In the Golden Knights’ last three games, the swings of emotions, particularly disappointment and sheer amazement, have been on the menu.
Their first game from their week off against Edmonton was a game they didn’t deserve the one point they were awarded. They looked slow and disorganized.
In the following game versus Nashville, which opened this road trip, they played well enough to win and pick up a valuable two points to extend their conference lead in the west and remain within striking distance of the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. Fleury was once again the world-class goaltender who came gift-wrapped from Pittsburgh. But the high-scoring Knights were held scoreless for only the second time this season. Since Fleury’s return from injured reserve, he’s been amazing.
So last night against Tampa Bay, back in nets looking to snap this little two-game losing streak was none other the Marc-Andre Fleury. He didn’t disappoint or put into question Gallant’s decision to come right back with Fleury instead of his number-two goaltender Malcolm Subban. Fleury was perfect five on five and the only puck that managed to get by him was a tick-tock goal that featured precision cross-ice passes before finding its way behind Fleury on a power play.
The Knights’ penalty-killing unit had been perfect in not allowing any power-play goals since these two teams met last on Dec 19th. Yes, one day shy of a month 10 games without giving up a power-play goal. But Ondrej Palat’s power-play goal last night was the only one Tampa Bay scored and it snapped the 10-game streak. It was the only thing the Lightning could raise their arms about.
Vegas had scored only four goals in the last three games, but it put to rest any panic about their lack of scoring with four goals and one 56 seconds into the game by James Neal his 19th. The quick start that we’ve gotten used to was back and when Nate Schmidt scored late in the first period, the #2 team overall had the #1 team overall concerned.
TB seemed to be suffering from the same effects as Vegas did coming back from their week off. Vegas was the quicker team and with their 30th win, they’ve become the fifth team to win 30 games in their inaugural NHL season.
Anaheim and Florida currently hold the record for most wins in their first season with 33 wins in 84 games. The current NHL schedule has the teams playing a season with 82 games, but the VGK still have 38 more games to play this season. It’s safe to say that Vegas will shatter that record, just like it continues to shatter 100-year-old records like it’s no big thing.
Tonight’s 4-1 win over Tampa Bay draws VGK even closer to becoming the number-one-ranked team in the NHL. This win also becomes the 15th in their last 19 games. Tampa Bay is 31-11-3, while the VGK is 30-11-3; they trail the league leaders by two points with one less game played.
Vegas also swept the season series vs. Tampa Bay 2-0, the first series sweep for the VGK in their history. This might not seem important now, but a few years from now while playing trivia, you’ll know the answer to the question. If you really want to impress your trivia friends, you can also add a caveat to the answer by saying they did this while Tampa Bay was the number-one team in the NHL.
Let’s be clear about this. Back in December, Tampa Bay swaggered into T-Mobile as the number-one team. They scored two quick power-play goals and led 2-0 before the butter lost its warmth on fans’ popcorn. It appeared that they’d swagger out of town with two points, but when Nate Schmidt scored with 2.3 seconds left in the game, it was the Golden Knights who swaggered out of T-Mobile.
There’s no doubt Tampa Bay had last night’s game circled on their calendar. They not only wanted revenge, but they were looking ahead to the playoffs and didn’t want Vegas to have any confidence about playing them. Yes, VGK fans, you’re allowed to envision this rematch in the post-season. It’s been a while since both of the number-one-ranked teams in the Eastern and Western Conference made it all the way to the final round for the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup. The only way now for Vegas and TB to meet again this season would be if they both win the first three rounds of their playoff series.
The hockey world, which is already in a state of shock already about the unexpected success of the Golden Knights more than halfway through their inaugural season, would be frozen in time if this actually happened.
And sure, that would be a dream, but aren’t we all taught it’s oaky to dream? Las Vegas is a town where dreams, even the wildest of them, can come true. Ask Chris Moneymaker if you doubt me.
Goal scorers for Vegas: James Neal (19), Nate Schmidt (3—and he once again scored the winning goal against TB), David Perron (10—a classic toe-drag goal; he also had an assist). William Karlsson (24) continues his torrid scoring pace. On Karlsson’s goal, Jonathan Marchessault won a clean faceoff and put the puck right on Karlsson’s stick; he didn’t miss as his one-timer was in the net before the goaltender had a chance to move.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves and is, without a doubt, one of the best players for Vegas. Pittsburgh is no doubt regretting their decision to expose him in the expansion draft.
It’s back-to-back games for Vegas, as they play the Florida Panthers today at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
See how this sounds: If Vegas beats Florida, they’ll be tied with Tampa Bay for the number-one team overall in the entire NHL.
It’s okay to dream. Chris Moneymaker was a rank amateur poker player who earned his seat in the World Series of Poker by winning a $40 satellite, then took down the championship against thousands of better players.
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