A well-known saying in showbiz holds that bad rehearsals lead to strong performances. Well, for the VGK, I hope this is true, because last night’s final game of the season was pretty bad. As a matter of fact, it might have been the only game of the 82-game season that the VGK were totally unprepared and looked totally uninterested in.
The Calgary Flames scorched Vegas early and often. They scored 3 goals in 3:28 of the 1st period, with the first 2 coming just 10 seconds apart. And this is a team that came into tonight’s game having won only 11 of their last 36 games and have long been out of the playoffs; they were playing for pride and for consideration of next year’s starting roster.
Calgary forward Mark Jankowski pretty much locked in his spot by closing out the season with a four-goal performance; he nearly scored his 5th late in the 3rd period, only to be denied by Malcolm Subban, who replaced Fleury after two periods. Fleury surrendered 6 goals on just 18 shots—a performance that was unlike anything we’ve seen from Fleury this year.
Of course, this game had no significance on the standings or who Vegas will play in round one of the playoffs. Still, you’d not only hope, but would expect that the team would at least show up. At one point in the game, Coach Gallant was visibly upset with his team’s lack of effort. He was seen giving James Neal and Tomas Tatar an earful after Spencer Foo’s goal when they failed to back-check and help out their defense. Foo was left alone in front of the net unopposed, allowing him a wide open shot on Fleury.
Other than Alex Tuch and William Karlsson, the entire team seemed to have missed their wake-up calls after their pregame nap.
The one good thing I can say came was seeing Reilly Smith in the lineup and that the Knights seem to have come out of the game with no injuries.
I was surprised to see Karlsson playing, but with Reilly Smith back in, along with and Jonathan Marchessault, who also missed the last game, I’ll venture to say that Coach Gallant wanted his top line to have a game under their belt before they meet the L.A. Kings in the first round.
I also made an error in my last blog when I referred to the Art Ross Trophy that Karlsson was in contention for. That trophy is for most points, not for most goals. The Edmonton Oilers’ 21-year-old Connor McDavid will win the Art Ross with 106 points. The trophy that Karlsson was competing for was the Rocket Richard Trophy. My bad and I apologize.
The Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin has won the Rocket Richard 5 out of the last 6 years and this year, he scored 49 goals to once again capture this award. He’s is the only player in NHL history to win this award at least 3 times. This is his seventh. Karlsson wound up the season with 43 goals and led the VGK in scoring with 78 points and a league leading +49.
As far as Fleury goes, I’m not concerned about his performance last night. He’s is one proud individual and this “off knight” will no doubt stimulate his competitive juices.
L.A. will be a challenge for Vegas, as they have a ton of playoff experience and have won the Stanley Cup twice in recent years. The VGK have only 480 games worth of playoff experience on their roster. Anaheim has 1,168 games, Pittsburgh 1,153, Tampa Bay 1,152, Nashville 1,016, and San Jose 978. This will be a war to win the hardest 16 games of them all.
During this season, Vegas had a record of 2-1-1 vs L.A. The Kings outscored Vegas 11-10 in their four games. This will be a very physical series and the addition of Ryan Reaves to the roster was made especially for a match-up like this. There was talk that Reaves might be a healthy scratch come playoff time. With this first-round matchup, that may not be the case.
Buckle up, Knights fans! If you haven’t witnessed NHL playoff hockey live, you’re in for an experience, to say the least. Two-world class goaltenders facing each other and some big bodies colliding at full speed. What more could you ask for?
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