Theoretically, the VGK still have a chance to make the playoffs.
In reality, they will not.
And for the 18,077 who painfully watched the most devastating loss in franchise history, it was ugly. Real ugly.
The score, 3-2 in favor of the NJ Devils, might make you think it was a nail-biter. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This was a game they had no business losing and every reason to win. This was a game they should have won; good teams almost always find a way to win. The VGK are a very fragile team. The NJ Devils had more urgency, more desire, and were willing to do whatever it took to win this game — just like any team fighting to get into the playoffs. Oh, wait. I’m sorry. The Devils have been eliminated from the playoffs. But they played like the VGK should have. All 3 NJ goals came off failure-to- clear-puck turnovers inside the VGK blueline, first by Brayden McNabb, then Ben Hutton, and finally Chandler Stephenson.
I’m at a loss as to what’s going wrong on a team with so much talent and $100 million in salary.
Was it the wrong goaltender in a must-win game? The VGK were rolling the dice in a town that was built on people trying to gamble against the house. The casinos keep getting bigger and brighter and richer as their patrons try to defy the odds. Prior to this game, Pete DeBoer had always been of the mindset that he plays those who give the team the best chance of winning. Well last night, he left the right goaltender on the bench for a pivotal game that the VGK could not afford to lose.
Once again, Robin Lehner looked lost. The first NJ goal could not be blamed on him totally, as it came off an egregious turnover and he made the initial save. But then he let the rebound sit right in front of the goal for an easy tap-in by Nathan Bastian. Even though the plays started with turnovers, the 2nd and 3rd goals fall squarely on Lehner’s glove and on the vast opening between his pads.
Andrew Hammond, the NJ goaltender, has played in only 15 NHL games since the 2016-17 season. The situation looked promising for the VGK before the puck was dropped. But as soon as Lehner dropped a puck out of his glove on a routine shot, then failed to cover the rebound, it was time to summon the Fat Lady to start singing.
Hammond clearly outplayed Robin Lehner, but that was rather easy last night. Hammond made 42 saves, while the VGK missed an ungodly 23 shots — not blocked, just missed the net completely — and NJ did block 24 shots. Meanwhile, a majority of the 42 shots on Hammond were low-quality into his chest or pads. The only high-danger chances were the multiple shots the VGK rang off the crossbar and post, but these are considered part of the goaltender’s equipment. There were scrambles in front of Hammond a few times who was down and out of position, but the Devils found a way to get bodies and sticks in front of these shots, until Hammond recovered his position.
The Devils played like they really needed this game to keep their playoff hopes alive, exactly what the 18,077 thought they were going to see from the VGK. They didn’t and now the end is near on a season that had so much promise, so much turmoil, and will create an interesting off-season, as the $100 million isn’t going away anytime soon. The goaltending saga will continue to be the topic of most concern in the off season as injuries heal.
Other game Notes and Quotes
Prior to the game, Eddie Rivkin and I cut another episode of “Hockey Knights In Vegas” where we made a friendly wager on whether or not the VGK will make the playoffs. A link to that podcast can be found at the bottom of this article and also on Las Vegas Advisor.com. One of us is considering a Go Fund Me Page to satisfy the wager. Who is it?
The only goal Vegas could get by Hammond in the first 58:46 of the game was credited to Keegan Kolesar as it went past Hammond off PK Subban’s skate. Pretty sad, when you have $100 million in salary and your only even-strength goal is scored by your 4th line player who has all of 7 goals for the entire season.
“For the first time, we need help from other teams. They’re going to need to lose. That’s just the way it is,” Marchessault said.
“It’s pretty simple: We’ve got to win them all,” DeBoer said. “We have no margin of error. That’s a tough way to play. … We don’t have the luxury to relax and play loose this time of the year. We’ve got to make sure we handle that and find a way to stick some pucks in the net.”
These following words should have been uttered by Pete DeBoer post game. Unfortunately, they came from the opposing coach.
“I really liked the desperation,” Lindy Ruff said. “The blocked shots. Five guys around the paint. The saves we got from our goaltender. Guys were standing up on the bench and were excited every time [Hammond] made a save or somebody blocked a shot.”
3 VGK Stars Of The Game: I could not find one
Next game is tomorrow vs. the Washington Capitals at 7 p.m. Pacific Time at T-Mobile.
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.
Devils open the scoring
The goal that was all Lehner’s fault
The GWG that Lehner never moved on
Never miss another post
Last night was truly humiliating. Our boys weren’t playing against “bottom feeders”, as some have suggested; but instead, became bottom feeders– scrambling desperately for the baited hook.
Does it bother anyone else that the final nail, in the season’s coffin, may come from Tom Wilson?
