Knights on Ice — A Snoozer, a Domination, a Push, and a Win

by Eddie Rivkin

Hey, readers, Joe is on his way to NYC to cover the VGK’s 3-game road trip through New York, so you’re stuck with just one take on yesterday’s Golden Game vs. division rival Phoenix — my take from the couch.

And with that brief introduction, off we go. Well, sort of.

I totally overate yesterday! I couldn’t just stop at one plate of turkey and all the fixings. I couldn’t even stop at two! Three full plates and a heaping helping of pumpkin pie, that’s the recap of my Thanksgiving. It resulted in an amazing tryptophan coma!

Speaking of turkey comas, that pretty much describes the first period. I’ve never seen a period that had 25 combined shots be such a snoozer. I admit I even had a quick cat nap due to the lackluster play by both teams. So that’ll be that for the first period.

Good thing the VGK came out for the second period like a team that had a great night’s turkey-coma sleep. Though the SOG were 12-10 in favor of the VGK, they completely dominated all three zones for the first 14:53 seconds of the period. They treated the 18,326 in attendance to an aggressive forecheck, numerous high-quality scoring chances, and at the 7:01 mark the first goal of the game. For the first time in four games, the VGK came to life and connected when Alex Tuch tipped in Nic Hague’s wrist shot from the point for his first goal and point in eight games.

In a very good sign, the VGK didn’t let up once they had a lead. They continued to take the play to the Coyotes, pressing for the second goal. Unfortunately, that was not to be, as Jakob Chychurn snapped a laser short side high from the far side off the faceoff dot to even the score at one.

Two important points on the goal. First, I think Subban would want that one back. Even as good of a shot as it was, it’s a goal you just can’t give up in the NHL. Second and much more important, the play highlighted the new defensive system being employed by the VGK. The focus is now keeping the rushes to the outside. And instead of playing strict man to man in the D Zone, the VGK will play more of a switching zone defense, vaguely like defense played in the NBA. The system will keep the VGK tighter in the D Zone, able to react more quickly to the front of the net to retrieve rebounds and clear traffic in front of the goaltender.

When the Coyotes tied the score at one, they were being outshot 10-0. After the goal, they outshot the VGK 10-2. The VGK got hemmed in for the only time in the game. They bent, but didn’t break, as Subban made several big saves to keep the score even at one going into the 3rd period. In my book, winning 15 of 20 minutes in a period is domination.

The 3rd period was a back-and-forth adventure with both teams having quality chances. Neither controlled the play for an extended period of time.

Then at the 12:38 mark, Brad Richardson landed a vicious intentional elbow to Cody Eakin’s head. After a long discussion between the referees, they settled on a two-minute elbowing minor. From the couch, that was an awful call. I suspect the Department of Player Safety will be having a chat with Richardson and his wallet will be a little lighter by Monday. Richardson’s penalty was the first of three in 1:25. Though it produced power plays for both teams, it really disrupted the flow of the period. Nothing materialized during the three brief power plays and it was off to bonus hockey for the second game in a row. The 3rd period was pretty much a push.

Overtime has been the enemy of the VGK for 11 of the past 12 games, with Wednesday’s game vs. Nashville the only exception. To a man, the VGK have said it was unacceptable and that as a team they had to do better. And better they did. The 5-minute OT featured glorious scoring chances for both teams, with Subban and Darcy Kuemper stopping 10 bell scoring chances and sending us to the skills competition.

Unexpected unusual stat of the day: Going into the shootout, Subban had stopped, ready for this, 16 out of 16 attempts! Who knew?

The shootout opened with Subban stoning Nick Schmaltz with his left pad.

Jonathan Marchessault put the VGK out to a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot low glove and improve to 3-for-3 in shootouts this season.

Subban’s left pad did it again, this time stopping Conor Garland.

After Shea Theodore’s backhand was stabbed by Kuemper, Subban’s streak ended at 18 for 18 when Christian Dvorak leaked a wrist shot off the inside of Subban’s blocker.

That set the stage for Alex Tuch to close the show and get the important extra point for the VGK with a beautiful backhand/forehand move that left Kuemper sliding into the net helplessly. And with that, you have the win — 2-to-1 Knights!

3 Stars: Malcom Subban (35 saves, plus 2 in the shootout), Alex Tuch (1 goal, his second, and the game-winning goal in the shootout), Jonathan Marchessault (1 assist and a goal in the shootout)

Like all VGK fans, our heartfelt condolences go out to MarcAndré Fleury on the passing of his father André. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Flower and his family in this most difficult time.

Have a safe trip home, Joe, and enjoy the VGK in your home-away-from-home Madison Square Garden.

Your comments and opinions are always welcome good or bad at LasVegasAdvisor.com or you can contact me directly at [email protected] or my Facebook Page or the Facebook Page of Vegas Hockey Guy.