With 2 goals by Shea Theodore, the first a power-play goal and the second coming with Robin Lehner on the bench for the extra skater with just 48 seconds left on the clock, the VGK swept the entire 4-game road trip with yet another 65-minute game that needed yet another shootout before beating the NY Islanders by a score of 4-3 at UBS Arena.
The dice were stacked against the VGK on this road trip: 4 games in 6 nights in a time zone that had their body clocks off by 3 hours, plus yesterday’s start of 11 a.m. Pacific time.
But this team is nothing if not resilient and they found different ways to beat all four teams.
Jonathan Marchessault had a very productive trip with 3 goals. Besides an empty-net goal vs. New Jersey, Marchessault scored the only goal in the shootout against the Rangers that proved to be the game-winner. Yesterday, he opened the scoring by picking up a rebound that the Islander goaltender never controlled from Zach Whitecloud’s shot from the point just shy of 7 minutes into the game.
The Islanders drew even with a cross-ice pass from Brock Nelson that
turned into a PPG when it was deflected off the skate of Brayden McNabb.
Robin Lehner made a good read on where the pass was headed, vacating
his position on the left post and moving to his right. But when the puck hit
McNabb’s skate, it slipped through a tiny slot that Lehner left exposed. Bad
break for the VGK — and the pesky Islanders, who don’t give up a
lot of goals, were now tied 1-1 as the 1st period ended.
The 2nd period was scoreless; the first goal scored in the 3rd period would be important, as goals are few and far when these 2 teams get together. The last time was on October 24, a 2-0 game at T-Mobile won by New York. That was the game that created the VGK’s 4-game losing streak after winning their opening night game vs. Seattle. Since that game, Vegas has won 18 of their last 25 for a record of 20-11-0, good enough to be sitting on top of the Pacific Division with 40 points after being as far back as 6th place in October.
Shea Theodore’s goal in the 3rd period broke the 1-1 tie. It was Theodore’s 5th goal and first PPG of the season. As the quarterback of the 2nd unit, Theodore’s shots from the point determine the success of the power play. His blast beat Sorokin before he even had time to react and Vegas now had a 2-1 lead with 14:14 left on the clock.
The Islanders were not going away quietly and when they scored 2 goals within 3:21 of each other with just 2:21 left, the stage was set for OH SHEA to score from almost the same spot as his first goal and send another game past the normal 60 minutes. Like in the game against the Rangers, no goals were scored in OT.
DeBoer, playing the hot hand of Theodore, had him as the first shootout shooter and Shea didn’t disappoint , beating Sorokin. Robin Lehner, who has had his troubles in shootouts, stopped the first 2 shooters. Marchessault didn’t score in his attempt. Nicolas Roy swooped in on Sorokin and made a move that left Sorokin and his jock strap somewhere in the first row. Roy’s goal ended the game and locked up 8 points out of 8 for this road trip. Roy might be the VGK’s best shootout player, which is why DeBoer uses him almost all of the time.
Speaking of playing hot hands, with Vegas trailing and needing offensive production, the coaching staff put Theodore and Pietrangelo together. Normally, Hague plays with Pietrangelo and Shea plays with McNabb. Post-game, DeBoer said, “When you have 2 of the best defensemen in the world, it’s not rocket science putting them together.” He did credit his assistant coaches in making that move. Some coaches would have taken the credit here, but DeBoer is loyal to his assistant coaches and his words show that.
Other game notes and quotes.
Mark Stone didn’t play yesterday, was out with an upper-body injury. I didn’t see anything that would be cause for concern in the Ranger game, but with a bad back, it can take something as minor as a sneeze to tweak it out.
“I think our game was starting to come around prior to the trip,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “I like how we’re playing; we’re starting to get healthy. I don’t think anyone ever predicts sweeping a four-game road trip, especially through these four cities, but I think it doesn’t just happen like that. I think you build into it and I think our game was starting to trend in a good direction.”
Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who now have won five in a row. It was Lehner’s first road game against the Islanders since he left as an unrestricted free agent after the 2018-19 season, Lehner won the Jennings Trophy with the Islanders that season, also winning it with Marc-Andre Fleury last year with the VGK. The Islanders honored Lehner with a video tribute in the first period. He was emotional in his post-game comments about the Islanders and their fans, but especially GM Lou Lamoriello; in a sign of ultimate respect for Lou, Lehner shaved his facial hair. He went on to say, “That’s Lou’s rule and I was in Lou’s house.” You have to respect Panda and how he goes about his life both personally and on the ice. How do you not embrace this guy?
“It’s so much more than hockey to me, I can’t explain it,” Lehner said. “It’s the love I have for the guys there, this team, the organization, the fans, how they helped me with my life.”
The Islanders actually scored another goal in the 3rd period that was challenged by the VGK coaching staff for being offside. After review, the goal was removed from the scoreboard. If the challenge was wrong, the goal would have stood and Vegas would have been issued a delay of game penalty which would most likely have changed the outcome of the game.
My 3 stars of the game: Shea Theodore (2G, and another in the shootout, and 5 SOG), Jonathan Marchessault (1G and 5 SOG) , Ilya Sorokin (31 saves on 34 shots, with a number against high-danger scoring chances that kept the Islanders in the game enough to pick up an important point in their division)
Next game is tomorrow vs. the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning at T-Mobile @ 7 p.m. Pacific time
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
For more VGK content check out the (Hockey Knights in Vegas) Podcast that can be found on YouTube.com or on my Facebook page
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.
