Knights on Ice — Comeback Kids Save Fleury from a Possible Seat on the Bench

I have a tendency to begin writing these blogs in my head as the game progresses. I can tell you that during yesterday’s game, I had four different posts starting and stopping. The VGK’s 6-4 win over the defending Stanley Cup Champions had more twists and turns than a soft pretzel covered with spicy mustard. This is an East Coast thing if you’re wondering

Yes, the comeback kids saved Marc-Andre Fleury from a possible seat on the bench when the actual 16-team tournament begins. Don’t get me wrong. Fleury has saved the 18 skaters in front of him many times over the last three seasons. But yesterday it was their turn to shine.

Granted, the four grade-A scoring chances that Fleury faced all wound up behind him for St. Louis’ 4 goals. The Blues held the lead three different times. The first, 1-0, when was ex-VGK David Perron, who has officially become a thorn in the VGK ribcage, scored on the Blues’ very first shot. That’s where the first period ended. Jordan Binnington, the second-year sensation who looked like a seasoned playoff veteran, stood on his head to stop all 13 shots the VGK peppered him with. Binnington did get a huge break in the first period when a loose puck was sitting uncovered in the blue paint. Robert Bortuzzo covered the puck with his gloved hand, then moved it away from the goal line.

Specific NHL rule #67.4 covers this action:

“If a defending player, except a goalkeeper, while play is in progress falls on the puck, holds the puck, picks up the puck, or gathers the puck into his body or hands from the ice in the goal crease area, the play shall be stopped immediately and a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team.”

Initially, the announcers said that it should call for a penalty, but I was already yelling, “It’s a penalty shot!” Unfortunately, Binnington’s body blocked the referee’s view and no penalty shot was called. In defense of the announcers, they did correct their interpretation from a 2-minute minor to a penalty shot, but by then it was moot. Plus, the way Binnington was playing, it didn’t seem like anything would get behind him and past the goal line.

On the first Blues goal, Nate Schmidt, a left-hander, was playing the right side on defense. The problem is that when he’s close to the half-wall and wants to clear the puck out of harm’s way, he’s forced to do so on his backhand. This causes the velocity of the puck leaving the defensive zone to be greatly diminished. In fact, when Schmidt tried to clear the puck, it never made it out of the zone. O’Reilly picked up the soft pass and dished it off to Sanford, who passed it to Perron. David’s quick release caught Fleury with his right pad not fully on the ice to eat up the low shot.

Vegas had a 13-5 shot advantage after 20 minutes, along with a lopsided 27-7 in shot attempts. To put it mildly, Binnington was spectacular.

The 2^nd period started as a carbon copy of the way the first goal was scored: Chandler Stephenson tried to move the puck out of the zone on his backhand. That was picked off once again and when Fleury, who is aggressive on challenging the shooters, overcommitted to his left, he couldn’t recover in time to stop the wrap-around goal that made it 2-0 on the Blues’ very first shot of the period. St. Louis had 2 goals on just 6 shots — not very Fleury-like. He was being outplayed by the second-year goaltender 180 feet away.

But then! Vegas scored 3 second-period goals. The first was by Shea Theodore on the power play. Theodore wound up with 2 goals on his 7 shots on goal, a playoff career high on 11 attempted shots. In their first game against Dallas, Theodore didn’t register a shot on goal.

Alex Tuch seemed to be on a mission yesterday and Coach DeDoer saw it; he wasn’t shy about giving Tuch additional ice time. Tuch, who looks like he’s 100% recovered from his injuries, scored twice in the 2^nd period to go ahead 3-2. The last time Tuch scored 2 goals in a game was back in December 2019 vs. the NY Rangers. Tuch also had a 2-goal game in Game 5 of the 2018 playoffs vs. the San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately, the one-goal lead that Tuch provided lasted only 54 seconds before St. Louis put 2 quick goals behind the rattled Fleury in a mere 21 seconds. The score was 4-3 Blues at the end of the second.

Could Vegas perform another 3rd-period comeback?

Yep! They completely dominated the 3^rd period, scoring 3 goals, while holding St. Louis to zero shots on Fleury for the first 18 minutes. They overcame a 3rd-period deficit at 4-3 and scored 3 unanswered goals for the second straight game. And they did it with Fleury not being Fleury, plus missing Max Pacioretty.

If you’re wondering why I think the VGK saved Fleury from a potential seat on the bench once the actual tournament of 16 gets underway, here’s why. With Lehner scheduled to play tomorrow vs. Colorado, if Robin were to win both playoff games and remain undefeated as a VGK, coupled with looking good in the nets on Saturday and looking at the struggles the Flower had yesterday with a .765 save percentage, I believe DeBoer would have to really consider starting the Panda for Game 1 of Round 1. But the comeback boys may have saved Fleury and if they did, it’s about time. He’s saved them plenty over the 156 regular-season games and 28 playoff games he’s played as a VGK.

Seventeen of the 18 VGK skaters registered at least 1 shot on goal: Theodore had 7, Schmidt and Stastny both had 4. The only VGK player who didn’t register a shot was Ryan Reaves. It was a complete 60-minute game and their last 4 periods have been stellar.

Their next game, the last of the Round Robin series, is for the top seed of the West. If they win, they’ll hold the top seed for as long as they remain in the playoffs. It would be more important if they were actually playing at T-Mobile, as we all know what a huge advantage they have when they get to play in front of the best fans in the entire NHL. This year, their only advantage is being considered the “home” team in 4 of the scheduled 7 games, giving them last change if Coach DeBoer wants to either match up lines or get certain players away from the opposition’s lineup.

I like the intensity that Marchessault brings, but yesterday he seemed a little lost and took an undisciplined penalty in the offensive zone while Vegas was on the power play. That is just unacceptable and he knew it. If you could read lips while he was sitting in the penalty box, he said to no one in particular, “Fuck me.” Recognizing his blunder let me know he hasn’t lost his passion for this team or for winning at any cost. He has the heart of a lion. Wait, we already have one lion on this team. But having two isn’t a bad thing.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Alex Tuch (2 G including a power-play goal and an assist), Shea Theodore (2 G), Mark Stone (1G, 1A)

The next game is tomorrow for the #1 seed. Vegas is guaranteed no worse than the second seed. The time is TBD.

Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you can contact me directly at [email protected] or you can reach me at my Facebook Page or the Facebook Page of Vegas Hockey Guy

Schmidt’s turnover that led to Perron’s goal

Mark Stone’s winning goal