Knights on Ice — Almost Nullified by NILsson

To nullify something means to make it invalid or ineffective. Last night, Ottawa Senators’ goaltender Anders Nilsson almost single-handedly nullified the VGK, making them invalid and ineffective, even at T-Mobile, where the VGK have dominated for the past two seasons.

Somehow Vegas managed to escape with a 3-2 shootout win over the Senators to avoid losing 2 games in a row at home, which would have been their 3^rd loss at T-Mobile in just 5 games.

Remember when teams feared coming into the fortress, when Vegas just mesmerized the opposition with their speed and stretch passes, causing opponents nothing but heartburn on Las Vegas Boulevard?

The Senators aren’t expected to make the playoffs or, for that matter, win many games. They have one win in their first six games this season. A loss last night against Ottawa would have sent shockwaves throughout the entire Vegas organization, which already has a bit more on their plate just 8 games into the season than they should have.

Namely: multiple injuries to key players in the starting lineup; an injury to backup goaltender Malcolm Subban, which will put a lot more wear and tear on Marc-André Fleury if Subban remains out of the lineup; and now another 20-game suspension, like last season, on left-winger Valentin Zykov for a violation of the NHL’s substance-abuse policy. Zykov started the season on the 3^rd line, which seemed to be coming together chemistry-wise once Cody Eakin returned from his pre-season injury and was put in between Zykov and Cody Glass.

So much for the whispered conversations in the press box concerning what would happen to Pirri and/or Zykov when Alex Tuch returned from his injury—it’s moot for at least 19 more games. Last night, the next-man-up mantra was present and Brandon Pirri got his chance to make the coaching staff reconsider his value to the team. Pirri actually had a decent game and was the first player Gallant selected in the shootout. Pirri found the back of the net in the shootout, which appeared to be sacred ice for the first 65 minutes of the game, as Andres Nilsson was near perfect in stopping 52 of the 54 shots he faced.

It’s not often that the #1 star of the game is the losing goaltender, but last night was one of those times. Nilsson’s 52 saves were a career high. He clearly robbed multiple VGK goals with his glove and pads. He looked almost unbeatable and Vegas began to believe that themselves; no matter what they threw at him, he got a piece of it, if his defense didn’t block the shot first. Of the 18 VGK skaters, every player except William Carrier had at least one shot on goal. Marchessault, who is not afraid to shoot the puck, had 6 shots on Nilsson, while Pacioretty and Theodore had 5. Reilly Smith, having a whale of a start to this season, had 4 shots and scored the opening goal for his team-high 6^th of the season. Stone and Pacioretty, who have combined for 18 points through the first 7 games, each added an assist last night to bring their combined total points to 20 (Stone 5G, 6A; Pacioretty 2G, 7A).

If the results of this game had been a 3-2 shootout win for the Senators, the mindset of our team would have been fragile, to say the least. Losing 2 in a row at home and 3 of 5 at T-Mobile would have been a big hole to climb out of. Getting away from T-Mobile for their first real road trip will be good for the team.

The injuries will still be there and the suspension isn’t going away, but teams tend to bond when they’re on the road, with no family distractions or personal appearances, just dinner and hockey with the boys. Teams become teams on the road and right now, the VGK could use a little bit of everything that brings them closer.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the other goaltender in this game. Fleury had a whale of a game himself and continues to appear not to wilt, even when he’s forced to play without a glove and a stick. That happened and he stood in there, ready to make a save no matter what it took.

Coach Gallant was asked what he thought when he saw the Flower with half of his equipment gone. He said he just turned and looked away into the crowd, knowing that if a shot was headed to Fleury glove side, he’d make the save with his bare hand. Luckily, that didn’t happen, and with the help of his teammates, Fleury recovered his equipment, all while the play was still alive.