Marchessault opens the scoring
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Thanks Joe good article! Full of information. MerryChristmas & Happy New Year 🥳.
Judy, I also wish you and your family the same. Go Knights Go
Joe P.
Hey Joe.
A win is a win is a win.
Although a lot of bad outlet passes by McNabb, Hague and Mr U no Hu that finally led to a Islanders goal, they were able to win even if it was on penaltyshots.
The last two goals by Islanders were a result of really bad defensive play. The first goal was just bad luck, McNabb has blocked a lot of shots that way this season.
On the second goal, Hague had an ocean of ice in front him to make a safe pass out of the D-zone.
Instead he hasn´t got the puck against the blade, like many times before in his short NHL career. Therefore he shoots the puck to an Islander forward who passes the puck to a teammate. He shoots the puck from the top of the slot. Pietrangelo tries to block the shot with one knee to the ice. Lehner didn´t see the shot in time and it made the goal look like a misplay by Lehner.
That´s two mistakes in a few seconds.
On the third goal the puck was played to the left corner in the VGK zone. Both Pietrangelo and Hague goes for the same puck.
The Hague fumbles with the puck the behind Vegas goal and one Islander takes the puck and passes it in front of the goal..
As both of the VGK defenders were behind the goal, Stevenson didn´t do his only task in front of the goal.
Take out the Islander, not watch the play behind the goal. It´s an easy tap in by the Islanders.
What you can learn from this is you have to practise at every traning on having the puck at the blade without looking at it.
Ask Janmark how he mishandled the puck on that breakaway. His selfconfidence must below par.
As the swedish expertcommentator said, he´s a goaliecoach, you can´t go down on one knee in front of your own goal to block a shot.
You´ll take eyesight away from the goalie and you almost never block a shot that way.
Play blade-to-blade instead. Even the kids learn that now.
Both defenders can´t be in the corner at the same time, not even behind the goal.
Especially when Vegas hasn´t got forwards with a D-man insticts, except for William Karlsson maybe.
Those mistakes that lead to equalising goals took away the chance to build on their one goal lead.
If VGK would have had a two goal lead, I think they had an easy win in this game.
Thats´s how bad Islanders was. They had a match plan that was to shoot the puck behind Vegas goal line and stress the defenders to make mistakes, and it worked well.
As the ref´s didn´t give penalties for interference, Vegas should have slowed down the Islanders forechecking just like they did to Vegas forechecking by using interference.
That´s for DeBoer to make some changes of play to shut down the forechecking. He had a lot of time do so because the Islanders played that way from the beginning of the game.
Otherwise my feeling was that the VGK would win the game from the first period.
I know they won but I felt it like they gave the game away. Maybe they were tired as you said.
What happened to Coghlan? I saw the leg/knee hit by the Islander that wasn´t penalized. He didn´t play a whole shift after 09:45 in the second period he play three more shifts but only a few seconds like he was trying to play but couldn´t.
I was surprisingly happy for Mr U No Ho and his two old-time slapper goals. These shots require a screen otherwise it´s a waste of
energy as 13 of a dozen goalies makes an easy save on them. Great goal on the penaltyshot also
Joe, you know who I mean, but the name Mr U No Ho is from a character in the movies about the Pink Panther with Peter Sellers as chief inspector Closeau.
I was feeling bad for Robin Lehner when Islanders scored on him. The Golden Knights weren´t so golden in their own zone because they didn´t give him the best support last night.
He looked disappointed and angry when they scored. I wonder if he turned the anger against his own D-men?
Well, it was his night in the end anyway.
My 3 stars:
1. Robin Lehner. Mentally tough game and a lot of good saves. Sorokin had more help from D-men around the net so he could concentrate more on shots from outside the slot.Therefore I choose Lehner before Sorokin.
2. Shea Theodore. Two goals in regulation time and one on the penalty shooting overshadowed the defensive flaws.
3. Alex Pietrangelo. A workhorse who misses his partner Martinez in the D-zone. Always an offensive threat. There can´t be any haters left by now. Try to let Hague play the D-zone corners and behind the goal if possible.
Kenneth
Good observations on yesterday’s game. The boys were tired, especially Mc Nabb I think the 4 games in 6 days especially with the early start on yesterday’s game vs. the Islanders was a key factor. There was no pregame nap which is in the normal game day routine.
Lehner could not be faulted on the first goal as it was a perfect deflection off of McNabb’s skate blade. The other was directly off of a turnover by Hague. The surprising offense from Shea was not only welcome but essential in the win for the 4-game sweep. I’m concerned about Tuesday’s game vs. Tampa Bay as first home game back after a road trip can be hard to traverse. Tampa is rested and the VGK are not.
Joe P.
Anthony Ward
Like always, great article. Thanks Joe Pane
Anthony Ward thank you I appreciate your feedback and opinions
Joe P.
Hey Joe, thank for that. I´ll do my best but I forgot to thank you for the recap, with all inclusive so to speak.
Looking forward to listen to you and Eddie on the podcast tomorrow.
Now it´s good night from Stockholm.