Knights on Ice — Penalty Kill Comes Up Huge and So Does Fleury

I wasn’t sure what to expect last night. The Vegas Golden Knights hadn’t played since last Sunday in Calgary when their six-game winning streak was snapped. Dallas, on the other hand, was playing in their third game in four nights and had won the previous two, both on the road.

Well, the end result was a very satisfying 2-1 win and a valuable 2 points to widen the gap between Arizona and the VGK, which is now a 6-point lead with each team having 11 games left. Vegas plays Arizona just one more time on April 4, the last home game at T-Mobile.

There’s a trend in the NHL that teams returning home from a road trip don’t always have the best results, especially on a back-to-back game. Dallas played Thursday night in Minnesota and didn’t arrive home until after 2 a.m. on Friday. Would the Stars’ energy level be predictably low?

On the other side, would it take Vegas a bit to get their game legs going?

The answers were yes to Dallas and a resounding no to Vegas, the perfect combination.

Max Pacioretty scored just 18 seconds into the game. It was the fastest goal in a road game in VGK history. The fastest goal to start a game at T-Mobile was when William Karlsson scored after 14 seconds against San Jose; the VGK won that game 6-0 on Nov. 24, 2018.

Goals weren’t going to come easy last night. Dallas had given up two goals or less in their last seven games, of which they’d won six. At the other end of the ice, Marc-André Fleury was looking to win his sixth straight game and had given up only four goals in his last five games.

Fleury was good last night, especially in the third period when he faced 16 shots and was perfect. He wound up with 40 saves on 41 shots, extending his win streak to six. Just another day at the office for Fleury.

Our number-one goaltender’s workload has been somewhat reduced this month compared to the first few months of the season when he was playing just about every game. The team’s bye week and the All Star break, along with these last four days off, gave him a chance to recharge his batteries. He looked fresh and sharp last night and he had to be: Dallas had five power plays, two of them in the last five minutes of the game. With the Dallas goaltender pulled, he had to face a 6-on-4 and a few quality scoring chances.

Deryk Engelland had a good game, especially in the third period on the penalty kill, when he used his long stick to break up passes and clear pucks out of danger. He did have one huge turnover in the first period that led to the only goal that beat Fleury, but the other 24:21 minutes of ice time, the most of all VGK skaters, were excellent.

Ryan “Revo” Reaves scored for the first time in 25 games. It was his ninth of the season, a career high, and his first since Jan. 6. He created his goal almost single-handedly by delivering a ferocious forecheck in the corner, then beating his man back to the front of the net to put away the loose puck behind Anton Khudobin for the game winner. Here’s a video of Revo’s hard-working goal.

Early in the second period, William Karlsson was awarded a penalty shot while the VGK were killing off a penalty. It’s rare to see penalty shots in games, but it’s almost never seen on the penalty kill. It was Karlsson’s first-ever penalty shot. He was stopped by Dallas goaltender Khudobin, who made 35 saves on 37 shots.

Vegas has scored once on three penalty shots this season (Jonathan Marchessault) in overtime vs. Ottawa on Oct. 28, while Dallas goalies have saved both penalty shots against them.

Things did get a little dicey with both Nate Schmidt and William Karlsson taking penalties late in the third period, Nate for cross-checking and Wild Bill for high-sticking. Dallas pulled Khudobin to create a 6-on-4, but Fleury stood tall and Engelland and McNabb came up big in front of Fleury.

My 3 Stars of the Game: 1) The entire penalty-killing unit that shut down Dallas on five power plays and the 6-on-4 with the goaltender pulled, 2) Marc-Andre Fleury (40 saves on 41 shots and 6six wins in a row), and 3) Ryan Reaves (game-winning goal).

Next game is tomorrow night against Edmonton and the best player in the league, Connor “NASCAR” McDavid, at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile.

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