In last night’s game, all that mattered was Auston Matthews.
Unlike Saturday afternoon’s game, when the VGK rendered Ottawa’s best player a nonfactor, last night Toronto’s best player was a big factor in the result.
You won’t find his name among the goal scorers and prior to the drop of the puck, he was questionable to start. It was reported that Matthews was banged up and could be scratched from the lineup. If that was how good he can be at less than 100%, it’s scary to think just how much talent the Arizona native is blessed with.
True, hockey isn’t a sport that’s widely played in the Grand Canyon State. Who would ever think Arizona is home to one of the best young players in the NHL right now? Then again, who’d think that an NHL team in Las Vegas would create an immediate sensation—both with its early success and large loyal fan base the VGK has developed in less than a month playing in the league?
One of the things you don’t see much these days is a player taking the puck from his own end and proceeding to skate the length of the ice. With the defensive style of play in the NHL, tape to tape passes are what get you and the puck out of your defensive zone and into the offensive.
In last night’s game, Auston took a pass in his skates, kicked it up to his stick, flew up the center of the ice through the neutral zone, then slid over along the right wing boards once he entered the VGK zone. He accelerated around defense-man Luca Sbisa and wound up in front of goaltender Lagace untouched. Auston’s initial shot was stopped by Lagace, but the loose puck was easily shot past him for an early lead. Pure talent was on display.
In addition to his offensive talents, this kid plays two-way hockey. He’s just as good without the puck as he is with it and he saved a sure goal with his quick stick.
The VGK did score 58 seconds after Toronto’s first goal to somewhat slow down the Maple Leaf’s onslaught, but they added two more before the period ended at 3-1. The first 15 minutes of the game belonged to the home team for sure, just too fast for the VGK to handle. I’m not sure whether Toronto is really that fast or the Knights were simply unprepared for the Maple Leaf’s early surge.
Vegas got a handle on the game after the first 15 minutes and shut down Toronto and their scoring for the rest of the first and the entire second and third periods.
James Neal was credited with the VGK’s first goal in the first period when a shot that was headed wide of the net hit his skate and was redirected into the net. Reilly Smith added a Power Play goal to close Toronto’s lead to 3-2 after two periods.
Deryk Engelland tied the game at 3-3 late in the third period on a stretch pass from deep in his zone from Shea Theodore as he broke up the right wing. His shot eluded Toronto’s goaltender Frederik Anderson and I’m sure Anderson would like another chance at saving a stoppable shot that got past him high over his right shoulder.
The game ended in a tie, forcing an overtime period that had plenty of action and a good number of scoring chances for both teams. No goals were registered and this forced the first shootout in VGK’s admittedly short history.
In a shootout, each team gets to launch three players at the goalkeeper uncontested. The team that scores the most wins. In my humble opinion, this isn’t a good way to decide a 60-minute game of skill. Overtime and shootouts are like a coin toss in poker. The best hand or the best team doesn’t always win. But tonight the better team did win, though the VGK made them earn it. It seems the Knights are never out of a game, even when they’re playing the fourth-string goalie.
Unfortunately, the three VGK shooters couldn’t dent the net, while Toronto scored one to register a win and the two points. The VGK picked up one point in this OT loss, giving them three out of a possible 10 points in the first five games of this six-game road trip.
They’re back at it again tomorrow night against the Montreal Canadians. This is a much-needed win and 2 points that will help salvage the trip.
Some other VGK info and takes from this game.
James Neal has altered the no-trade clause in his contract to listing eight teams he won’t agree to be traded to. Is this some sort of indication that the VGK are looking to move Neal and he’s helping them do so?
The Shea Theodore experiment is blowing up in front of us. His turnovers in the defensive zone are inexcusable. The side board is like an additional player in helping you clear the puck out of your zone. His weak passes up the side boards are being picked off by opposing players, either creating scoring chances or other VGK players are forced to take penalties trying to prevent a shot. That happened twice in last night’s game. Jason Garrison was waived last week and with both Jon Merrill and Brad Hunt scratched from the lineup, these players may not be the solution, but playing Theodore is a mistake at this point, in my opinion. Letting him develop in their Chicago affiliate team may be the best choice, not only for the team, but for Shea’s himself.
The Knight’s General Manger George McPhee was in attendance last night. He and coach Gallant most likely had their hearts stopped for a moment when Toronto forward Hyman crashed into Max Lagace, who appeared to be shaken up. The final VGK goaltender under contract is Dylan Ferguson, who just turned 19 last September — a scary moment for the entire organization, but scariest perhaps for Dylan. Max was able to remain in the game and didn’t appear to have any further problems.
Prior to last night’s contest, the VGK were 5-1 in one-goal games.
VGK had 10 blocked shots in the first period, which can be a misleading stat. It sounds like the team is playing good defensive, but when you block that many shots in the first period alone, the other team is dominating the offensive side of the game.
VGK missed a chance to set yet another NHL record. A win would have made them the first expansion team to win 10 in just 14 games played. Oh well.
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