Did the VGK overlook the Vancouver Canucks last night? The oddsmakers had Vegas as a strong favorite at -260, the biggest favorite they’ve been for all eight games into this season. Last season, the VGK were undefeated vs. Vancouver, going 4-0.
The Knights had played just one game over the last eight days. Was this a factor in their sloppiness? The only game Vegas had played before their game last Saturday was the previous Tuesday. The VGK won both those games at T-Mobile and had a three-game win streak going before last night’s 3-2 shootout loss to Vancouver.
For the most part, the Golden Knights seemed out of sync. The exception was the line of Bellemare, Carrier, and Reaves. These three not only continue to cause complete havoc on both sides of the puck and set the tempo of the game, they’ve been Coach Gallant’s best line over the last two games.
The VGK power play continues to struggle. The Knights had four power-play chances and couldn’t get a single puck past Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Both teams had power plays in the first 4:19 of the game and neither registered a shot. In fact, the first shot on goal wasn’t registered until 10:30 had been taken off the game clock. Vegas has scored a mere two PP goals in 24 attempts over their first nine games this season.
One would expect that with the return of Alex Tuch to the lineup, the power play would almost certainly respond with some quality moves into the offensive zone and maybe even a goal. The zone entrance with Tuch on the PP unit was much better than it has been. But in the scoring department, the VGK is still coming up short.
Adam Kutner, a Las Vegas lawyer, has a promotion on Twitter in which he gives away two tickets to a VGK game when the Knights score a power-play goal. Kutner has a large surplus of tickets thanks to the VGK’s dismal power play.
The first period was scoreless. Max Pacioretty’s goal, his second of the season, came just 1:18 into the second period. Vancouver forward Bo Horvat answered with two goals in 1:04, erasing the Vegas lead. Then Ryan Reaves scored his second goal of the season late in the second period to tie the score. No scoring in the third sent the game into overtime.
The five minutes of OT went up and down the ice with only had one stoppage in play. Vegas had three quality shots on Markstrom, who stood tall. Vancouver had five shots on Fleury, all stopped.
In the shootout, the first three shooters for both teams failed to dent the net. Vancouver’s fourth shooter, Marcus Granlund, avoided Fleury’s poke check and slipped his shot through Fleury’s pads. Vegas’s fourth shooter, William Karlsson, could have extended the shootout to the fifth round, but didn’t.
Vancouver left town with a valuable two points, but they came at a price.
Starters Elias Pettersson and Brock Bosen were scratched from tonight’s lineup because of injuries. Then, Vancouver lost three more players during the game: Alexander Edler left just 3:10 in, followed by Sven Baertschi and Chris Tanev.
Jacob Markstrom made 33 saves on 35 shots. Marc-Andre Fleury wasn’t as busy, facing only 26 shots and making 24 saves. Ryan Reaves had seven hits with just 9:43 minutes of ice time. His line had 13 hits total.
Our team’s overall performance last night wasn’t what we’re familiar with. True, the VGK are still missing key players to injuries and Nate Schmidt has 11 more games to sit out due to suspension. But the only line firing on all cylinders is the Bellemare-Carrier-Reaves trio.
Speaking of Schmidt, post-game GM George McPhee announced that the Nate has agreed to a six-year contract extension with a salary of $5.95 million per year.
Slowly, McPhee is locking up the future core of the team for multiple years with the abundance of cap space he has at his disposal.
Players signed through the 2021-2022 season: Reilly Smith, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, Marc-André Fleury. Max Pacioretty is signed through 2022-2023, Jonathan Marchessault through 2023-2024, Shea Theodore through 2024-2025, and Alex Tuch through 2025-2026.
I asked Coach Gallant on his thoughts about the play of the fourth line. “They’re playing real good hockey. They’ve been real good from the first day of training camp and it’s just carrying on. They got a big goal tonight. Great job by Ryan Reaves, working hard, competing hard, and playing the right way. That’s what we need from them and they’re happy to do it.”
My 3 Stars of the Game: Jacob Markstrom (33 saves), Bo Horvak (two goals within 1:04), and Ryan Reaves (one goal, seven hits, and a forecheck that gave Vancouver trouble the entire game).
Next game is Friday vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning at T-Mobile at 3 p.m.
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