Getting a 21 is what everyone strives for in Las Vegas. Coach Gallant likes every win for which he’s behind the bench, but last night’s win, which brought the VGK record to 21-9-2, is a special kind of 21. Not to mention that the VGK owns an astounding record at home of 13-2-1.
The reason it’s so special is that it comes at the expense of the Florida Panthers, who fired Gallant from his head-coaching duties almost exactly a year ago. In the post-game press conference, he was deadpan, claiming it didn’t have any special meaning.
“I just coached another game,” he said. “It wasn’t much fun early when they went up 2-0. I thought it was a sloppy game the first half, and after that, I thought we played really well.”
But trust me when I tell you that behind closed doors, Gallant was tickled pink. Coaches are no different than players; they all love to win. And when it comes at the expense of a team they once coached or played for, it raises that bar.
It wasn’t an easy win for the Knights and Gallant as they trailed 2-0 when Florida scored two quick goals just 5 minutes and 13 seconds into the game.
Leads of 2-0 in the NHL are critical, because it just seems that the next goal scored will determine the emotions of the game. Scoring the third goal for a 3-0 lead will, for all intent and purposes, demoralize a team and make for a long evening of hockey. On the flip side, scoring the next goal to eliminate the shutout and cut the lead in half provides a much-needed input of confidence and emotion to the trailing team.
And that’s exactly what happened last night when the VGK made it 2-1. Then they scored the tying goal late in the first, all but seizing the momentum taking control of the game. The period ended tied at 2-2.
Even though the second period was scoreless, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort. The pace and speed of the game were turned up a few notches for both teams. You could tell that the VGK really wanted this win for the coach and they did their best to make it happen.
The Knights outshot the Panthers 40 to 18, limiting Florida’s shots on net to just two for the entire third period. You just can’t win games where you enter the third period tied and manage to generate a mere two shots in 20 minutes of play. When Florida pulled their goaltender with a little more than two minutes still to play, the VGK buried two goals into the unprotected net to make the final score 5-2. The VGK scored the five unanswered goals after giving up the first two.
Last night’s win brings the VGK record in December to 6-1-1. After losing their first game this month, our team has earned 13 of a possible 14 points in their last seven games.
James Neal scored his 16th goal of the season and leads the team.
This was Deryk Engelland’s 500th NHL game. Deryk became the face of this popular franchise when he gave a highly emotional pre-game speech to the home crowd at T-Mobile on the opening home game of the season and it appears the VGK are exactly what Las Vegas needed to move forward from the tragic events that occurred here on October 1.
Vegas continues to struggle on the power play, however; they were 0-for-4 in PP chances against the Panthers, while Florida score one PP goal in three attempts.
The Vegas hangover effect that Eddie Rivkin and I have noticed about teams having a few days off before playing in Las Vegas remains undefeated. Florida spent two days off before playing here. It’s not easy staying focused while here as a visitor.
Goal scores for the VGK: Schmidt (2), Miller (5), Haula (12), Marchessault (empty net, 11) Neal (empty net, 16).
The VGK’s next game is Tuesday night Dec. 19 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile.
Never miss another post