Knights on Ice — Nick Cousins Blends In, Unlike My Cousin Vinny

In the movie My Cousin Vinny, Vinny Gambino played by Joe Pesci did not blend in, not only in the courtroom, but certainly not in Beckham County, Georgia, and he was reminded of that in various ways, as only a girlfriend can, by Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marisa Tomei (who won the Academy Award for her first major performance).

Last night, Nick Cousins blended in just fine with his new team, even though he arrived in Las Vegas just a few hours before the game and didn’t even participate in the team’s morning skate. So the first time he hit the ice at T-Mobile was the first time he was skating alongside his new team. To top that off, he played with 2 different lines and not only scored a goal, but a power-play goal, in the VGK’s 3-0 win over the 2^nd place Edmonton Oilers in front of another sold-out T-Mobile Arena of 18,421.

Yes, Nick Cousins was obtained on Monday at the last minute of the trade deadline from Montreal to help shore up the 3^rd line that has had different looks and lots of players over the team’s 64 games. And last night that trend continued as Cousins started on the 3^rd line with Roy and Stephenson. Then Coach DeBoer moved Cousins to the 4^th line and Tomas Nosek back up to the 3^rd. In PDB’s post-game presser, I ask him why he did that. PDB’s answer is interesting and shows how deep coaches in the NHL have to think.

The book on Cousins is that he can play any of the 12 forward positions. He has silky smooth hands and is known to ruffle the feathers of the opposition — Alec Martinez described his new teammate as a “shit stirrer.” Last night Nick didn’t stir or ruffle, but he did show just how silky his hands are with a pretty smooth backhanded power-play goal to give Vegas a little more room as they were nursing a one-goal lead over the offensive juggernaut of the Edmonton Oilers after the first-period goal by Max Pacioretty, his 30^th of the season and the most on the VGK.

But before Nick Cousins became the story, the opening act was all Marc-André Fleury, who somehow kept the Oilers and their 2 superstars off the scoresheet. Leon Draisaitl came into the game with 99 points. Connor McDavid had 87 in just 57 games. They did just about everything but score. Fleury used every piece of his equipment, including the crossbar and both posts, to accomplish this, especially in the first 20 minutes where it appeared that Vegas was playing back-to-back games. Vegas had the last 2 days off and Edmonton not only played Tuesday night but was forced into overtime. The Edmonton Oilers clearly had the fresher legs.

Sitting in the press box, I turned to Eddie Rivkin of the HockeyWriters and said, “If they get out of this period at 0-0, that will be a moral victory.” But with just 3:56 left in the first period, Max Pacioretty ripped a nasty snapshot high over Edmonton goalie Mikko Koskinen’s shoulder for a rewarding 1-0 lead in a game they were being outplayed in.

The 2^nd period was scoreless and dominated by the VGK as they ripped off 16 shots to Edmonton’s 5.

Cousins’ early 3^rd period power-play goal gave the VGK a little breathing room with a 2-goal lead. Shea Theodore fired a bomb of a shot past Koskinen with 10:01 left in the game to pretty much seal the deal.

Edmonton did outshoot Vegas in the 3^rd period 12 to 8, but Fleury was vintage in his 61^st career shutout and his 5^th this season, which leads the league. Fleury is 5-0-0 in his last 5 games with a GAA of 1.60 and a save percentage of .941. Not for one moment should you forget that with the addition of goaltender Robin Lehner, the other trade deadline addition, the Knights now have a backup goaltender who’ll push Fleury, plus give the coaching staff a secure feeling in resting the Flower down the stretch.

Pacioretty has 10 points during this 7-game winning streak, with 6 goals and 4 assists.

The VGK have won the last 6 games at T-Mobile, which is very important going forward; for a while there, their dominance at T-Mobile was missing.

Alec Martinez has 6 points in 4 games played as a VGK.

PDB is 11-3-2 since taking over the head-coaching job, 24 points out of a possible 32.

Cousins kept going the improbable streak of players scoring in their first game as a VGK this season, joining Cody Glass, Alec Martinez, and Patrick Brown. Nine players have now done this since the VGK joined the league.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Marc-Andre Fleury ( 29 saves and his 5^th shutout of the season, 61^st overall), Nick “I Blend” Cousins (1 PPG with 2 blocked shots and winner of 4 of 5 faceoffs), Max Pacioretty (GWG and 5 shots on goal, a team-high shared with Jonathan Marchessault)

Next game is Friday vs. Buffalo at 7 p.m.

Something to think about: Robin Lehner was with the Buffalo Sabres from 2015 to 2018. One would think that this is a perfect spot for Robin to play his first game as a VGK. But can you justify sitting Fleury, who’s in a zone of confidence? Dave Prior was making the choices on who was in the nets, but he’s no longer around. PDB has made it clear he’s playing whoever gives the team the best chance of winning. Does PDB come back with Flower and save Robin for the L.A. Kings game on March 1? I know I wouldn’t want to have to make this call.

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Big save by Fleury

Cousins’ PPG