Las Vegas has always been noted for its buffets, where it’s all you can eat. The VGK have instituted the Hockey Playoff Buffet, where it’s not how much you can consume, but more like a test of how much hockey drama your heart, stomach, and blood pressure can possibly endure in a 2-1/2 hour span. Last night’s heart-pumping, stomach-wrenching, blood pressure-warning game, in which Vegas prevailed by 5-3 to even their best-of-7 series at 1-1, had just about anything and everything you could want or, for some VGK fans, everything you didn’t want.
In Game 1 on Wednesday night, the Knights were uninspired and undisciplined. Last night, they came out of the locker room for Game 2 with a purpose and on a seek-and-destroy mission.
“It was a great start for our team tonight,” Fleury said. “We came out flying. It was definitely different than last game.
Cody Eakin scored just 58 seconds into the game off of the forecheck that they found early and often in this game and was nowhere to be found in Game 1. Their forecheck also played a key factor in their third goal of the opening period by Max Pacioretty, which followed Colin Miller’s shorthanded goal to jump out to a 3-0 lead. For the third time in eight playoff games against San Jose, they sent Martin Jones to an early shower, having given up three goals on just seven shots. It was headed for a game that would not only play on the mind of Martin Jones, but on the entire team.
Indeed, the series might have been won right there. Even though the NHL requires the VGK to officially win four games to close out the series, they had the Sharks right where they wanted them: demoralized and beaten badly for three goals in just over six minutes on their home ice.
Then, however, the VGK Hockey Buffet was officially open for business. The Knights somehow allowed San Jose not only to get back into the game, but change the entire dynamic with a heart-pumping swing in momentum. From that point on, it was all San Jose. The Sharks scored the next three goals to wipe out the three-goal lead. In a playoff game, that’s a BIG no-no.
The VGK Buffet also featured its own carving station by giving San Jose eight power-play chances with another continuous parade to the penalty box. In the two games, the Sharks have had 13 power plays.
This is uncharacteristic, coming from a team that was the least penalized in the league last year and the third least this year. It’s a dose of good fortune that San Jose, which has a very potent power play, converted on only two of the 13 and didn’t take advantage of the carving station that featured the VGK as the prime choice.
Part of what saved their ass was Colin Miller. Right after exiting the penalty box on one of the Sharks’ power plays, Miller scored a short-handed goal to put Vegas up 2-0, before Max Pacioretty made it 3-0, sending Jones to an early exit with a save percentage of .571.
Then the drama buffet reopened. The Sharks took complete control of the balance of the first period scoring, two goals in 39 seconds and their third with just 52 seconds left in the period to send both teams into the first intermission tied at 3-3.
Marc-André Fleury had given up four goals in each of his last three starts. He hadn’t allowed four goals in four consecutive games since 2007. With three goals in the first period alone, things didn’t look good to keep that 12-year streak alive. Sure enough, just 51 seconds into the second period, the Sharks scored their fourth goal to go ahead 4-3. But Logan Couture was called for goaltender interference on Fleury, the goal was taken away, the streak was intact, and Couture was headed to the penalty box.
“I didn’t have much of a view,” Fleury said. “I was looking at the puck and couldn’t look to my right. The ref made the right call.”
Couture didn’t agree. “I haven’t seen the replay yet, but I thought I was outside the crease. I thought Fleury kind of ran into me, but I’ll have to look at it. Tough way to lose.”
Fleury’s record in the following game after giving up four or more goals is an astonishing 6-0-1 with a 1.23 GAA. Last night, he gave up more than 1.23 goals, but increased his record to 7-0-1.
The dessert portion of the buffet kicked in when Mark Stone put some icing on the VGK cake and scored a power-play goal just 41 seconds after Couture’s penalty. The go-ahead goal was also the game-winner. It was Stone’s third goal of the playoffs in just two games, which puts him as the league leader in playoff goals scored.
Vegas, which managed a mere five shots each in the first and second periods of Game 1, had six shots on Martin Jones in the first six minutes of last night’s game.
With Vegas hanging on to a meager one-goal lead and taking one penalty after another, every VGK fan had to be reaching for their blood-pressure pills, checking their pulse, and pacing the floor in front of their TVs. Then William Karlsson, who is officially a certified Shark killer with 11 goals in 16 regular-season and playoff games, scored the second shorthanded goal of the night to give the VGK some breathing room with a two-goal lead in the third.
Martin Jones was pulled in Games 1 and 5 in last year’s second-round playoff against the VGK.
The Sharks became the first team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to tie a game in the first period after trailing 3-0.
San Jose was 1-for-8 on the power play, after going 1-for-5 in Game 1. Vegas is 2-for-7 in the series.
In this buffet game, there were two power-play goals, two shorthanded goals, one 4-on-4 goal, a disallowed goal, a three-goal lead, and a three-goal comeback. There was a 6-on-4 with less than four minutes to go as the Sharks pulled their goaltender during a late Vegas penalty and their net remained empty for the balance of the game in the Sharks’ attempt to score two goals late to send the game into overtime.
Vegas nearly spent one entire period in the penalty box during this game (16 minutes).
Martin Jones has been pulled five times in 14 starts against Vegas.
Fleury won his 76th postseason game, moving within one of Mike Vernon for seventh all-time.
Vegas’ losing streak in the postseason ended at five games. They lost four consecutive games in last season’s Stanley Cup Final against the Washington Capitals, plus Game 1 on Wednesday.
There’s a saying in hockey during the playoffs: “You’re never really in trouble until you lose a game at home.” Last night, this saying may have been proven wrong. If Vegas lost this game after having a 3-0 lead, they would have been in trouble. That said, if the Knights can win both of their next two home games, San Jose will be in big trouble. The fortress will be rocking on Sunday. Be there and be loud. Your team needs you.
My 3 Stars of the Game: Mark Stone (game-winning goal), Max Pacioretty (1 goal, 1 assist), Brayden McNabb (three key blocked shots, one with Fleury out of the net)
Game 3 is tomorrow night at T-Mobile at 7 p.m.
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