On Jan. 1, 2017, recreational marijuana became legal here in the state of Nevada. Lots of people now come to Las Vegas to get stoned. The San Jose Sharks got Stoned last night, but not in the way that would make them feel calm and relaxed, along with having a case of the munchies.
Actually, Evander Kane had the munchies and wound up eating a lot of Ryan Reaves’ knuckles for a quick snack before the final buzzer that saw the VGK go up two games to one in this best-of-7 series by a final score of 6-3.
The Stone line scored five goals and added seven assists for 12 points total in this game alone. Mark Stone, who already had three goals in the first two games, added three more to increase his league-leading playoff scoring with six, along with two assists. It was the first-ever hat trick in Stone’s career and the first-ever in Vegas Golden Knights’ playoff history.
Coming into the game, the line of Stone, Stastny, and Pacioretty had accounted for 10 of the 17 points the team had recorded in Round 1 — 58% of the team’s entire offensive output. In last night’s game, the Stone line accounted for 12 of the 18 points. It’s now an incredible 22 out of the 35 points that Vegas has earned through three games. That brings their production to 62% of the team’s scoring.
Keep in mind that none of these three players was even on the VGK at this time last year. The 2017-2018 team that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final did not have the Stone line. It’s a line that last night tied yet another NHL record with scoring goals in the first minute of every period.
In the first period Mark Stone scored 16 seconds into the game. In the second, Paul Stastny scored 21 seconds in. Mark Stone added the second of his three goals just 36 seconds into the third period. The only other NHL team to accomplish this feat was the Boston Bruins in the 1981 playoffs, 38 years ago.
Stone’s goal just 16 seconds into the game is the fastest in VGK playoff history. The previous record was held by Jonathan Marchessault’s, 35 seconds into Game 3 in the 2018 Western Conference Finals against the Winnipeg Jets. If history is to repeat itself, Vegas lost Game 1 to Winnipeg, then won the next four games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Last night, Stone’s fastest goal in VGK playoff history also comes in Game 3 at T-Mobile, just like Marchessault’s.
In the six times Vegas has played against the Sharks this season, they’ve scored a goal in the first five minutes of the game in five of them. Early leads are important in hockey, especially in playoff games, as the ice surface tends to shrink in these emotional and physical contests.
Last night’s game was both. There were a total of 98 hits between the two teams, Vegas with 56 and the Sharks 42. Ryan Reaves had a game-high 11 hits, followed closely by William Carrier’s eight 8. Even Paul Stastny, not noted as a physical player and more of a playmaker, had six.
I intentionally bring up the emotional aspect of the game as I believe these teams are dealing with it in completely different ways. You have to look no further than the head coaches when it comes to this topic. In my opinion, Peter DeBoer, San Jose’s head coach, doesn’t have command of his team. They’re losing their cool way too often and seem to lack the discipline required in a best-of-7 series, where tempers are in full force.
On the other side of this coin is Coach Turk Gallant, who appears to have a strong hold on the reins of his team.
The Sharks had been doing everything they could to try to bait Ryan Reaves into a fight. Michael Haley tried a few times. Evander Kane claimed he’d challenged Reaves on multiple occasions and Reaves refused the invite. Kane even tried to draw Reaves in verbally, calling Revo a “babysitter” for the VGK. We’re not privy to what Gallant told Revo or, for that matter, the entire team on this subject. Having been around the game for a while and knowing the head games that go on during the playoffs, I would venture to say Gallant told the team, and especially Reaves, that there would be the appropriate moment when Reaves could accept the invite.
Last night with the score 6-3 and just about two minutes left to go seemed like the right time for Revo to RSVP to Kane’s alleged invite. He approached Kane deep in the defensive zone and gave him a tap on his back with his stick. Kane turned around and swung his stick at Revo like it was a baseball bat. Kane has been known to play dirty, but that wasn’t only a dirty play, it was dangerous. Still, it was now time for Kane to answer the bell.
The fight was not only a clear win for Revo, but was executed at the right time and place.
San Jose has shown no discipline whatsoever and that’s on DeBoer. Gallant is up two games to one and in a position to take a stranglehold on this series tomorrow night. He’s also outcoaching DeBoer by having complete control of his team’s emotions.
Sometimes what might look like a warm and kind “babysitter” turns out to be a “lion in the jungle.” Evander Kane found that out the hard way.
San Jose seems more interested in the after-whistle scrums and DeBoer hasn’t corrected this glaring problem. The longer it goes on, the sooner DeBoer and his Baby Sharks will be the golf course.
Marc-Andre Fleury faced only 28 shots in recording his 77th playoff win, which ties him with Mike Vernon for seventh place for all time victories in the playoffs.
Teams that win Game 3 in a series tied 1-1 go on to advance 67% of the time. The actual record is 212-100.
Ironically, Mark Stone had never had more than two points in a playoff game. Last night, he earned five. The Stone line leads the entire NHL in scoring: Stone and Stastny with 8, Pacioretty 6. This line’s nine goals is more than 10 other playoff teams: Washington has 8; Calgary 6; Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Boston, and Carolina 5; Dallas and Nashville 4; and Colorado 3.
Actually, Mark Stone alone has more goals (6) than eight of those teams.
My 3 Stars of the Game: Mark Stone (hat trick and 2 assists), Paul Stastny (2 goals, 3 assists), the entire fourth line (21 hits, plus Revo responding to Kane’s invite).
The next game is tomorrow night at T-Mobile at 7:30 p.m.
Your comments and opinions are welcome and appreciated here at LasVegasAdvisor.com (to comment, you just have to register on the site, which takes all of 30 seconds and is free, of course). You can also contact me directly at [email protected] or visit my Facebook page, Vegas Hockey Guy.
Here are my post-game videos:
Coach Gallant Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
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A comment submitted
Your headline says it all.