VGK Play Well; LB Plays Better

The Vegas Golden Knights played a good game last night against the Edmonton Oilers, but Laurent Brossoit played better. He held down the high-flying Edmonton Oilers and kept Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl off of the scoresheet to preserve a shutout in the VGK 4-0 win in Edmonton.

The win keeps Vegas’s perched on top of the Pacific Division in the first of the 7 games that remain on their February schedule; they play 5 Pacific Division teams and the other 2 against the team that most likely stands in their way to the Stanley Cup Final, the Colorado Avalanche.

This was the 2nd game that Vegas has held both McDavid and Draisaitl off the scoresheet. McDavid didn’t have a shot on goal until 45:05 into the game. Both of these players wound up with a minus 2 for the night.

Edmonton had more jump in their legs at the start, but Laurent Brossoit played a whale of a game, especially in the first period, on his way to his first shutout as a Vegas Golden Knight and his 3rd career shutout, which came against his former team.

Vegas maximized their shots, with 2 goals on 6 shots, 3 goals on 9 shots, and 4 goals on their first 8 shots on Edmonton’s goaltender Mike Smith, who was returning to the lineup after being injured on Dec. 31 vs. the NJ Devils. He did return to play one game on Jan 5 vs. Toronto and re-injured himself and hadn’t played since then. His rust was on full display last night, not to mention not getting any help defensively for his teammates.

Brett Howden, who is on fire, scored the first and only goal Vegas needed last night and now has scored in 4 straight games, with 7 points in his last 7 games (4G, 3A). His goal streak is a career high and his production has made the 4th line of Roy, Howden, and Carrier a testament to the depth of this team going forward.

Eight players registered 10 points last night and the Misfit line of Smith, Karlsson, and Marchessault had 5 points. Reilly Smith blocked a shot on the penalty kill, then beat the rest of the Oilers back down the ice toward the other Smith. His last-second cross-ice pass to William Karlsson set up the shorthanded goal, their 2nd in back-to-back games and the team’s 8th of the season, which leads the league. The average shorthanded goals this season team wise is 3.6. Vegas has more than double the average.

The VGK were dominant at T-Mobile in their first four seasons, but aren’t experiencing the same success rate this year. Vegas’ win last night was their 28th of the season. They have won 14 at T-Mobile and 14 on the road. Is this a blessing in disguise? Winning on the road is a formula for a successful deep run in the playoffs.

Keep in mind they’re doing this without Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, and Zach Whitecloud; while Max Pacioretty hasn’t scored in his last 9 games.

A key factor in keeping McDavid and Draisaitl scoreless last night was the gaps that the VGK defenseman were using. With their speed, you have 2 choices: pick them up early in the neutral zone before they turn on their speed or back up and try to limit their ability to use their speed to skate around you. The latter choice is dangerous, as they have both the speed and the skill set to catch you flat-footed as you’re skating backwards.

Last night Brayden McNabb cut off McDavid in the neutral zone and he looked surprised at McNabb’s aggressive decision. One other time Shea Theodore wound up taking the body on McDavid, which resulted in a penalty that most other players would not draw. But the superstars of the NHL get the benefit of the doubt from the officials, most of whom aren’t used to seeing players get in front of and stopping McDavid. It was a good play by Theodore and it paid dividends with the shorthanded goal.

Alex Pietrangelo has been as steady as you can ask and he scored his 7th goal of the season on a nice zone entry by Jonathan Marchessault. Marchessault entered the zone before the puck, but having full control of the puck, he was not offside. This seemed to fool the Edmonton defenders who cheated toward him. Marchessault used the open ice created by this to find Pietrangelo streaking down the center. Petro fired a laser past Smith for the 3-0 lead. It was Pietrangelo’s 500th NHL point. He is the 13th active defenseman to register 500 points. He is also the 4th defenseman from the 2008 entry draft to accomplish this milestone. Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and John Karlsson are the other 3.

Other game notes and quotes.

The most hated man at T-Mobile, Evander Kane, who now plays for the Edmonton Oilers, had a game-high 5 shots on goal.

First goals of the games, especially on the road, are important and Edmonton has given up the first goal in 13 of their last 15 games, plus the Oilers have allowed the first goal in 28 of their past 34 games.

Three players have worn #21 for the VGK: Cody Eakin, Nick Cousin, and now Brett Howden. Who in your opinion has made the most of wearing #21?

VGK blocked 26 shots last night, many in the early stages of the game when Vegas had to withstand the Edmonton 1st period push. The biggest of the 26 was Reilly Smith’s block on the PK.

Vegas is now 20-1 when leading going into the 3rd period. Their only loss was blowing the 3-0 lead to Pittsburgh on Jan 17 at T-Mobile.

“I was definitely juiced up to play this one,” Brossoit said. “I don’t think I’ve won against Edmonton since moving on from them, so it felt nice to win. Getting the shutout meant even more.”

“They pushed in the first period and got me into the game quite a bit,” Brossoit said. “I had the bulk of my work in the first and whenever I get a few shots and a few saves in the first period, I get into a bit of rhythm. In the second half of the game, the guys shut it down and frustrated them.”

“You have to give them credit. I thought they were really good the first 10 minutes, and I thought we kind of worked our way into the game,” Coach DeBoer said. “Our best player early was our goalie, and once we got our legs going and got up to speed, I liked a lot of things about the rest of the night.”

Ryan Reaves and Cody Glass were moved to lighten up the cap space for the VGK. Reaves has 2 goals and Cody Glass has zero points this season. Brett Howden took Ryan Reaves’ spot on the 4th line. He might be the VGK’s best find since Chandler Stephenson was acquired for a 5th round draft pick.

Just to reemphasize the accomplishments of the VGK in regard to keeping McDavid and Draisaitl off the scoresheet in their last 2 games vs. Vegas, have a look at their scoring stats. Draisaitl is second in the NHL with 63 points (32 goals, 31 assists) and McDavid is tied with Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri for third with 60 (23 goals, 37 assists).

My 3 stars of the Game: Laurent Brossoit (stopping all 28 shots he faced and holding down the fort until Vegas got their legs moving), Reilly Smith (1G, 1A, and a +3 for the game), William Karlsson (1G, 1A, and a +2 for the game). My 3a star is Brett Howden (game-winning goal and he continues to make his addition to the lineup the McCrimmon steal of a deal).

Next game is tonight vs. Calgary at 6:30 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 at this link 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.

Howden’s game-winning goal
Karlsson’s shorthanded goal
Pietrangelo’s 500th NHL point