I will be Comfortably Numb for the game Wednesday. It’s almost the only way to deal…
Hummmm. After all of the huffing and puffing about what a great team the LVK were last year after their fluke win against the Avs, where are they now?
Hummm. The Avs easily lead the West and the LVK are out. Seems like it truly is easier to get there than to stay there.
Perhaps a little introspection is in order.
What is really starting to bother me is the missed shots. Can we change our strategy from bombing 3 pointers to jumpers in the paint to take an analogy from basketball.
Soooo many shots from high danger points sail over the net or three feet wide. Whitecloud shoots like Tuch. Even our skilled players couldn’t put it on net. So frustrating.
So true
Kevin Briggs wrote
Injuries… nuff said… lack of intensity… and too many turnovers… too many odd man rushes… could have been 6 -2
Antonio C Amante added this opinion
It’s over.
Christopher Couch sent this comment in
Disappointing result in a very disappointing season.
I said it back in October. There was something off about this team. I couldn’t put my finger on it, and still can’t. I never felt like the Knights were a threat.
Something has to change before next year.
Dave Schweiger added this
5 games left lol
Nick Steffen wrote this
Well, the VGK has gone from a bunch of castoff misfits that nobody expected to finish better than last place but ended up in the Stanley Cup Finals to a group of high paid big names that were expected to contend for the Cup and now in all likelihood won’t make the playoffs. There is a saying in the Jeep off-roading community that if it isn’t broke, fix it until it is. Seems like the VGK front office subscribes to the same philosophy.
Jason Eubanks responded to Nick
Nick Steffen What, you’re used to teams missing their 3 best offensive players, their two best defensive players and their starting goalie or having them play hurt for gigantic chunks of time being normal or predictable? And that’s only *half* the injuries they had to deal with this season. Do people not understand if Aaron Rodgers gets hurt the season is over for the Packers and nothing the coach or front office did or can do makes one bit of difference? If Mark Stone goes down at the start of the playoffs last season… just one player… we lose to Minnesota in round 1.
Nick Steffen responded
Jason Eubanks, I fully understand that injuries have been severely hampered the Knights this season. That doesn’t explain everything, at least in my opinion. We had basically the same players on the ice a few days ago against Calgary and played great. The last couple of games not so much. Their whole style of play has changed the last couple of years. I don’t know if it is the coaching, the players, a combination, or what. I guess we’ll see what if any changes are made in the off season.
Jason Eubanks responded to Nick
Nick Steffen Who played great against Calgary? Not Stone, not Pacioretty.
Lola Bettridge sent this in
Gone knights gone…..
Larry Loik added this
Sad
Allen A-z submitted this
Spot on as always. Great article. 👍
Jon Hardesty had this to say
Sure, quit last night, NJ sucks!!
Charlie Anzalone sent this in
💯
Eddie Rivkin sent this in
I just got off the phone with T-Mobile Arena. It is confirmed, Robin Leonard is still standing in the crease looking for the shooter that scored the third goal. WTF
Eddie Rivkin, I hope he is out of there by Wednesday 🙂
Joe P.
Eddie Rivkin responded
Joe Pane, they have brought in a forklift to remove the statue he is.
Eddie Rivkin must be a heavy-duty forklift.
The statues in the Forum shops do move better than he does.
Joe P.
Johnny Lawless has this opinion
It’s all trash. Burn it down. VGK took 44 shots. Eichel did not have one shot until the final 6 on 5. Pietrangelo looked lost on their 3d goal doing pirouettes.
Kevin Briggs sent this additional comment in
The biggest disappointment last night… fans leaving with 10 mins left in the 3rd… nice support Vegas… Grow up already
Yall say Vegas is a Hockeytown? Far from it
Yea! They’re still waiting for their Flower to come back.
Drew Thrasher had this to say about the coach
Deboer needs to go, he’s the problem!
Vickie Webb wrote this
As always, your report on the game is spot on. I was just telling my husband the same thing. I hope they take the off season to evaluate this mess.
Joe you said it all. I listened to it on my iPad and it was very disheartening., Guess I’ll cross my fingers!!🏒🥅🖤🧡🇨🇦🥇#you #
Bill Dickerson has this opinion
Talent only takes you so far. The style DeBoer plays doesn’t fit the players. You can either get players who fit or get a new coach. I think we have seen enough to know DeBoer is going to stay the course. If you get new players, you have to shed millions in cap before you can even add. So, you then have to make less cap room then you lost into an improvement. That is tough. So imo the logical thing to do is a coaching change. At this point, injuries aren’t the only excuse. You were in the playoffs on points percentage with stone, patches, Eichel, Marchy, Theodore, Pietrangelo, and Stephenson and fell on your face. I know stone and patches aren’t 100 percent but that is too much talent for this to happen.
