Knights on Ice — Odd Man Out

Last night Robin “Panda” Lehner was out of the lineup in the 2nd game of the 2-game series vs. Anaheim under some odd circumstances. As you know, in the goalie rotation, Panda has played all the odd-number games, while Fleury has played the even-number games. But that rotation was broken when Panda informed the team sometime around 4 p.m. that he wasn’t good to go for the game, which the VGK lost 1-0, snapping an 8-game home streak of 7-1-1.

Here’s where it gets odd. Lehner showed up at T-Mobile, but left before the team took the ice. Under normal circumstances, an injured player will still stay around his teammates and watch the game, as long as it’s not COVID-related. Coach DeBoer informed the media post game that Robin had “tweaked” something at the morning skate. If this was true, why would Fleury not find out he was playing until 4 p.m.? This just doesn’t make sense. Goaltenders have a routine. On the days that they play, they’re usually the first off the ice at the morning skate, which Robin was. Fleury assumed he was the backup for last nights’ game, acted accordingly at the morning skate, and stayed on the ice taking additional shots from his teammates.

According to Fleury, he was told around 4 p.m. that he would be starting. Even with very little preparation for the game, Fleury was spectacular, stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced. Without Fleury the score would have been at least 4-0 as he turned aside multiple quality scoring chances by Anaheim. This was Fleury’s first loss of the season and it stings; he deserved better. But like I’ve said before, goaltenders can save games for the team, though it’s rare for a team to save a game for the goaltender.

“Unfortunate to waste an effort like that. He was our best player,” DeBoer said. “Considering the circumstances, it was a great effort by him. I know the guys feel like they let him down tonight.”

The VGK were shut out last night and made it pretty easy for Anaheim’s goaltender John Gibson to record his 3rd shutout of the season. They offered no offense whatsoever, recording 21 shots on Gibson and just 4 SOG in the first period; they trailed in shots by a 21-11 margin after 2 periods. My recollection is they did not have one quality scoring chance for the entire 60 minutes on Gibson.

Shea Theodore was out of the lineup from an upper-body injury and his absence was especially noticeable on the power play, which he quarterbacks. The Knights went 0-2 last night on the PP after scoring 3 power-play goals in their last 4 games. They were also missing Tomas Nosek (COVID) and Brayden McNabb (undisclosed injury). Alex Petrangelo did return to the lineup after being released from COVID protocol and logged a game-high 26:28 for both teams. Alex was on the ice for the lone Anaheim goal that was scored by Max Comtois.

“I feel good. I feel rested,” Pietrangelo said. “I skated the last four, five days, but other than that I was just home resting. It was a long 10 days, but it’s nice to get back in the mix here, playing again. It’s not fun when you’re sitting out.”

Three of Comtois’ six goals have come against the Golden Knights. He scored two in the season opener on Jan. 14.

“It’s a fun building. I like coming here,” Comtois said. “It’s fun, it’s hard to play here. We don’t have the most success here, but today was a key point we focused on. We wanted to bring our ‘A’ game and we did.”

Last night’s win by Anaheim was just their 2nd win at T-Mobile since 2017. Their record coming into last night’s game was 1-6-2. Despite the loss, the VGK remained on top of the Honda West division by 1 point over St. Louis with 2 games in hand.

If you’re wondering about the last time Fleury played in back-to-back games for the VGK, you have to go back almost a year when he played on Feb. 20 and 22 against Tampa Bay and Florida. Fleury was the winning goaltender by identical scores of 5-3. Then Panda arrived at the trade deadline and played his first game for Vegas on Feb. 24. For the remainder of the shortened 2019-2020 season, Fleury and Panda played every other game. When the playoffs started, that rotation ended, with Panda getting the bulk of the games in the Edmonton bubble.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Max Comtois (GWG and his 3rd against the VGK), Marc-Andre Fleury (27 saves on 28 shots and deserved to win, but had no help from his 18 teammates), John Gibson (21 saves and his 3rd shutout this season)

Next game is tomorrow vs. San Jose at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. This is one of the games that was originally scheduled for the end of January that was to be played in Arizona. The COVID restrictions have been eased up in California now, so the game is back at the SAP Center in San Jose.

Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy or on Twitter @TheRealJoePane

One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game?

Amazing save by Fleury

Comtois’ winning goal