Ninety-five minutes and 23 seconds, that’s what it took to decide the winner of Game 2 of this opening round of the 2017-2018 NHL playoff series, in which the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the L.A. Kings 2-1. A hockey game’s normal playing time is 60 minutes, but when you have two world-class goaltenders in the nets, 60 minutes might not be long enough time to decide a winner.
Jonathan Quick, the L.A. net minder, almost single handily stole this game from the VGK. He faced 56 shots and stopped 54 of them. He rejected shot after shot after shot after shot.
The one goal that beat him in the first period was on the power play off an offensive-zone penalty by the Kings for goaltender interference. It resulted from a somewhat lucky bounce that came off the back wall. A shot from the point by Jonathan Marchessault went wide of the net, rebounded off the wall, and slid right to Alex Tuch, positioned behind a Kings defenseman. Tuch tapped in the puck for the first goal of the game and the first power-play goal that Vegas has scored this season against L.A. They were 0-13 during the regular season and 0-3 in Game 1 on Wednesday night. L.A.’s penalty-killing unit was ranked #1 of all 31 teams.
Last night, Vegas was 1-4 on the power play, while the Kings’ lone goal was also on the power play; they were 1-3 with the man advantage. That also was a lucky bounce on a shot from the point that glanced off of Deryk Engelland’s leg past Fleury.
If, somehow, L.A. had won this game, it would have been a crushing defeat for the Knights, who clearly dominated and, just like in Game 1, carried the play the entire game. Wave after wave of VGK players swarmed the Kings’ defensive zone, firing a total of 111 shots toward Quick, of which 56 actually got to the net.
The L.A. Kings were missing three of their starting defensemen, two due to injuries (Jake Muzzin and Derek Forbort). Drew Doughty, one of the best defensemen in the league, was sitting out on a one-game suspension for a check on Vegas forward William Carrier that resulted in a blow to Carrier’s head.
The suspension, along with the two injured defensemen, forced the Kings to play four defensemen who’d appeared in a total of just five NHL playoff games among them. It showed again and again, as Vegas kept the puck in the Kings’ defensive zone and had a number of quality scoring chances that Quick kept on rejecting.
The winning goal in the 2nd OT started with Shea Theodore attempting to leave his defensive zone and turning the puck over to Tyler Toffoli, who skated toward Fleury. Toffoli passed the puck to Kyle Clifford, who wound up for a shot. Theodore blocked his shot, which bounced out to James Neal. Neal skated into the neutral zone with Eric Haula and Alex Tuch following . Neal crossed, drawing both defensemen toward him. He dished the puck over to Haula who was bearing down on Quick with speed off the right wing. Quick attempted to poke-check the puck away from Haula, losing his position. Haula slipped the puck between Quick’s legs for the dramatic double-overtime win.
The roof literally exploded off of T-Mobile as the crowd went wild. It was Haula’s first-ever playoff OT goal and the 13th playoff goal in his career.
This game was the longest in the L.A. Kings’ franchise history. In their previous longest OT game, they beat the NY Rangers in 2014 to win the Stanley Cup.
Vegas now has a stranglehold of this series; L.A. has to win 4 of the 5 that remain in this series to advance to round 2. Teams winning the first 2 games of a series are an 88.7% favorite to win the series. But don’t start celebrating so soon. Back in 2014, L.A. lost the first three games to the San Jose Sharks before winning the last four of that series, going on to win the Stanley Cup.
Just like in Game 1, the physicality of this series continued with 136 hits between the two teams. L.A. had 80 hits, Vegas 56.
Also take this into consideration: Quick has surrendered just 3 goals in 2 games and is 0-2. Fleury and Quick are putting on a goaltending clinic .
About what to expect in Game 3 on Sunday, Coach Gallant said, “They’re going to come out real hard and play real hard. I don’t know what tonight’s game is going to take out of both teams. I don’t think the pace will be quite the same as it was, because the guys are pretty tired and beat up from five periods of hockey tonight. But the Kings are going back to their building and I’m sure they are going to come play real hard. They’re a great hockey team. It’s a great series so far.
One year ago yesterday, Coach Gallant was hired as the head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. I would say that Gallant is pleased with the anniversary gift his team gave him.
Game 3 is Sunday in L.A. The puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
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