Last night in front of 17,819 at T-Mobile Arena, the VGK beat the San Jose Sharks for the 11th straight time by a score of 3-1. The game lacked any real emotion, especially on the part of the Sharks, who managed 17 shots on Robin Lehner. Lehner was making his return from the VGK never-ending injury list.
Of the 17, a generous 5 were high-danger. The VGK own an 18-1-3 record against San Jose during the regular season.
Is it just a coincidence that the VGK seem to do nothing but slice and dice Shark meat sushi style? The once-heated rivalry between these 2 teams has all but disappeared. Where is Evander Kane when you need some sort of drama to make these pivotal divisional games interesting?
A single penalty created the only power play of the game, even though, especially in the first period, it looked like Vegas was on a power play the entire time.
San Jose goaltender James Reimer kept his team from being blown out of the water. Vegas seemed to spend the entire first period launching shots in his direction. The only shot that he didn’t stop was from Keegan Kolesar, who scored his 6th goal of the season off a cross-ice pass from Brett Howden. Brett has been a pleasant surprise for the VGK this season. In his first 3 seasons in the NHL, he played with the NY Rangers and in 178 games scored 16 goals and was minus 29. This season, Howden has 8 goals and 19 points; he’s a plus 8 and has scored 2 game-winning goals in a season where wins haven’t come so easy for the VGK, unless of course they’re playing the San Jose Sharks.
Reimer left the game after the first period with an undisclosed lower-body injury, while Robin Lehner hardly broke a sweat. Reimer was replaced by Zach Sawchenko, who was playing in his 3rd NHL game. He has never started a game and his last 2 appearances have been in relief like last night. He was tagged for the loss when Noah Gregor scored the only San Jose goal that tied the game at 1-1 early in the 2nd period, taking Reimer off of the hook.
San Jose Head Coach Bob Boughner thought his team looked tired and attributed this to their recent schedule. “No excuses, but we’ve played a lot of games over a short amount of days. It’s been a grind. We weren’t heavy and hard enough. … I don’t think it was a lack of effort. I just think there was no juice in the tank.”
This may be a valid excuse, but the truth is, all 32 teams have similar schedules in the 82-game grind and it’s a level playing field. A team riddled with injuries like the VGK may have an excuse, but injuries are part of the game and you forge ahead and shine a spotlight on players like Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar.
What isn’t a coincidence for the VGK is the play of the Misfit line, which has been consistent since Gerald Gallant put them together in the 2017-18 season; prior to the arrival of Pacioretty and Stone, they were the #1 line. These 3 players had a lot to do with last night’s 3-1 win. Reilly Smith had 2 goals, one the game-winner; Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson had 2 assists. The Misfits combined for 6 points, a +6, and 8 shots on goal.
Coach DeBoer on occasion has split them up, but he always seems to bring them back together when he needs offensive chemistry and these 3 have that for sure.
Speaking of Pete DeBoer, he finally got his 500th in the NHL (500-368-119) that he and his team have been chasing after winning only one of the last 6 games, putting them in a position they’re not familiar with: struggling to remain in a playoff position.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames keep on winning night after night, leading the Pacific Division with 70 points, and have played 2 less games than the entire Pacific Division. The L.A. Kings are in 2nd place with 65 points, followed by the VGK hanging on to the last playoff spot. After Calgary, four teams are separated by just 4 points: L.A. with 65, Vegas 64, Edmonton 63, and Anaheim beat Boston last night to remain in the hunt with 61 points.
Game Notes and Quotes.
Here is an interesting trivia anomaly. There are 36 skaters in an NHL game and almost always, all 36 players have scored at least a goal in the NHL. Last night, 37 skaters on the ice had scored an NHL goal. Do you know how this is possible? Check the answer at the end of this post.
“When I reflect back on the 500th win, what I’m going to like the most was that it was a Pete DeBoer-type game,” DeBoer said. “We smothered them. Defensively, we were really solid. We looked dangerous all night. … That’s the nice thing about tonight. I really liked how we played.”
