The VGK played well last night, but not well enough to beat the defending Stanley Cup Champions Tampa Bay Lightning.
Considering the circumstances, you would not be wrong to give the VGK a pass on their 4-3 loss, but when you look at how Vegas held Tampa Bay to just 19 shots for the entire game while Vegas had more than double that with 39 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy, you would expect a different result. I can tell you that the way Vegas played last night, the result would have been different against 28 of the other 31 NHL teams. But Tampa Bay is elite. You don’t win back-to-back Stanley Cups in this current NHL unless you’re a juggernaut and Tampa Bay is just that.
Vegas led by 3-1 with 2:53 left in the 2nd period and then the roof caved in. Tampa Bay scored 2 goals just 42 seconds apart to tie the game at 3-3.
Vegas controlled much of the action and seemed to have the puck all the time. Tampa Bay managed only 9 shots on goal in the first 35 minutes of the game They scored 2 goals on just 11 shots and wound up with 4 goals on 19 shots against Laurent Brossoit, who was in the net, replacing Robin Lehner, who didn’t even dress for the game. Coach DeBoer explained that Robin tweaked something in the NY Islander game on Sunday. Losing Robin Lehner for this game was crucial.
The other circumstances that added to the problem consisted of injuries. Both Alex Pietrangelo and Evgenii Dadonov were unavailable due to positive COVID results. Nicolas Hague was sidelined with an undisclosed injury and Mark Stone sat down after 2:45 in the second period. Stone scored 2 goals in just 7:47 of ice time. DeBoer stated in his post-game comments that they shut Stone down and didn’t want to risk any further injury, knowing the team had at least 5 days off for the Christmas break after the NHL canceled all games until Monday at the earliest. The VGK’s scheduled game against the LA Kings on Thursday has been postponed.
The winning goal was scored on the power play by Steven Stamkos from his office in the left faceoff circle on a one-timer off of a cross-ice pass from Victor Hedman. With Pietrangelo and Hague and Stone out, their long sticks could have prevented that pass or at least taken away Hedman’s passing lane, along with the shot that everyone in the building knew was coming. But with Whitecloud, McNabb, Roy, and Carrier on the ice, the long sticks that would have been key were missing.
Speaking of the power play, the VGK’s seems to have returned to some sense of normalcy. Mark Stone’s power-play goal that tied the game up at 1-1 was their 7th PPG in the last 7 games. Vegas has gone 7 for their last 19 power-play chances for a very respectful 36.8% conversion rate. If Vegas has any intentions of going deep in the playoffs, this will be a key. Their anemic power play was the main reason they didn’t advance to the Stanley Cup Final against Tampa Bay.
Other game notes and quotes
“That was tough. I thought we had a solid second period. We just let it slip in the final two minutes,” Theodore said. “We all know they’re going to play hard, and we have to be a little more ready for that.”
“It’s disappointing not to win. I thought we put a lot of effort and work in that game,” DeBoer said. “I’m proud of our group. We’ve been dealt adversity since day one. We haven’t made excuses.”
William Karlsson played his 300th game with the VGK last night. He joins Jonathan Marchessault with 307 games and Brayden McNabb with 301.
Speaking of original Misfits, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, a key part of the 2017-2018 VGK, returned to T-Mobile last night with another team. He played the last 2 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and this season he’s with the Bay Lightning. Bellemare has 5 goals against the VGK in 11 games. What is it with former VGK players having a number of goals against the VGK? In 148 games with the VGK, Bellemare scored just 12 goals. The other former VGK who seems to score at will against the VGK is David Perron, who in the 16 games he has played against the VGK has scored 5 goals and has 7 assists.
My 3 stars of the game: Andrei Vasilevskiy (stopped 36 of the 39 shots he faced), Mark Stone (somehow found 2 goals in just 7:47 of ice time), Steven Stamkos (PPG and the GWG)
Next game is scheduled for Monday Dec 27th vs. Colorado at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.
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
For more VGK content check out the (Hockey Knights in Vegas) Podcast that can be found on YouTube.com or on my Facebook page
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.
Stone’s PPG that tied the game at 1-1
Stone’s goal for the 2-1 VGK lead
Stamkos PPG and the GWG
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Hey Joe.
We were ready for a loss to one of the best teams in the NHL. Tampa were rested as they hadn´t played since last thursday.
The first 35 minutes was fantastic to watch. The VGK was to good to be true, and it was to good to be true as it almost always is.
These 35 minutes were the best the Golden Knights had played this season.
And all that without Lehner, Pietrangelo, Hague, Dadonov, Martinez and Eichel. Then came the injury on Stone.
With five minutes left to play of the second period Vegas changed the approach to their gameplan against Tampa.
Suddenly they began losing the puck along the boards. There were almost no takeaways after Stones departure.
I said to Eva that “Vegas was back to the sloppy play in the D-zone that had lead to more than a few losses earlier this season. This is not a good sign for the rest of the game”.
