Yes, I know what you’re thinking: How can there be two former Golden Knights when this is the team’s first season? It seems unlikely for this to actually have happened, but it did. Both the goals that were scored in Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes were scored by Marcus Kruger and Trevor Van Riemsdyk, who were briefly on our team.
In Marcus Kruger’s case, he was acquired in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks on July 2, then traded two days later to Carolina. Trevor Van Riemsdyk, also one of the original expansion-draft selections from the Chicago Blackhawks, was traded the very next day to Carolina. In the expansion draft, there are always multiple reasons why certain players are selected and other reasons why teams leave certain players unprotected.
This was clearly the case with Marc-Andre Fleury, who was left unprotected by the Pittsburgh Penguins. A back-room deal made between Golden Knights’ General Manager George Mc Phee and the Penguins in which McPhee agreed to claim Fleury and not other players whom Pittsburgh left unprotected in exchange for additional draft picks for the VGK.
When the Penguins come to town on Thursday night, it should be an emotional night, not only for Fleury, but for many of the Penguins who played with him in multiple seasons and won three Stanley Cups together. I haven’t heard this for sure, but I would venture to say that Thursday night, the Penguins will present Marc-Andre with his Stanley Cup ring. If my guess is right and you happen to have tickets for Thursday’s game, you’re in for a special treat.
Fleury returned to the nets for the first time since he was injured on October 31. It didn’t appear that he was at all rusty from missing so many games. He seemed like his old self as as he was tested early by Carolina, who out-skated and out-played the VGK in the first period; this hasn’t been the case of late for the Knights, as they usually have a lot of jump in their legs from the opening face-off. Last night was an exception.
So the one point that the VGK did earn in the shootout loss was only because Fleury was back on top of his game. He made 35 saves on 37 shots, 15 in the third period. Though Carolina was the better team last night, Fleury came close to stealing the game for his team and the valuable 2 points that come along with the win.
With Tuesday’s shootout loss, the VGK have a record of 19-9-2. The loss was their first in the last five games. The last three home games have gone to overtime, which is a treat for the thousands of new hockey fans who are fortunate enough to have tickets to their home games. Even if you’re an old-time hockey fan, OT is special and now that the league has gone to three skaters versus three skaters, there’s usually nonstop action for the entire five minutes. The shootout, as I’ve mentioned before, has a lot of old-time hockey fans raising our eyebrows; it doesn’t seem like the best method for deciding a 65-minute game.
These three-point games create havoc for teams trying to create space between themselves and other teams in the conference. Tuesday’s game was against a team from the Eastern Conference, so the extra point won’t have a negative impact on the VGK.
On Carolina’s first goal, Kruger was standing in front of the net trying to impede McNabb’s breakout pass from behind the net. He was shaded a bit to Fleury’s left and had his stick extended, trying to make McNabb go around the boards with his pass and not allowing him an easy breakout pass up the center of the ice. Well, McNabb took the risky play instead of using the boards to break out and it cost him and Fleury. His pass hit Kruger’s stick and instead of going to the left or to the right or in any other direction going forward it took a unexpected path right back toward Fluery and beat him to his left side, giving Carolina the lead late in the first period.
The VGK’s Deryk Engelland scored 1:07 into the second period to tie the game at 1-1, but Carolina went back ahead 3:31 seconds later when former VGK Trevor Van Riemsdyk scored his first of the season. Actually, both former VGK scored their first goals of the season in this game. That makes this loss a little more difficult to accept.
Reilly Smith scored the last VGK goal of the game with 7:02 remaining in the second period. The third period was scoreless thanks to Fleury, which sent the game into OT. But in the shootout, each team scored one goal among the first three shooters. Both shooters going fourth failed to score. The fifth shooter for the VGK missed, after which Carolina’s fifth shooter, Phillip Di Giuseppe, finally beat Fleury for the Carolina win.
The VGK’s next game is Thursday at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile against the Stanley Cup champions. The game against Fleury’s old Pittsburgh Penguin team should prove to be an enjoyable evening for all fans attending.
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