The five OT minutes seemed to take place entirely in front of Fleury, who made acrobatic saves, combined with the Senators just missing wide-open nets. Vegas dodged a bullet to get to the shootout that took 5 shooters before it was decided by the same VGK player who won last year’s games against the Senators with a penalty shot in OT by Jonathan Marchessault. This year it wasn’t a penalty shot that won the game, but it was the 5^th shooter named Marchessault to win it. Last year, Erik Haula tackled Marchy at the blue line to celebrate the win; this year Mark Stone picked up Marchy and held him high like a torch to celebrate the win over his former team.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Anders Nilsson (52 saves in defeat, otherwise it’s a T-Mobile BLOWOUT), Fleury (just another night in the office for the Flower), Reilly Smith (1 goal, his 6th in 8 games, and his 200-foot game is there for all to see)

Next game is a return to Pittsburgh for the Flower on Saturday at 4 p.m. Last year, Fleury didn’t play in the game at Pittsburgh, but right now with Subban’s injury, the Flower is the man.

Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or visit my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy.

Just Deserved

by Eddie Rivkin

The VGK fired a club-record 54 shots on goal last night against the Ottawa Senators. I don’t have access to official game stats, but from the couch, it looked like Marchessault had about 10 of them. So it was only fair that after 65 back-and-forth minutes in front of 18,171 at the Fortress, Marchy got his just deserved and closed the show in the bottom of the fifth round of the shootout.

The VGK got off to a fast start when Reilly Smith potted his team-leading sixth of the season at 4:12. Unfortunately, the lead lasted exactly one minute. The VGK continued a strong period, rolling all 4 lines, and Nick Holden netted his first of the year at 13:32 when his slap shot from the point went in off of Brady Tkachuk’s stick. Anders Nilsson kept the Sens in the game, stopping 14 of 16, shots including several Grade A chances.

In the second period, the VGK launched another 16 shots at Nilsson. This frame, he stopped all 16. At the VGK end, the Flower made 11 saves of his own and his right pad saved the day several times to keep the score at 2-1 for the good guys heading into the third period.

The third period would make most any coach want to pull his hair out: 30 total shots, 20 by the VGK. Ottawa scored the only goal of the period at 4:25 to knot the score at two.

Heading into OT, I had an uneasy feeling that even with 52 shots in regulation, the VGK might be in danger of losing a game where they solidly outplayed their opponent. Well, I was almost right way too many times. The Sens had 5 shots in the OT to the VGK’s 2. But every single shot by the Sens was a Grade A chance and again, the Flower’s right pad saved the day for the VGK and we were off to the Skills Competition—oops, I mean the shootout.

Brandon Pirri had the VGK’s only goal in the mandatory first 3 rounds. Shea Theodore scored in the bottom of the 4^th and as you read at the top of this article, Marchy closed the show in the bottom of the fifth.

The issues the VGK have had the last few games reared their ugly head again. Over the last 4 games, the VGK have been giving up over 35 shots per game. There have been far too many lapses on the defensive side of the puck. Far too many lazy passes easily picked off and turned into scoring opportunities. The Flower has had way too much work, especially having played in 23 of the 24 periods so far this season, and 37 saves on 39 shots is not acceptable for the VGK. He’s going to need a blow soon. Maybe against Chicago, so he can have 3 days off?

A win is a win and two points are always great, especially heading out on a road trip. But contrary to what the Studio analysts think, Coach Gallant was adamant that he wasn’t happy with the game and the team’s play in general over the last few games. I’m not being a suck-up and I have no idea what Joe’s take is, but I agree with Coach Gallant: There some real issues that the VGK are going to have to work on to get back to playing “the Golden Knights brand of hockey.”

My 3 Stars: the Flower and his right pad (37 saves on 39 shots), Anders Nilsson (52 saves on 54 shots), Marchy (game-winning shootout goal/assist/ whole bunch of SOGs)

Quick notes from the couch:

This game shouldn’t have been this close. The Sens’ goalie kept them in the game. The Flower saved the game for the VGK.

Not going to write or comment about the Zykov suspension, other to say I hope he smartens up and comes back better than ever. He made a mistake and will pay dearly for it.

I hope Joe shares Marchy’s post-game media scrum. Rarely will you see such absolute honesty from a player. If by chance he doesn’t, google the video and nab it.

Next up a 3-games-in-5-nights trip to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago. I’m sure Joe will have nothing but nice things to say about 87 for the Pens!