Pull the trigger on Stone, Lehner and DeBoer.
The rest will get the message.
Why Stone? Bastard took my A Room table in Piero’s!
The first season the team all had to prove that they weren’t the crappy players given away to make a new team they had great chemistry and they were fun to watch. As with all sports players and coaches get traded away also injuries happen. We have had a run of real bad luck this year and had a lot of young AHL players coming up to help which kept us close but not enough to get in the playoffs. As far as RL goes he is not good for this team I hope Eichel doesn’t turn out like he is the star know it all as it takes a team to win. Maybe in their off time they can heal, with a few changes of players and coaching they can find their chemistry back and we make it to the cup.
Pete DeBoer going with Robin Lehner: “You’re looking for your guy to be better than the guy at the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
Kenneth going with Pete DeBoer: “You’re looking for your guy behind the bench to be better than the guy at the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
Kenneth going with Vegas forwards: “You’re looking for your guys to be better than the guys at the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
Kenneth going with Vegas D-men: “You’re looking for your guys to be better than the guys at the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
Kenneth going with Robin Lehner: “You’re looking for your guys to be better at helping you than the guys at the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
It is rather obvious that McCrimmon and DeBoer will play the “injuries get out of jail free card” at the end of this miserable season. But, is that really the primary reason why this team continues to regress? Is that the reason why the power play has been awful under DeBoer’s leadership?
The VGK faithful, those who believe in the VGK FO and DeBoer, are going to give them a pass (injury excuse) this year. As an expert armchair analyst, I have a completely different perspective, which is focused on issues that have plagued this team since DeBoer was hired and Gallant was fired. In the military and in the corporate world, leaders tend to overreact and implement knee jerk solutions to problems. This is exactly what I think happened after the 5 minute-not-a-major and subsequent factors that triggered the firing of Gallant, the dismantling of the original roster ending in the acquisition of Robin Lehner and trading away of Fleury for virtually nothing in return. After the 5-minute-not-a-major and 4 goals against, the front office was further shaken by the suspension of Nate Schmidt, the Billy Buckner faux pas moment, and a bad stretch of games when Fleury was dealing with the passing of his father.
The front office, shaken and stirred, panicked. They fired Gallant (there may be more to this than we know between McCrimmon and Gallant), hired the former head coach of our nemesis San Jose Sharks, and recklessly went out and brought in Robin Lehner. Robin’s had decent stats, but he’s never been able to find a home in his career and his off ice issues were well known at the time, although seemingly under control. It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to watch The Panda till I saw the obvious weaknesses in his game (inconsistent glove, poor lateral mobility, and an attitude that looks like he simply isn’t enjoying his job). Robin’s inability to stop odd man rushes and 1 on nones are just more negatives in his game. In hindsight, Robin’s a good 1B goaltender, and would make a very good backup. He’s not 1A starter material and certainly isn’t deserving of a long term $5 million per year contract. But, it is what it is now and VGK is stuck with it. Thankfully, Logan Thompson appears to be the real deal and should be starting all 5 remaining games, including the back-to-backs.
Let’s now talk about the DeBoer “System”. We’ve been witness to it now for several seasons. Like Rex Ryan of the NY Jets, PDB doesn’t seem to have the skills to adjust his game plan strategy to the roster, rather he forces the players to play his system even if they aren’t suited to it. In the case of Rex Ryan, he failed to adjust to the NFLs new rules of protecting QBs and WRs and instead stuck to the archaic ground and pound and rely on defense to win games. Pete DeBoer’s game plan is to pinch the D and cycle his forwards to the blue line in the offensive zone. That strategy might work when you have Forwards who are suited for that type of game plan (Ryan Getzlaf comes to mind). But the VGK top 6 are not 200ft players. The top 6 especially are getting worn out having to cycle in the o-zone and defend the NZ and d-zone. I think this is the primary reason for the lack of scoring. They’re simply getting worn out playing DeBoer’s system. When the D fails to score, like last night against NJ, it’s game over and we’ve seen this same result play out time and time again with the perfect example of it against Montreal in the playoffs last year with the Forwards all just out-of-gas trying to play DeBoer’s system.
This analysis is exactly why we’ve seen less production out of Karlsson and Smith. Marchy is better suited to the DeBoer system, but he’s just 1 forward and really the only one who hasn’t seen a drop off in production. Note, last night Eichel had 1 SOG. Over the past 12 periods Stone, Pacioretty and Stephenson were completely shut out by the opposition (until Patches scored with seconds left in the 3rd period).
DeBoer is not a good fit for this team, and Lehner isn’t the goalie that this team needs.
So, where do we go from here?
