The title is short for Flurries in the Morning, a Flurry of Goals in the Evening, and Another Win for Fleury
Yes, Las Vegas had snow flurries on Friday morning, somewhat for the Mojave Desert. But the flurry of goals last night was anything but rare; the VGK put six on the scoreboard on their way to the 6-3 win over Vancouver at T-Mobile.
In Wednesday’s game vs. Calgary, Vegas scored seven goals. The 13 goals in their last two games were a response to being shutout at home on Monday night against Anaheim. The goal production is coming from the entire team.
Last night nine different players made the score sheet—almost a carbon copy of Wednesday’s game when 10 players up and down the lineup registered goals and assists.Last night, Vancouver tried to skate with the VGK, as opposed to the last two opponents, who attempted to slow the game down to a crawl. Anaheim was successful, but Calgary failed after Coach Gallant prepared his players. For a while in the first period, it seemed Vancouver’s game plan was working. Both teams were playing a wide open game and even though Tomas Hyka scored his first NHL goal just 2:29 into the game, giving Vegas the lead, Vancouver scored the next two goal to go ahead 2-1.
But then Vegas’ top line of Karlsson, Marchessault, and Smith once again became the force that rendered Vancouver’s attempt to skate with Vegas a mistake. The line combined for eight points between them, three goals and five assists. William Karlsson had goals 32 and 33, plus an assist, while Reilly Smith had a career-high three assists and Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist.
Karlsson’s first goal came with just over five minutes left in the first and a mere 51 seconds after Vancouver took the lead with two goals in two minutes and 18 seconds. That was the only lead Vancouver had for the rest of the game; Karlsson scored to the tie it up 2-2 at the end of the first period. It was an entertaining first for the fans, but I’m sure Coach Gallant wasn’t happy with the tempo of the first period, which was more like a pond hockey game.
The second period was all Vegas. They took complete control of the game and gave Vancouver a lot of trouble with their speed and stretch passes out of the zone. Vegas scored three unanswered goals to take a commanding 5-2 lead into the third period. Anaheim took that part of the game away from Vegas on Monday night; last night Vancouver fell victim to that part of the game.
Vegas has been giving other teams trouble with their quickness, but it’s no suprise the Knights will do. For almost all of their 60 games, they’ve roll four lines all night long, every one of which has speed and plays all 200 feet of the ice. For a fan it’s entertaining to watch, especially at T-Mobile, where the speed of the game is much more evident than watching it on TV. It’s not so entertaining for the other teams, who haven’t yet figured out how to combat their style.
Come playoff time, the other teams, especially in the Western Conference, which are for the most part big heavy teams will attempt to be physical with Vegas. GM George McPhee knows this, so Vegas wasn’t shy about standing pat with their current lineup. They’ve acquired Ryan Reaves and a 2018 fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft from Pittsburgh. In return, Vegas sends Tobias Lindberg to Pittsburgh.
Reaves wasn’t acquired for his scoring ability, as this year he has eight points on four goals and four assists in the 58 games that he’s played with Pittsburgh. Reaves is here for the sole purpose to make sure no opponents take liberties with any of the VGK’s top forwards. In a career that spanned 477 games with St. Louis, he collected 59 points (31G and 28A). And he had a whopping 779 minutes in penalty time. Thanks to Reaves, the VGK has just became a team with some added toughness and grit.
While also keeping an eye on his Vegas teammates on the ice, the opposing teams will not be skating with total freedom, knowing that Reaves will be out there to separate them from the puck and not with a fancy stick check—you can count on that. Expect to see Reeves on the fourth line, creating energy for a team that already skates like the wind.
The VGK’s seven-game home stand ended last night, with Vegas winning five of the seven games. Their two losses were to the Flyers and the Ducks.
Fleury stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced in winning his 21st game of the season.
Fleury also has a two-game penalty streak going; last night, he took another minor for tripping. On Wednesday, he received a two-minute minor for roughing after throwing a few punches to the head of a Calgary player who kept jabbing at Fleury’s glove, even though he clearly had the puck covered and the whistle had blown.
Last night’s win also moved Vegas back to the top of the entire NHL with 86 points. Tampa Bay has 85 points with the same amount of games played as Vegas.
Last night’s goal scorers: William Karlsson (32, 33), Tomas Hyka (1), Jonathan Marchessault (22) PP goal, Tomas Nosek (7), David Perron (15) empty net goal.
The VGK’s next two games are back-to-back against the L.A. Kings: Monday in Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday at T-Mobile, also at 7:30 p.m.
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