VGK so far this year. I’m a Ranger fan also besides a VGK and prior to this season the NY Rangers we’re not that strong of a team. But under Gallant they are playing much better. You are only as good as your team is
Howden is on a good team and subject to 4th line minutes so his ice time is limited
Joe P.
Hey Joe.
How do you feel after a game with so many changes. Vegas dominates the first period and Rangers the second. In the third period it seemed like both DeBoer and Gallant gave the order “cease-fire” in the dressing room before the third.
If it was a boxing match, Vegas won the first round, Rangers won the second and the VGK should have won the third. They had Rangers up against the ropes but couldn´t finish them off.
The OT and the penalty-shots were more like “If you´re going to win you must do it by a KO”. Then the sluggerfest begins.
The goalies never lets their guard down until the smallest boxer get his chance. Unlike the other shooters he´s a “north-paw” and he finish the match with a KO punch.
The Travelling Wilburys have done a decent tour so far. Tomorrow it´s the “End Of The Line” when playing at the new Islanders arena and let us hope that Lehner isn´t overwhelmed with emotions as the puck´s dropped.
Hey Joe.
Thanks for sharing your inside knowledge.
As I wrote after the win against Boston, normally you can´t win a game without winning the face-offs. At least having a decent winning percentage, around 45 to 50 is ok.
In the O-zone Vegas was 6-22 27% and that´s not acceptable for a good team as the VGK is.
In the D-zone they were 9-16 56% and that´s a proof of what the can do. Totally they were 23-59 39%.
In Rangers Zibanejad won 79% just like Bergeron in Boston had against VGK. Maybe it´s good for Vegas if if other teams topcenters dominate the face-offs. 😉
How good wasn´t it to be wrong again with all that numbers when Howcen wins the face-off against Zibanejad.
The puck goes back the blueline and lo and behold it´s Hague standing there and he just stretches his arm out.
He´s about to cover half the blueline, in the meantime a Ranger forward takes a chance to reach the puck before Hague does.
By then he leaves Coghlan unmarked and Hague just flips to him. With a little help from his friend Janmark who does a “Holmstrom”
in front of the goal, Coghlan “SHOOTS AND HE SCORES”.
All that happens because they don´t give up!
Brossoit was good except for the first goal whe he was a little bit asleep. He´s a really good back-up.
The first goal was the fruit of a really bad play by McNabb. Unforced he took a long time to make the play and it turned out to be a costly turnover that Mr U No Hu would be proud of.
Well he made a few of them himself. He set a new record of three (3) in one shift and two of those were in the range of two or three seconds. It`s one week till Christmas but he´s giving them presents now!
I´m not screaming anymore when he´s doing his “presents to all and everyone” thing because he can´t hear me but my neighbors can.
It was fun to see that both teams wanted to win. The audience at the MSG made their voices heard until Marchy silenced them.