My dream headlines!
BREAKING NEWS. Foley fires McCrimmon and Deboer and brings up Manny to coach the remaining 5 games with Logan Thompson named as the starter.
Linda Ganz sent this in
I am speechless. I am just crushed for this team as a fan ❤️😢. My two cents: get rid of Lehner. Sign smith, janmark, fire Mccrimmon, get a #1 goalie, fire pp coach. Is it too much to ask to get maf back.
Larry Loik responded to Linda
Linda Ganz, you missed the most important part. Fire Mcfly. McCrimmon is only a puppet
Linda Ganz responded tp Larry
Larry Loik i guess I don’t know the inside of who’s who in admin. U think McFly and McCrimmon?
Larry Loik responded
Linda Ganz GM McPhee aka McFly is the real GM. McCrimmon is under him and just the face. McFly pulls the strings and makes the decisions
Linda Ganz added this to the conversation with Larry
Larry Loik thank u so much for clarification
Bryan Sandrock sent this comment in
Agreed. Maybe someone can teach our players how to properly setup in front of net to avoid situations where when we shoot, we are aiming right at their goalie. Setting up opposite the position of the puck allows for cross ice passes that cause the goalie to slide desperately which then allows the recipient of that pass an easier shot or a return pass to the other shooter opposite side for an easy tap in. They need to understand the physics of a rebound for a shot from an angle and where that puck will be so they are there instead of standing in front of the crease where the puck won’t be. So much to say… but you got it. Oh and that first goal on Lehner, I’d have to rewatch (painfully) but I think my thought at the time was that he was out of position on the initial shot which is why it was such an easy rebound to gather up. I could be wrong on that though, and I really don’t want to rewatch it. 🤦♂️
Kevin Logan had this comment
The Devils?? Really, they have not been a playoff contender since Oct!! WTF Knights!!!?
Jim Baxter has this opinion of their playoff hopes
If they make playoffs, won’t last the first
Round!
John Romeo sent this question and opinion in
So, what was the reason Debeor got fired from the Sharks?
He tells us if everyone follows the process, we will be fine. The process is not working.
Mike Maxwell had this to say
Lehner’s confidence has been an issue all year, although many have not noticed until recently. How many games has he let in multiple goals in rapid succession? If I went back, I bet at least a third of his games. He has no mobility, no lateral movement and is a rebound machine. Opposing players and coaches see this and use it against him. Now, he doesn’t seem to even know where the puck is. VGK players can’t relax and play their game knowing this, and trust me, they do see it.
Judy Kemnitz sent this opinion in
On the first period Lerner was way way out of the net, he should never do that!! Coach needs to tell him!!
Donnell Sablan added this to the conversation.
Heart over talent = needed on VGK.
Marie Archuletta-Nabit sent this in
Besides the lack of scoring there is an elephant in the room, and he needs to go🐼😫
Jon Misterek added this to the conversation
Next 5 win or GO HOME
Cori Barley wrote this
Well written! True article!
Pamela Ann sent this comment in
Article is dead on.
Connie Dallas sent this opinion in
They needed to win against the NJD…….they don’t have a prayer for the teams coming up. Let’s hope they put in some 2nd string players. js
Allen A-z had this to say
Spot on as always. Great article. 👍
Joanne Steagall wrote this
Months ago, I may or may not of said an intervention was needed for our goaltender and the next game he got a shutout. New it was a fluke but took the heat for my previous statement. Standing firm an intervention is needed! That game was hard to watch not only with goaltending but the continuous changing of the lines. If I was frustrated can only imagine what some of the healthy part of the team is feeling. Feel we are down at least one goal before the game even starts. Thanks for the great article, Joe.
Susan Vail added this comment
Keep the team. Get rid of the goalie who cannot seem to stop shots, and the coach, and let’s fire McCrimmon, who makes these awful decisions. If you want a championship team next season, start at the top
Degerman Noel added this and sent a link in about Montreal looking for a goaltender
Find a team to take Lehner…and take a serious look
reasonable salary cap hit 2.5 million and if can get fully healthy in off season has a good year or 2 still in him to groom Logan into our future #1
https://www.nhltraderumors.me/…/nhl-rumors-canadiens…
Don Berman sent this in
Oh my, the irony: while Lehner struggles, Fleury is leading the Wild into the playoffs. He is 6-1 since joining Minnesota.
Erik Fredrickson asked this question
They can’t afford to lose any more games. This roster and payroll shouldn’t be fighting be a last-minute playoff spot even with the injuries we’ve had. Think the coach survives a playoff miss? GM?
Erik Fredrickson yes, he will and its only because of the injuries. If they get off to a rocky start next season the leash will be short on PDB.
Joe P.