“We had a lot of time with the puck in the O-zone,” Smith said. “We probably didn’t create [as much] offense as we would have liked to. But when we’re able to have a lot of puck possession and have our [defense] moving, it opens up a lot of space. So that’s something that we need to continue to work on.”
“The only [positive] thing I’d say was that we found a way to keep it a one-goal game for a long time,” Boughner said. “That’s an opportunity on the road no matter how you’re playing. You can come up with ten good minutes and find a way to win, but we couldn’t really muster anything up tonight.”
“I thought all of our lines played great today, but that line — Smith put two in the net,” Lehner said. “We all need to get it going here and string some wins together. We need everyone to keep getting ready for that push down the road here.”
William Carrier played in his 300th NHL game last night.
The answer to the trivia question
The 37th skater last night with at least 1 NHL goal was none other than referee Dean Morgan, who played 1 game for the Detroit Red Wings back in the 1989-1990 season. He retired after his only NHL game and went on to become an NHL official; on Feb 20th officiated he his 1,000th NHL game. Thanks to my co-host on “Hockey Knights in Vegas” Eddie Rivkin for providing me with this fun fact.
My 3 Stars of The Game: Reilly Smith (2G and the GWG), Jonathan Marchessault (2A), William Karlsson (2A)
Next game is Thursday 6 p.m. vs. Boston Bruins at T-Mobile
Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy or on Twitter @TheRealJoePane
For more VGK content, check out the Hockey Knights in Vegas Podcast that can be found at this link or on my Facebook page.
One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game.
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Drew Thrasher didn’t think so when he sent this in.
sharks, meh
Kevin Logan wrote
Fantastic commentary, always look forward to your write up. GKG!!!!
Kevin Logan thank you; you make my job a lot easier with your positive feedback, much appreciated.
Joe P.
Nadia Harper sent this in and made me aware of the wrong starting time that I listed for Thursday’s game.
Thanks as always Joe … according to the app the next game on Thursday is at 6pm not 7. Stay well my friend and hopefully see you soon at the tables 🥰
Nadia Harper what would I do without you, thanks for keeping me honest the correction is on its way. Not looking forward to seeing you at the tables I like playing against weak players and you are not one of them.
Joe P.
Nadia Harper responded
Joe, awww you are so sweet. What would we do without you? 🥰
Nadia Harper I often wonder what I would do without you as my proofreader 🙂
Joe P.
Judy Schneider sent this opinion in
Thanks,Joe Nice to have a positive outcome!! 🏒🥅🧡🖤🍁🇨🇦#goKnightsgo #
Judy Schneider yes for sure it’s been a while.
Joe P.
Brian Mishefske wrote this
Now this game reminds of how we win our type of hockey game, great forecheck and defense. The misfits are staring to click again, and you can flashes of brilliance from Eichel and his line mates. The post clangs will be in the net soon and he looked stronger tonight. All in all, a full game effort and maybe just a bit upsetting we only scored 3 but that’s all we needed to win. Great article Joe and thank you. Go Knights
Brian Mishefske thank you, Brian yes indeed some “OLD” VGK style hockey refreshing to see and good to see the Misfit Line clicking.
Joe P.
Brian Mishefske responded to me
Joe Pane what the old saying if it’s not broken why try to fix it. Indeed, 🍻 Go Knights
Christopher Couch had this to say
If we could just play the Sharks a few games in a row to get some confidence, it may help the team out.
Christopher Couch where do we send the money to get this to happen 🙂
Joe P.
Richard Santomauro sent this into Vegas Hockey Guy Facebook Page
As a season ticket holder and big fan of my home team, I am also realistic about this team. The facts and the stats do not lie. VGK is performing about the middle of the pack around 13th to 15th. This includes our goaltender, Robin Lehner. We can continue to use the excuse of injuries, but the addition of so many new faces and line changes over the past 2 years have had an impact on team chemistry and identity. Under Gallant the team strategy was speed, crisp passing and 60 minutes of passion and excitement. The new no-checking rule should actually help offenses, but the VGK has been unable to take advantage of the new rule. It was nice to see the Misfits make a difference again, but then again this was a tired Sharks team that is a shadow of its former self. Nice win. No one predicted that the VGK would be clawing for the last playoff spot with LAK, EDM, and ANA. But here we are.
