Knights on Ice — VGK Bend, But Don’t Break Once Again For Their 5th Win In A Row

Last night, the VGK beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 at T-Mobile in front of 18,480. It was their 5^th win in a row, a season-high, and it could not have come at a better time. They left Minnesota beaten and demoralized on Feb 11 and 11 days later, they have picked themselves up off the mat and sit on top of the Pacific Division.

I wrote the following a few posts back about their upcoming 5-game homestand that I, along with many others, thought would either make or break their season, not to mention their playoff hopes.

“Just 6 days ago, the VGK left Minnesota demoralized, a beaten-down team that was headed for a homestand that would be a true test of their character, will, and determination. It was gut-check time, as this home stand pitted them against playoff-bound teams.”

They rose to the occasion, not just winning all 5, but beating a few good teams: the last 2 Stanley Cup Champions, plus the current top team in the entire NHL. They left no doubt about their character, will, or determination and in the process, they have regained their swagger.

As coach PDB said post-game in the previous 2 wins, “We bent, but we didn’t break.” He could have said that once again last night, as they really bent, especially in the 3^rd period when Florida put a big pushback on getting 19 shots on Fleury, who was once again the rock that we have known in his entire VGK career, minus a few games where he might have been somewhat distracted. Vegas had only 6 shots on goal for the entire 3^rd period and scored on 2 of them.

Once again, the VGK lost another goaltender interference call, which seems to be par for the course. The goal that was scored and challenged accounted for the 3^rd Florida goal and cut the VGK lead to just 1 goal with a lot of time left in the game, just under 15 minutes. The unsuccessful challenge also led to a Florida power play. Fleury stood tall and shut down the power play with a number of saves, some from just a few feet in front of him.

But it was Reilly Smith’s goals in the 3rd period that were instrumental in this win. His first goal was scored just 19 seconds into the 3^rd period and the empty-net goal with Florida pushing hard to tie the game came with just 1:17 left to put VGK back up by 2 goals and secure the sweep of the 5-game homestand. Smith’s goals give him 25 for the year, which ties a career-high for him.

The 3^rd and 4^th lines, which included Gage Quinney playing in his first NHL game and the first NHL player born in Nevada to play in the NHL, had a solid game, along with both Nosek and Carrier scoring to tie the game after Florida went ahead 1-0 and 2-1. These 2 lines kept the tempo up and the game close until the big boys of the top 2 lines got things under control. Florida dominated the first part of the game scoring just 3:28 in and having the first 5 shots on net, while Vegas had zero.

When Max Pacioretty scored with just 52 seconds left in the 2nd period to regain the lead at 3-2, it was Max’s 8th goal in the last 8 games and his 12^th point in the last 10 games.

The only bad news to report is that late in the 2^nd period, Noel Acciari hit Nicolas Roy from behind propelling Roy face-first into the boards. It what was clearly a 5-minute boarding major, but it was only called a 2-minute minor that was offset when William Carrier was also given a penalty after the play was blown dead for roughing behind the Florida net. Look for the league to have another look on this hit on Roy.

Since the only 2 scratches for the VGK, last night were Engelland and Merrill meaning all available forwards were in the lineup and they have a back to back game today vs. Anaheim will there be enough time to recall a forward from the Chicago Wolves in time in case Roy is not able to play later today? There is always the option of playing Merrill as a forward. The last time that was done Merrill scored a goal vs. Philadelphia on Jan 2^nd

With back-to-back games, there is a good chance that Subban will be in between the pipes today. Vegas owns a 2-1-0 record vs. Anaheim this season and has outscored them 13-8 in 3 games.

With Cody Eakin traded and Alex Tuch on LTIR, that frees up $4.735 million in cap space. How that will apply to the trade deadline, which ends at 12 noon on Monday, will be interesting. The team is playing well, so any knee-jerk reactions will be tempered or at least I think so. Unless a player who they believe is the missing piece comes along before 12 noon on Monday, they will need most if not all of this cap space over the summer, as only 4 defensemen are under contract going forward and just 6 forwards and of course Fleury. So before you think that the team has a lot of wiggle room, keep in mind that just 10 players and Fleury have contracts for the 2020-2021 season.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Reilly Smith (2 G), Marc-Andre Fleury (despite giving up 3 goals, he made some key saves especially on the last Florida PP when the score was 4-3), both the 3rd and 4^th line (who scored 2 goals combined and kept the game close along with the tempo of the game)

Next game is today at 7 p.m. vs. Anaheim.

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Max Pacioretty goal that took the lead

Reilly Smith goal 19 seconds into the third