Last night at T-Mobile, the VGK played the Anaheim Ducks, who were coming off an overtime defeat of 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabers in Anaheim. The Ducks had to storm back to erase a 3-0 lead that the Buffalo Sabers had over them on Thursday night. So it’s not surprising that with an early start time of 5 p.m., the Anaheim Ducks legs were missing or at least performing at a level less than expected. And it showed, as the VGK were all over Anaheim in the first period. Vegas had the first 9 SOG before Anaheim was able to move the puck in the direction of Robin Lehner. Like Thursday night, Anaheim did eventually find their skating legs and erased a 4-1 VGK lead in the 3rd period scoring 3 goals in 5:11, which forced the game to overtime.
The VGK have played 3 games in the last 4 nights and 5 games in the last 8 days. They lost their legs in the 3rd period, which allowed Anaheim to even the score and potentially stick a horrendous loss on the VGK. Good teams aren’t supposed to give up a 3-goal lead in the 3rd period, but their recent packed schedule, their travel woes getting to Dallas from Colorado, and going through 2 different time zones had a lot to do with their 3rd period SNAFU. They’ve also been playing shorthanded with injures not only going into the game, but during the game as well. Last night might have been the first game that Coach DeBoer could roll out 4 lines for the entire game.
Anaheim goaltender John Gibson, who always seems to play well against Vegas, was stellar in the first period, turning away 20 of the 21 shots he faced. Vegas’ 21 shots were impressive, to say the least, especially with their trouble generating offense this season. It’s close to a VGK record of SOG for a period. The record is 22 accomplished on 12/31/2019. The overall record for shots on goal in any period is 26 and that happened on 1/18/2019. But even with 21 shots, the only one that got by Gibson was by Reilly Smith 3:30 into the game and his original shot was stopped; Gibson couldn’t control the rebound, which Smith pounced on for the 1-0 after the first 20 minutes.
“Even though we were getting terribly outplayed in the first, Gibby put on a performance like I haven’t seen in a while,” Anaheim coach Dallas said. “I think that’s probably the best hockey I’ve ever seen in that first period.”
Vegas scored early in all 3 periods, Reilly Smith at the 3:30 mark of the first, Nic Hague at the 3:52 mark of the second, and Chandler Stephenson at the 2:45 mark of the third. William Carrier, who was literally carried off the ice in Dallas on Wednesday, somehow managed to play last night, which shows you how tough he is. His fellow players describe him as someone who can survive in any situation and he lived up to his reputation last night by playing and scoring the very important 4th goal for the VGK. Carrier’s goal was enough to keep the Anaheim comeback just a goal shy of winning it in regulation.
“You can’t let a team come back from 4-1,” Marchessault said about the team blowing a 3-goal lead with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. “It’s disappointing, but we’ll take the win.”
With the game going into overtime, the 18,029 fans were getting their money’s worth and most were standing during the 5-minute period. Evgenii Dadonov, who won Wednesday’s game in OT over Dallas, almost scored another OT winner, only to be denied by Gibson. The 5-minute OT ended and we were headed to the dreaded shootout, especially for Robin Lehner who has admitted publicly he doesn’t do well in them. But he rose to the occasion, stopping 3 of the 4 shots he had to face. Dadonov was picked to be the 4th shooter for Vegas after the first 3 shooters for both teams wound up tied after 3 rounds. Dadonov was not to be denied on his shootout attempt and the VGK who left Las Vegas on Monday with a 1-4 record now are 4-4 and with a 3-game winning streak.
“This was a huge week for us,” DeBoer said. “We were staring at an absolutely disastrous start. I thought the guys dug deep all week to get us back to .500 here.”
My 3 Stars of the Game: Nic Hague (1G, 1A, and a game-high 6 SOG), Chandler Stephenson (1G, 1A), John Gibson (who may have given up 4 goals, but if not for him, this game was over after the first period)
Next game is Tuesday vs. Toronto 4 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
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.
Never miss another post
Nadia Harper asked this question
Joe, do you know why the Knights were wearing the white away jerseys for the home game last night? I have always thought that the home team wears dark.
Nadia
You are correct most of the time the home team wears the dark jerseys. But yesterday was Nevada day and the VGK wore special white jerseys for the pre game warm up. These jerseys were than put on sale immediately. So it was just a marketing ploy. Originally in the NHL the home team always wore white that was changed for the 2003-2004 season. On special occasions they will wear white at home and yesterday was one of these occasions.
Joe P
Curve Ball wrote
I, too, thought Gibson was awesome last night. When we went to shootout, I told someone that Gibson gonna take them out and we’re gonna snag one point. I was wrong, again!! Either way, Ducks snagged a point.
Curve Ball The Ducks got their legs in the 3rd period while Vegas just ran out of gas. I’m not sure who was the lucky team but Gibson was lights out yesterday and kept the Ducks around to get a well deserved 1 point.
Joe P.
Judy Schneider sent this comment in
Thanks again! Great read!🏒🥅🧡🖤🍁🇨🇦🐼#goKnightsgo
Jamin Schmidt wrote this opinion
This is a well thought out, reasonable assessment of the game. Thank you.
Judy Billman Grech wrote this
I’ve got nothing… good read.
Judy Billman Grech It’s ok, most of the time I have nothing also 🙂
Joe P.
Great recap, Joe. Couldn´t watch the game in Sweden. Watched an recap on the NHL site. Yours was better as it gave me almost an play-by-play feeling.
Mary Becker sent this comment in
I always liked your article. I would have given William Carrier the other star instead of Gibson. He came back from an injury the other night and played a heck of a game plus scored a goal okay you and I don’t always agree LOL remember I always liked to give Holden credit
Yes Carrier could have been the 3rd star especially as his goal kept the game tied when Anaheim stormed back Mary, but Gibson play especially in the first period keep the game from being a blow out for Vegas.’
Joe P.
Hey, Joe. What about those Eichel rumors? His preferred surgery is the best alternative with shorter rehab and a strong disc replacement.
I had that kind of surgery a few years ago. I´ts the most common neck surgery in Sweden. The downside of Eichel is the cost and when he´s back on ice fully prepared for getting hit by Reavo, Tom Wilson et al. The upside is when in the right mood he´s a better hockey player than anyone on the VGK.