At the second Tampa goal Perry had the puck behind Vegas goal. All five VGK players was in front of the goal watching what Perry kept doing with the puck. The only player who didn´t just watch was Bellemare. When he got the puck he had all the time in the world to score. This was not the first time teams had scored on Vegas this season in just the same way. It doesn´t mather if it´s Lehner or Brossoit, the goalie is automatically deep in the goalcrease. Except for Vasilevski, he´s so good that Vegas must be pleased with scoring three times on him.
At the third goal Tampa scored, Stevenson stopped skating towards a lose puck deep in Vegas zone. That lead to some unfocused play by Vegas and it was easy for Tampa to score.
The fourth goal came on the Tampa PP. It was not the first time Stamkos finished off his work in his office on the left side of the corridor.
The “worldclass” play of Theodore was only a more than kind word from a coach who never will criticise his own players.
And he shouldn´t, that would be to much for a fragile player as Theodore. Even you must admit that, Joe.
Pietrangelo is a workhorse and eats minutes and ice from end to end. Without him the rest of the D-men can´t make mistakes against a good team as Tampa.
The team looked tired in the last 25 minutes, but they tried their best. Theodore and Coghlan must gain some weight in muscles.
They are too weak along the boards and in the man to man play.
I can´t ignore that Theodore is one of stars in the game. A lot of people are blinded by his slappers and his secondary assists but they don´t recognize his dismal play in the D-zone. A missed outlet play gets the team on it´s heels. It´s not only Shea who does it but he´s the only D-man except for Pietrangelo that get a star of the game.
The ref´s missed a penalty on Killorn late in the third period for the tripping on Hutton. That could have taken Vegas back in the game.
The face-off summary isn´t flattering for Vegas as they went 24 for 64. Winning 38% of the face-offs continues the trend of the season. Bellemare won 77% of his face-offs and all the other Tampa centers were over 60%.
As Eva said, “Vegas are playing better against top teams”, and I agree with her.
She also wishes to go to Las Vegas, not only for watching hockey but also for the climate and to visit casinos.
I want to go there to watch hockey at the Fortress and to be able to analyse a game IRL. And maybe be able to meet you and Eddie to discuss hockey eye to eye.
At first we were disappointed, but this game isn´t deciding the outcome of the season. It was just an entertaing game showing what Vegas can do against the SC champions for the last two years.
Thanks ,Joe for a nice article! Had wondered last night what had happened to Mark Stone. Now we know. MerryChristmas 🎄🎄🎄and a Happy New Year 🥳🧡🖤🇨🇦🍁
Joey Totaro wrote
10 for the last 30. 7 for the last 19 sounded better though.
Tonia Williams sent this in
Go Bolts ⚡️⚡️
Tonia Williams they were very opportunistic last night 4 goals on just 19 shots.
Joe P.
Travis Cox sent this opinion in
Unfortunately, the Knights’ GAA is atrocious. They can’t keep swapping scores with opponents like they’ve been doing.
Travis Cox it’s no longer the first team to 3 this season as usually 4 or 5 are needed.
Joe P.
Lynda Israel wrote
👍 Enjoy the break. 🎄
Lynda
It comes just at the right time there have been so many games bunched together that I needed a mini vacation. Happy Holidays to you and your family. Looking forward to a normal 2022
Joe P.
Ho Ho Ho Joe!
May the Intergalactical Santa come with an hyperintelligent solution to end this game-stopping plague called Covid-19.
I know it´s egoism at it´s worst kind, but my life is empty without a single game to watch. At the same time, I have been waiting for this to come. Its´s like Santa has post-poned his “Tour de Chimney”.
The last game I saw was Minnesota at Dallas and it was nothing worth watching for. I had no other choice.
Minnesota is a top team ranking wise and Dallas is a middle of the road team. One thing that they have in common, they have lost to Vegas a few weeks ago.
The WJC tournament starts dec 26th. It´s a must to watch despite the swedish commentators, one on the communist public service
TV-channel and the other guy is on the channel that broadcast the NHL games. They are screaming as if the great Covid-monster is after them, sneezing and coughing them in their faces. I don´t wish them that horrifying end of their life, but that would make them quiet for awhile.
They are unlistenable!
Are there any radio-channels or IRL podcasts who broadcasts the WJC that I can listen to in Sweden?
My brain works in mysterious ways. First Ho Ho Ho and then the tournament, in my mind that´s a wooden hockey stick from the 70`s.
KOHO Tournament Right 5, I used it for many years and it served me very well with more than 30 points and a 25-30 +/- almost every season through youth and junior teams as a D-man. And those numbers came without secondary assists.
Sadly it couldn´t help me to skate better. And I wasn´t fit enough to live up to expectations. A double-sided pneumonia as a 5 yo left scars on my lungs. I stopped playing when my playmaking skills and my shot didn´t give me enough advantage against other players strenght and quickness. My career ended after my first year in juniors.
There must be a lot of guys that have been in the same situation.
A popular Christmas present would be a fresh and healthy VGK team that can play a full 60 minute game against every other team like they did in the first 35 minutes against Tampa. I know it aint easy but you can always wish for it.
Eva and I wish you and all the other fans of the Vegas Golden Knights a
Merry Merry Christmas 🏒🏆⚔