They were facing a three-game losing streak after playing three uncharacteristic games and giving up five goals in their third loss. Thus, the Golden Knights needed passion and a renewed commitment to the team’s system yesterday in New Jersey on their first game of a five-game east coast trip. Their last extended east coast six-game road trip wasn’t pleasant; it was in the midst of their top two goaltenders being injured, and then they were forced to play their fourth-string goalie when Oscar Dansk was injured.
But yesterday was a tad different. Marc Andre Fleury was in nets and his role as a leader was clear and present right from the drop of the puck. He saved the day for the VGK, especially in the first period when he was the only reason Vegas wasn’t blown out of the Prudential Center.
It appeared the VGK, other than Fleury, had missed their wake-up call. Granted, the start time was 2 p.m. for the VGK body clocks. NHL players have routines on game days and the time change, along with the long flight across the country, seemed to really affect them. The team even bypassed the usual morning skate that is part of the routine.
Fleury, who was starting his 13th game of the last 14 had to be especially sharp until his teammates’ alarms clock woke them up. During the last 15:28 of the first period, the Knights mustered only two shots on net. Fleury was the only reason the score was tied at 0-0 after 20 minutes. I’m not privy to what is said among the players between periods or what Coach Gallant had to say, but whatever it was seem to rouse the rest of the players.
Vegas scored the first goal of the game; the team scoring first usually has a good win ratio. Still, the VGK scored the first goal in their previous three losses. In their short history, Vegas has never lost four in a row and Fleury obviously wasn’t about to let that happen under his watch. This team has a lot of pride and I’m sure that was put to the test during the losing streak. Their recent performances haven’t suffered from a lack of passion as they’re missing a lot of players both on offense and defense and Coach Gallant has had his hands full trying to find the right combinations until his lineup gets healthy.
All teams sustain injuries during the 82-game season. The good teams can fill in the holes and make the adjustments. Yesterday for at least 40 minutes, the VGK made the necessary adjustments. Luckily, Fleury had the team covered for the entire 60 minutes.
All the scoring in the game took place in the second period. Fleury covered the first and third periods all by himself, for a final score of 3-2. Vegas now holds a 24-2-2 record entering the third period with a lead.
With yesterday’s win Fleury now has a record of 10-3-1 on the road.
If you don’t believe Coach Gallant is passionate about winning, you should look at his reaction at the end of the game. You’d think they just lost the game. With 3.8 seconds left, Vegas wasn’t only killing a penalty, but the Devils had pulled their goaltender, creating a 6-on-4 advantage.
Cody Eakin was sent out to take the face-off and his only job was to tie up the opposing center from getting the puck back to a teammate for a shot on net. Not only did Eakin not tie up the center, he fell to the ice, giving New Jersey a quality scoring chance on a one-time slap shot from the top of the opposite face-off circle where there was no traffic. Fleury saved the team and the day; a goal there would have had a devastating effect on the team’s mindset. It would have been a replay of their game against the L.A. Kings, who tied the score with 10.8 seconds left in the third, which started the three-game losing streak.
There have been bright spots during this losing streak and the main reason why Vegas still leads San Jose in the Pacific is the Karlsson-Smith-Marchessault line. Karlsson leads the entire NHL with first-period goals (14) and leads the entire league with a + 39 rating; his shooting percentage is tops with 24.3% of his shots winding up as goals.
The Karlsson-Smith-Marchessault line has scored 12 points in the last three games.
David Perron, who scored his 16th goal yesterday, also earned his 58th point of the season with his 42nd assist, which is a career high. His previous high was 57 points during the 2013-14 season when he played for Edmonton. Post-game, Perron had this to say about his new career point total, “The last time I had a career-high point total, my team was out of the playoff picture by December or January, so you’re just playing for pride. It’s not as rewarding to score like that when you don’t win. So this time, it’s a lot of fun to play meaningful games and contribute this late in the season.”
Some other bright spots from yesterday’s game: Tomas Tatar scored his 17th goal and his first for the VGK. It was also a PPG.
Deryk Engelland also scored his fourth of the season, but what made this goal a bright spot for Vegas was the play of Ryan Reaves on Engelland’s goal. Reaves never gave up on his fore-check on this play and even though he was hampered by two Devils on the wall, he got the puck back to the point and eventually Engelland took the cross-ice pass from the opposite point to fire the puck into the net. Reaves was getting some negative attention about his aggressive play in both games against the Kings, but he showed yesterday why he will be a valuable part of the fourth line in creating energy and keeping the fore-check going.
A couple of low points as of late for the VGK: They’ve given up a PPG in six straight games and 9 PPG in the last 12 shorthanded situations; the opposition has scored 12 goals while VGK have only scored 7.
In a season that feels like it just started (winning does make the time fly), only 17 games remain in this season of lots of highs and very few lows.
There are only eight home games left and nine road games. Eight of the games are against Pacific Division teams and eight games are against teams with winning records. So the race to the finish line will be anything but a cake walk. Still, you should prepare for the first-ever Stanley Cup playoff games at T-Mobile.
Saying that gives me a warm feeling. No one saw this coming—not even me or General Manager George McPhee. It’s like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.
Goal scorers for Vegas: Perron (16), Engelland (4), Tatar (17) first goal with Vegas.
Ryan Reaves also collected his first assist with Vegas yesterday.
Our next game is tomorrow against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 4 p.m. Pacific time.
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