Knights on Ice — “Are You Trying To Get Me Fined?”

These were the exact words from Coach Gallant in his post-game presser following the 3-2 VGK win when he was asked about some of the penalties that were called against the VGK last night at T-Mobile.

Gallant’s response tells you that he, along with the 18,220 in attendance, minus a few Wild fans, were not happy about the questionable calls. But in his attempt to save some of his money for buying Christmas gifts, he decided that asking, “Are you trying to get me fined?” was the politically correct way to say the men in stripes had a bad game.

Vegas never beat the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile, or in regulation no matter where the games were played, in their first 2 seasons. But they finally found a way to scratch and crawl back into their first win vs. Minnesota — despite the men in stripes. The only win Vegas had ever registered over Minnesota was in a shootout back on Oct. 6, 2018, in Minnesota by a score of 2-1. In that game, Max Pacioretty scored his first-ever goal as a VGK and Erik Haula was the only one to score in the shootout.

Coaches and players in the NHL are guaranteed to lose some of their money if they openly criticize the on-ice officials. The video replay of the phantom tripping penalty on Reilly Smith had just been shown on the Knightron screen during the stoppage of play. Trust me, the referees watch the replay and that’s what made the next penalty a head scratcher. Just 23 seconds after the phantom penalty, they called Mark Stone for interference, giving the Wild a 2-man advantage for 1:37. Was Stone’s penalty a blatant interference call? The answer is no and after seeing that they blew the previous penalty, a normal-thinking hockey observer wouldn’t believe they could compound their mistake. But putting the Wild on a 5-3 advantage in a scoreless game, with the possibility of having a direct impact on the outcome of the game, they did.

Hockey in 2019 is a fast game and mistakes will be made, but when the replay is shown and the crowd is howling, one would think the last thing the zebras would want is to call another penalty.

The men in stripes put 5 different VGK players in the penalty box and late in the first period, they put 2 VGK players in the penalty box, which created the 5-on-3. Minnesota scored on the 5-on-3 to take the lead with just 40 seconds left in the first period. The only goals scored last night by Minnesota were when they had a 2-man advantage with both Reilly Smith and Mark Stone out. Both, by the way, are key players of the VGK penalty kill. The final goal scored by the Wild, which cut the VGK lead of 3-1 to 3-2, came when Minnesota had the goaltender on the bench for the extra skater.

Minnesota received only 1 penalty for the entire game, which they successfully killed off.

Goals late in periods can be crushing and Vegas withstood that and responded with a goal just past the 11-minute mark of the 2^nd period when Chandler Stephenson took a precise cross-ice pass from Mark Stone to tie the game at 1-1. It was Chandler’s 3^rd goal with the VGK and brings his point streak to 4 games with 2G and 2A. In his 24 games with the Washington Capitals before being traded to the VGK, he had the same 3 goals. His 4-game point streak is a career high for him. The addition of Stephenson has been a catalyst up and down the lineup. No matter where Gallant puts him, he excels, but ever since moving him up to the second line between Pacioretty and Stone, all 3 of these players have been firing on all cylinders. Pacioretty (five goals, four assists) and Stone (one goal, six assists) each had an assist on Stephenson’s goal to extend their respective point streaks to five games.

Vegas had their turn in scoring a late-period goal when Shea Theodore scored with just 10 seconds left in the second period to break the 1-1 tie and send Vegas into the 3^rd period with a one-goal lead. Shea Theodore has 5 career goals that have come within the last 20 seconds of a period or a game. We all remember his goal against Tampa Bay with just 2.3 seconds to go in the game back on December 19, 2017, for the 4-3 win over TB, at that time the best team in the NHL.

Tomas Nosek scored what seemed like an insurance goal 6:16 into the 3^rd period just 13 seconds after a tripping penalty issued to Marc-Andre Fleury expired. Carrier, who was serving the penalty, teamed up with Nosek after leaving the penalty box. It was Nosek’s first goal since scoring back on Nov. 19 vs. Toronto. When Zach Parise scored with just 1:15 left in the game to trim the lead to 3-2, Nosek’s goal went from the insurance goal to the winning goal.

I’m not sure what Deryk Engelland had to eat before the game, but he came onto the ice with an edge that I haven’t seen from him in a long time. He had Eric Staal on his radar and rightly so, as Staal has been a beast vs. Vegas. In the 6 games Staal has played against Vegas, he has 6G and 4A for 10 points. Engelland made Staal’s life miserable all night and at one point in the second period, he laid him out in front of Fleury and sent him bent over in pain slowly back to his bench. Engelland had that edge, plus a lot of jump in his legs, and even moved in on a semi-breakaway while killing one of the 5 penalties VGK had to endure.

I heard from a very reliable source that Cody Glass will resume skating tomorrow and I tried to confirm that with Gallant at his post-game presser. You can see his response to my question in the video below.

The VGK embark on a 2-game road trip to Vancouver and San Jose. It’s also the VGK dad’s trip. Just to refresh your memory, the VGK are 4-0 when their dads are with them. No pressure, but what a great time to have the dads around.

For a short time last night, the VGK were in sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. When their game ended, the Arizona vs. San Jose game was still in progress. With San Jose trailing by just one goal, they had a 5-on-3, which turned into a 6-on-3 when they pulled their goaltender with 44 seconds left. The Sharks did not even register a shot on net and their power play continues to be pathetic, going 1 for 38 over the last 15 games. It’s not often that VGK fans will root for the Sharks, but last night when they showed the score of the Sharks trailing, they weren’t the usual mock cheers that often occur when the Sharks lose or are losing. It may be early to watch the standings, but things are so close in the Pacific Division that there’s no harm in sweating the games in December.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Chandler Stephenson (whose first goal of the game seemed to generate the energy of the VGK), Mark Stone (who continues to contribute with 2 assists on the VGK’s first 2 goals), Shea Theodore (whose late 2^nd period goal was instrumental in last night’s win)

Next game is tomorrow in Vancouver at 7 p.m.

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