Knights on Ice — VGK Responds Early and Then Late

Coming off a team-wide disappointing performance in Winnipeg on Friday night, the VGK responded early in the first period, then had to dig deep and score twice in the final 1:10 to win a game they led at one time by a score of 3-0. Shea Theodore scored from a near-impossible angle when his shot deflected off the stick of Andrew Mangiapane and beat Flames goaltender David Rittich over his right shoulder. Jonathan Marchessault then added an empty-net goal with 17.7 seconds remaining for the 5-3 win.

It was a crucial matchup with the Calgary Flames who, by virtue of winning their last 3 games, had vaulted themselves back into 3^rd place in the Pacific Division and a playoff spot and were on the heels of the VGK, who slipped back into 2^nd place when Edmonton picked up 2 important points with their victory on Saturday vs. Columbus. Yesterday’s win moved the VGK back into first place and today’s game against Edmonton is now the next important task at hand.

Coach DeBoer stayed true to his belief that starting the line of Reaves and Carrier centered by Nosek is beneficial in his game plan of creating the tempo of the game he seeks. A few doubters still just don’t believe this is the optimum way to utilize his 12 forwards. Recent results, however, tell a different story, as the VGK are now 10-2-0 in their last 12 games and 14-5-2 since DeBoer replaced Gallant. That works out to adding 30 points out of a possible 42, or in games where points are earned at an impressive 71.4%

Yes, the first periods have not been the best for the VGK all season long, but when lines play 45-second shifts on average, trying to blame their first-period woes on 3 specific players is just not fair.

Yesterday, the 4^th line opened the scoring. It wasn’t on their first shift, but not long after the game started, Ryan Reaves made a nice play, chipping the puck forward just outside of the blue line and into the offensive zone. He then got on his horse, beating Derek Forbolt wide and heading toward the front of the net. His shot was stopped by Rittich, but Reaves’ momentum took him into defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who was acquired at the trade deadline by Calgary and was rumored to be the defenseman that Vegas was seeking from the Chicago Blackhawks. They didn’t get Gustaffson, but they did get Robin Lehner from Chicago instead. Reaves clearing Gustafsson out of the front of the net allowed Tomas Nosek a lot of time and space once he picked up the rebound. Nosek buried the shot and the VGK’s 4^th line had the first goal of the game. It was Nosek’s 8^th goal of the season, a career-high.

One of the changes that PDB has made since coming to the team is getting the defensemen to become more involved on the offensive side of the puck. That was clearly evident, as Shea Theodore was deep in the offensive zone in a 3-3 game with just over 1 minute left to play.

Nick Holden also is enjoying the newfound freedom under PDB; he had a goal and an assist. Holden joined the rush and picked up a nice pass from Nick Cousins to increase the 1^st period lead to 2-0. The first period ended with the VGK lead the dreaded first-period past results were not going to rear their ugly head in this game.

I’m not about to give a pass on some of Holden’s other pinches in trying to create scoring chances. Some have resulted in scoring chances going the other way: Yesterday, his pinch led to Lucic’s goal for Calgary’s that made the score 3-1 and started the Calgary comeback.

But in his defense, he’s following the direction PDB is asking of all of his defensemen. He wants units of 5 involved in the offensive rush. When a defenseman is reluctant to become part of the offense, it makes life easier for the defending team, as 5 players will be up against who are committed to the offense. The 5-man units can be dangerous, as it will at times create chances going the other way. But with 2 goaltenders who seem to have the confidence of the coaching staff, this makes PDB’s new wrinkle a new problem for opposing teams. With Subban as Fleury’s backup, they were hesitant to employ this if Fleury wasn’t between the pipes. The system a team plays must remain consistent no matter who the goaltender is.

When Max Pacioretty scored in the 2^nd period on the power play, it was his 32^nd of the season, which leads the team in goals. It also increased the lead to 3-0. It seemed safe to assume that with the Big Guy in the net and with his recent performances as a VGK, the game seemed to be in the bag. But Calgary had other plans. They scored 2 goals on back-to-back shots, including a power-play goal, and the ever-present pest Matthew Tkachuk scored with 3 minutes to go in the game to make it 3-3.

Something also occurred in the game that as a VGK fan, you might not be used to seeing. The VGK actually won a goaltender interference challenge when it appeared Calgary scored with 4:10 to go in the first period to make the score 2-1. The referee appeared at first to wave it off; then he pointed to the puck in the net as he was signaling a goal. It was confusing as to which motion he was trying to display. The challenge, if unsuccessful, would have made the score 2-1 and Vegas would have been given a penalty for the unsuccessful challenge. That would have been a huge momentum swing if the goal counted and now Calgary is on the power play with a chance to wipe out a 2-goal lead and head into the intermission tied at 2-2. Kudos to PDB for firmly believing that the Big Guy was interfered with. He was right and the 2-0 lead was secure.

The Big Guy, who appeared unbeatable in his first 2 starts, was dinged for 3 goals yesterday on just 22 shots. He was 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA; now he’s 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA.

Marchessault’s goal was his first since Feb 13 vs. St. Louis, 11 games ago.

My 3 stars of the Game: Shea Theodore (game-winning goal with just 1:10 left and avoiding the VGK from blowing a 3-0 lead), Nick Holden (1G, 1A), William Karlsson (2 assists and the one on Pacioretty’s PPG was a thing of beauty, as he kicked a pass from his skates to his stick before sending it over the Max for his PPG)

Next game is today vs. Edmonton for first place at 6 p.m.

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

Nosek’s goal

Pacioretty’s goal

Theodore’s game-winner