Knights on Ice — VGK Blow Away 3 Valuable Points with Just 40 Seconds Left

The VGK were headed into overtime, which would have prevented last night’s game from being a 4-pointer. But with the faceoff to Fleury’s left, William Karlsson drew the puck to the boards, clearly a safe choice, better than the puck drawn back to the point or out in front of Fleury. But Zac Whitecloud was picked off, disabling him from getting to the puck. Instead, Joonas Donskoi grabbed the loose puck and sent it up the boards to the point, where Bowen Byram sent a shot toward Fleury. That was tipped by Donskoi as he made his way from the boards toward the front of the net. Fleury made the initial save of the tip, but didn’t control the rebound, which was picked up by Nazem Kadri just to Fleury’s left. Kadri scooped up the loose puck and gave Colorado a much-needed 4-point win, beating the VGK by a score of 3-2 with just 40 seconds left in the game.

Last night’s game was clearly different from the last one these two teams played on Sunday. The pace was clearly cranked up a few notches; both teams had jump in their legs. It’s clear that right now, the Knights and the Avs are the best in the West and that’s what makes this late goal by Kadri hurt even more. If Vegas got the game into overtime, even if they lost, they would have suffered a 1-point difference in the standings. If they won in the 5-minute OT or in the shootout, they would have scooped up 8 points in the first 2 games of the 4-game set. Even though we’re only exactly 25% through the 56-game season, those 8 points would have been hard for Colorado to overcome. With last night’s win, the Avs trail the VGK by only 4 points and Colorado has a game in hand. So, you can see how Kadri’s goal was a heartbreaker. To add some salt to the wound, that was Kadri’s 7th career goal vs. Vegas in just 7 games.

Vegas unfortunately dug themselves a pretty big hole in the first period by taking 3 penalties, all for being lazy with their sticks: Martinez and Glass for hooking and Theodore for tripping. This is what happens when the other team’s players are moving their feet and you’re not.

Vegas did successfully kill off all 3 penalties and actually didn’t allow Colorado a SOG during the 6 minutes of power-play time. But when you spend 30% (6 of 20 minutes) of the first period shorthanded, you disrupt the flow of your team’s game. Your 12 forwards aren’t all getting ice time equally, and it showed, with Vegas out of sync for the first period.

They got back to their game in the 2nd period, when they tied it up on Max Pacioretty’s PPG, his 8th goal of the season, set up by Shea Theodore who returned to the lineup last night after missing 3 games. Theodore quarterbacks the power play and his return to the lineup paid dividends for the power-play goal. The tie didn’t last long. Branden Sadd scored just 1:03 after Pacioretty’s goal to regain the lead at 2-1 and that was how the 2nd period ended.

Jonathan Marchessault scored his 5th goal of the season 6:52 into the 3rd and that was a good sign if you believe in history. You see, the VGK were undefeated this season when Marchessault’s name was on the scoresheet (9-0). But that streak ended when Kadri scored his game-winner.

Vegas is now 10-3-1 and still sits on top of the Honda West Division with 21 points. St. Louis has 20 in second place, but has played in 16 games. Colorado is in 3rd place with 17 points and has played one less game than Vegas.

My 3 Stars of the Game: Nazem Kadri (GWG), Branden Saad (1G, 1A and a +3 for the game), Alex Tuch (may not have gotten on the scoresheet, but his speed was clearly evident last night and he was used by DeBoer on the PK unit. His speed and his long stick are great assets.)

Next game is Saturday at 12 noon against Colorado again. This one should be fun; it’s outdoors up at Lake Tahoe on an ice rink being built right on the lakefront (the 18th hole) at the Edgewood Tahoe Golf course. It will be a nationally televised game on NBC.

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Pacioretty’s PPG

Marchessault’s goal

Grubauer’s big save on Pietrangelo

Kadri’s game-winner