Vegas Hockey Guy responded
Richard Santomauro no one saw this coming. We looked so strong on paper coming into the season. But you have to play the game on ice not just lay out your roster on a sheet of paper and hope that’s enough. Your points are spot on Richard.
Joe P.
Nicholas Roop sent this opinion in
San Jose is awful. The lack of finish on scoring chances still concerns me. That game should have been 8-0.
Nicholas Roop very easily 8-0
Joe P.
Brian Mishefske responded to Nicholas Roop comments
Nicholas Roop you are not wrong, but you have to take this game as a show of what’s working now and how close we are to getting back to finishing off plays and getting good chances to score. I know you understand the game and how some nights everything you shoot goes in and some games it’s just off the post or just wide. I take the victory as a sign off life in our offense even against a not so good team.
Hey Joe.
Thank`s for an eyeopening recap.
Thank`s to a missed shot Lehner couldn´t keep a clean sheet. He was awake when the D-men didn`t do their job properly.
Sharks were a bad excuse of a hockey team last night. In the first period they shot 4 times and had 5 scoring chances according to the shot summary.
If the Sharks player had stood on his skates he would have scored on that fifth chance.
Lehner and Theodore were scuba diving with the sharks at that moment.
I think Karlsson didn´t get enough cred for the assist on both goals Smtith scored.
On the first goal he just flipped the puck at the open space where he knew Marchy would skate into. If the pass had been too weak or too hard would have made the attack impossible.
On the second goal karlsson knew the position of Smith in front of the goal and how to get the puck exactly on the blade of Smith is hockey sense on a very high level.
If that`s been another player like MacKInnon, McDavid or Kucherov, everone would have get “Oh, ah, fantastic, what a great player”.
Now it`s only “great goal by Smith, good chemstry by the misfit line”. Please, see the individual performances instead.
Yes, they can do it blindfolded, but they are three skilled players. They can pass the puck to other players also, but those players have to be highly skilled too.
Therefore I say it again, please take away Dadonov from the Eichel line. Dadonov can`t get by a defender and he can`t score.
He doesn`t know if he`s going to play the bumper or in front of the goal when Vegas are on a PP. He`s a waste of space!
To make it even worse Kolesar is playing on the same PP. It must be a plot between DeBoer and Spott!
They must be thinking that the rivals in the division, or the teams they might end up meeting in the playoffs, can be fooled to believe Vegas is a laugh at the PP.
But when it matters the most Deboer gets Carrier or Hague to play like Holmstrom did. Right in the face of the goalie no matters what happens in the zone. Take away the eyes of the goalie! Don`t be afraid if you get a slapper on the ass, next time you`ll get an ass(ist) on a goal.
Talk about a secret weapon.
If Gretzky would have been playing today, he`d say “Sharks, what a Mickey Mouse team”.
San Jose was the lamest team to be seen at the Fortress since 1927.
They could have put out six cones on the ice instead. (Get it? “ice-cones” 😉)
To be a bit serious for a moment.
Giveaways: Sharks 3. Knights 15.
Takeaways: Sharks 10. Knights 5.
Hits: Sharks 34. Knights 15.
Blocked shots: Sharks 18. Knights 15.
Turn the numbers around and you`ll find Gallant behind the Vegas bench and DeBoer behind the San Jose bench!
Theodore Niemer sent this comment in
They played with more urgency, and they better play that way and then some against Boston or it will be all for not
Theodore Niemer yes, they will be catching the Bruins on their 5th game of an extended 6 game road trip to the west coast. The last time something like this happened is when the VGK played Pittsburgh on their last game of a long road trip on January 17th. In that game they allowed 3 goals in the 3rd period to lose the game 5-3. They can not afford a repeat performance tomorrow night as every win is 2 important points in the Pacific Division.
Joe P.