All sports fans, especially football fans, are aware of the Bible verse John 3:16, which reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Well, VGK fans may also believe, not only in that verse, but in David 34:9 as well.
You see, last night’s game saw divine intervention that got the Knights their 34th win of the season. David Perron’s goal came with only 1:03 left in overtime in their 9th OT game that they’ve won either during the five-minute period or the shootout.
It was a goal that should have never happened, as it appeared that the Winnipeg Jets had scored in OT, not just once but at least three different times. How the puck remained out of the net I’m not sure, and neither were the Winnipeg players who raised their sticks in celebration. Even the VGK announcer said the goal was scored. Intervention from above? Who knows. But those who have been following this team know that the impossible is always possible.
The Knights lead the Western Conference by three points with two games in hand on the second-place team Winnipeg Jets. They also lead the Pacific Division by an astonishing 12 points. This is a team on a mission, castoffs winning games after game, at home and on the road, including some they shouldn’t be winning— especially last night’s game.
The team they beat last night is one of the hottest in the league. Last night’s loss at home was only the second loss in the Jets’ last 16 home games. The Jets were 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Both VGK and the Jets are this year’s NHL surprises. Last season, the Jets ended the season with a record of 40-35-7 and wound up in 8th place overall in the Western Conference. This year they’ve vastly improved to 30-13-9 so far and are in first place in the Central Division.
The VGK, at 34-12-4, isn’t what anyone could have projected this far into the season. Well, maybe Someone, could but He rarely speaks; He just listens most of the time to those who need Him.
In last night’s game, the VGK power play, which has been a force of late, once again scored a PPG to take a 2-1 lead into the third period, while their penalty-killing unit, which has been the team’s shining star, came through with a game- changing momentum swing when Reilly Smith scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 1-1 and take the wind out of the Winnipeg Jets, who up to that point were dominating play.
Marc Andre Fleury made an uncharacteristic mistake in handling the puck behind the net, the reason the Jets led the game. Winnipeg’s Joel Armia scored into a completely empty net as Fleury was still behind the net. But a small gaff like this doesn’t tarnish what Fleury brings to this team. His record is 14-4-2, with a Goals Against Average of 1.72 and a .942 save percentage.
Both David Perron and Erik Haula continue their point-scoring streaks at seven games each, with Haula having goals in four straight games. Perron has scored 10 points in his last seven games, with four goals and six assists, and 17 points in his last 16 games, with six goals and 11 assists. Last night’s winning goal by Perron was his fourth winning goal this season.
On the winning goal by my observation, the Jets were completely gassed as they’d spent most of the time in their VGK zone with multiple scoring chances that seemed to refuse to go in. Dustin Byfuglien, a defensman who moments before Perron’s goal was deep in the VGK zone in front of the net, had to skate almost the complete length of the ice when the puck went back deep into the Jets’ zone. Byfuglein simply didn’t have the energy to challenge or attempt to block the shot by Perron, who circled out from behind the net. If it wasn’t divine intervention, it was just no fuel left in the tank for the entire Jets team, who seemed to have won the game in OT multiple times last night.
The VGK so far are 2-0 on this road trip and have a back-to-back game tonight as they face off against the Minnesota Wild. Game time is 5 p.m. Pacific time, followed by an afternoon game on Sunday vs. Washington. That will make it three games in four nights, with a very short turnaround time due to the early start to Sunday’s game. These next two games won’t be easy, especially considering the travel required and the times of the games.
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