Knights on Ice — Can U Say 4 in a Row

Yes, just a few games ago, a few of you who are reading this were ready to trade Malcolm Subban for a box of tape. Someone even suggested that Coach Gallant needed to be replaced, under the opinion that his voice was falling on deaf ears. And then if things couldn’t get any worse, Marc-André Fleury had to leave the team indefinitely, because of his dad passing away.

But not so fast. This is the Vegas Golden Knights, who turned the NHL upside down in their first season. And if not for an egregious penalty call in Game 7 against the Sharks in Round 1 of last year’s playoffs, who knows what would have happened.

Alex Tuch was injured in the pre-season, along with Cody Eakin, followed by Nate Schmidt on opening night. Despite these early season set-backs, the VGK won their first 2 games. Then inconsistency reared its ugly head and the defensive-minded team blew 2-goal leads regularly, losing to teams they had no business losing to. Their confidence seemed shaken and their backup goaltender was anything but reliable. Subban lost his first 6 starts and posted a record of 0-4-2. Fleury was the only one who could win for the team. The fast VGK were anything but fast, their defensemen always a step behind. Their ferocious forecheck was a thing of the past. They didn’t win more than 2 games in a row for the first 28 games of the season They posted a losing streak of 4 games in a row and had a streak of losing 7 of 8 games played, 1-4-3.

The players held a players-only meeting. The coaching staff changed their defensive-zone coverage. Things seemed to be getting better — until Fleury was forced to leave. How would this fragile team handle not having their rock in net?

Good teams find a way to overcome adversity. Key players were trying to set examples of working hard no matter how bad things seemed to be: Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault, in particular. They were playing hard and working through the inconsistency.

Right before the VGK took off on this current 3-game road trip back to the east coast, Cody Eakin was centering the 3^rd line between Alex Tuch and rookie Cody Glass, a combo that was contributing next to nothing offensively. Cody Eakin had just 3 goals in 24 games, one in an empty net. Alex Tuch had just 2 goals for the season and Cody Glass, playing out of his normal position of center, had just 4 goals total in 28 games.

Things happen for a reason and no one wants to see players get hurt, but when Cody Eakin took a high hit in the corner while playing against Arizona on Nov. 29, it forced Coach Gallant to make a decision on how he would he handle the 3^rd line.

He didn’t merely replace Eakin by moving Cody Glass to his natural center spot, but he put William Carrier and Alex Tuch on the wings. This created a line with the fastest forwards of the VGK’s 4 lines and it sure did pay off, with Alex Tuch scoring 2 goals in Monday’s game vs. the Rangers, then 3 assists in last night’s game vs. the New Jersey Devils. The 3^rd line’s speed drew all 3 minor penalties that the Devils were shorthanded for.

In addition, the brain trust needed to replace Eakin, who is week to week with his upper-body injury, and they did so by acquiring Chandler Stephenson from the Washington Capitals for a 5^th round draft pick. The newest VGK paid dividends almost immediately by scoring his first goal as a VGK 5:24 into the 2^nd period to tie the game at 1-1.

Vegas overcame one-goal leads twice in this game and were lucky to be trailing by only one goal after the first period, as backup goaltender Malcolm Subban was playing his 5^th game in a row in a back-to-backer. He was spectacular in the first period when Vegas wasn’t interested in playing 60 minutes. Indeed, Subban has been spectacular in the last 4 games, all of which he’s won. He couldn’t have picked a better time to step it up, as this season was at the brink of being a complete disaster.

The Devils, who fired their coach John Hynes just hours before the game, played a spirited first 20 minutes and clearly, Subban kept the VGK within striking distance. Then Jonathan Marchessault took the entire team on his shoulders, single-handedly taking complete control of the game. Marchy scored 3 consecutive goals in 8:35 to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead. It was his third career hat trick and his second as a Vegas Golden Knight. The VGK has now won four games in a row for the first time this season.

Fleury is expected to join the team as early as tomorrow when the VGK play the New York Islanders — or at least that’s what we’re being told. At this point, Subban has regained his confidence, Glass-Tuch-Carrier are firing on all cylinders, and the top 2 lines are playing well.

Sometimes you have to face some adversity before you can meet your expectations. Right now, the VGK have looked adversity square in the eye and appear to have met the expectations that they were assigned before the puck was dropped 29 games ago at T-Mobile.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Jonathan Marchessault (3 goals and the game-winner), Alex Tuch (3 assists), Malcolm Subban (whose 16 saves on 17 shots in the first period were the difference in this game)

Next game is Thursday vs. the NY Islanders at 5 p.m.

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