After the VGK 5-2 victory on Friday against the same L.A. Kings, I wrote that there was no sign of rust among the players after a 9-day layoff. Because he never stepped on to the ice, I didn’t include Robin Lehner in that opinion.
Well, yesterday, he was in the net, as the goaltending rotation continued between Robin and Fleury. Robin hadn’t played a game for the past 11 days; added into this equation was an unusual 12-noon start time. Robin clearly was rusty and not focused. Was it the long layoff? The early start time? A combination? Whatever the reasons, he surrendered 2 goals on the first 2 shots the Kings put on net. Many times, a goaltender will steal a game for his team; yesterday, the 18 VGK skaters stole a game for their goaltender.
On 3 first-period goals by Reilly Smith, Zach Whitecloud, and Chandler Stephenson the VGK saved Panda, who had a first period he probably wants to forget. Even though L.A. scored 1 more goal to tie the game up at 3-3, Chandler Stephenson scored his 2nd goal of the game for the VGK 4-3 win, which improved their record to 7-1-1. They remain undefeated in regulation time at T-Mobile. Yesterday’s win also vaulted Vegas back to the top of the Honda West Division, along with having 2 games in hand on Colorado and 3 games on St. Louis.
Yesterday’s win was Robin Lehner’s first in his last 3 starts. Once again, I will say that 9 games aren’t enough of a sample for Coach DeBoer to make a decision on who he will eventually tap as the number-one goaltender going forward. But make no mistake. If you are looking at Lehner and Fleury as a potential stock purchase, Fleury’s stock is trending higher right now. Fleury has a 1.25 GAA with a .944 save percentage, along with 1 shutout, and has given up 5 goals in 4 games. Lehner has a 2.96 GAA and a .890 save percentage and has given up 15 goals in his 5 games. Trust me, you don’t need your financial advisor to recommend your #1 goaltender right now.
Lehner did finally settle down and seemed more comfortable, stopping the next 29 of 30 shots he faced. He also took a shot high up in the shoulder area that seemed to bother him as he went down to a knee briefly. But he remained in the game and Coach DeBoer had no information on his condition. He will have at least the next 3 days off to mend, as his next scheduled start, barring the injury, is on Thursday vs. Anaheim at T-Mobile.
Chandler Stephenson was clearly the #1 star of yesterday’s game. He not only scored 2 goals, but he also had the game winner with his 3rd period goal that broke the 3-3 tie. It was Chandler’s first 2-goal game in more than 3 years. He last scored 2 goals in a game back on January 31, 2018. His 2 points yesterday give him a respectable 27 points in 50 games with the VGK (11G 16A). In 168 games as a Washington Capital, he accumulated 33 points (14G 19A). Keep in mind he has played a bulk of his VGK games centering a line with Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, where in Washington he was buried on the 4th line and his time on ice was limited. In his first 2 seasons with Washington, 2015-17 he played in only 13 games and did not record a point. He’s now averaging 16 to 17 minutes a game and playing with 2 proficient scorers, which makes his hockey life a little easier, if you ask me. Keep in mind Chandler was acquired from Washington for a 5th round draft pick in the 2021 entry draft. Most 5th round picks never get a sniff of the big show for the most part. This looks like another steal for the McPhee/McCrimmon duo.
Chandler admitted in his post-game comments that his game-winning PPG goal was really intended to be a pass for Alex Tuch. But the puck hit the stick of L.A. defenseman Kale Clague and snuck between Calvin Petersen’s pads. “Pretty lucky goal, but I’ll take it,” he said. This marks the 3rd game in a row that the VGK have scored a PPG. Like I mentioned after Friday night’s game, if they start getting a couple of lucky bounces, their confidence in the PP will grow and there was the lucky bounce that they needed.
On Chandler’s 1st goal, it was all Mark Stone, who sent him in on Petersen with a blind behind-the-back pass from the right-wing boards. The pass caught both L.A. defenders cheating toward Stone along the boards and Chandler had a partial breakaway that beat Petersen to break the 2-2 tie at that point of the game. Proficient scorers like Stone and Pacioretty also have the skill set to send you blind tape-to-tape passes. When you’re playing on the 4th line, such passes aren’t common occurrences.
Zach Whitecloud continues to impress in both zones. He scored his first regular-season goal yesterday just 26 seconds after the Kings jumped back ahead 2-1. Vegas never was behind after Zach’s goal that tied the game at 2-2
The VGK wore their new sparkling gold jerseys yesterday and now have a 3-0-0 record when they’re dressed in gold.
My 3 Stars of the Game: Chandler Stephenson (2G and the GW PPG), Zack Whitecloud (1G plus 22 minutes of ice time, 2nd only to Alex Martinez’ 25 minutes of ice time), and Reilly Smith (1G, but a key goal that kept the game from getting out of hand when Lehner was shaky in the first period).
Something that’s not hockey related but interesting: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl last night and Tampa Bay is becoming a championship city with the TB Lightning winning the Stanley Cup and the Tampa Bay Blue Rays playing in the World Series all within the past 6 months.
When the VKG players were asked for their Super Bowl picks, 11 chose the Bucs and 12 chose the Kansas City Chiefs. Three players were spot on and just chose Tom Brady, who of course was named the Super Bowl MVP. The 3 players who picked Brady were Nick Holden, Chandler Stephenson, and Tomas Nosek. And here is a what-we’re-you-thinking moment: Alec Martinez’ pick was the Detroit Lions. I think Martinez may have taken a few to many pucks to the helmet 🙂
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