Knights on Ice — VGK Top Guns Come in Hot and Hit Their Target

Who exactly are the top guns for the Golden Knights? I’ve listed them in alphabetical order so no one can accuse me of who I think is more important to the success of this team. All 3 of these players bring something special to the mission of this team and last night’s mission was a target-rich environment.

The opponent was the Colorado Avalanche, the team that many hockey pundits believe pose a major roadblock for the VGK’s ultimate mission. The mission has 4 steps: get out of the Honda West Division; be one of the final 4 teams; win that round and play in the Stanley Cup Final. You all know what step 4 is at this point. Unfortunately, that mission fell 3 games short in spring 2018. That was then, this is now, and this team is better than the “Miracle Misfits” that almost set the hockey world upside down.

All Top Gun pilots in real life have nicknames, so let’s bestow some names on these VGK Top Guns: Marc-Andre “Crossbar” Fleury, Max “Sniper” Pacioretty, and Mark “Long Stick” Stone.

Last night, these 3 were the main reason the VGK dropped 3 of the 5 bombs that exploded on the Colorado Avalanche in their 5-2 win at T-Mobile.

This rather important win created some breathing room between 1st and 2nd place as Vegas now leads Colorado by 6 points for the top spot in the Honda West Division. Colorado does still have a game in hand. Vegas has their destiny in their own hands: If they win at least 7 of their remaining games, Colorado would have to win all 10 of their remaining games just to tie Vegas for the top spot of the Honda West Division.

These are 2 teams trending in opposite directions. Colorado has lost their last 3 games and Vegas continues to set a new franchise record with every win as they are in the middle of a 10-game winning streak. Yes, I’m aware that the Colorado team you watched last night was missing a few key players, but Vegas is also playing with a makeshift lineup of just 11 forwards and 7 defensemen and using a rookie defenseman as a forward. Dylan Coghlan was dressed for last night’s game, but only had 4 shifts for the entire game and just 2:13 of ice time. So, Coach DeBoer played the game without really having 4 complete lines to roll out shift after shift. That’s imperative if you want to achieve continued success against the Avs.

This 10-game winning streak may not seem like a big deal to some; plenty of teams over the years have had longer winning streaks. But when you consider this following stat, supplied by Jesse Granger of the Athletic, you can understand the significance of it.

The Detroit Red Wings have played 6,556 games and have never had a 10-game winning streak. Vegas has only played 283 games. Now before Red Wing fans lose their minds, Detroit has won 11 Stanley Cups since they came into the league 94 years ago; Vegas has none. Still, 7 of their 11 cups only required them to win 8 games as only 4 teams of the original 6 NHL teams made the playoffs. If the VGK only had to win 8 playoff games to win the Cup, they would have won two in the first 3 years. It also took the Red Wings 9 years to win their first Stanley Cup and that was with only needing 8 wins. They also went 42 years between Stanley Cups. It is the hardest trophy to win in any of the major sports so kudos to the teams that win it.

Last night’s win was Deboer’s 50th as the VGK coach. With DeBoer behind the bench, Vegas has earned points in 54 of the 70 games he has coached (50-16-4).

Last night’s game started off like an F-16 taking off from Nellis Air Force Base. William Karlsson scored just 10 seconds after the opening face-off against backup goaltender Devan Dubnyk who was brought in at the trade deadline to provide relief for Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer is down with COVID, so Dubnyk is their go-to guy for now and last night he wasn’t really good, allowing 4 goals on just 25 shots for a dismal .840 save percentage.

Karlsson’s goal was the fastest goal scored in VGK history. He broke his own record of 14 seconds into the game on Nov 24, 2018, vs. the San Jose Sharks in a game Vegas won 6-0. Karlsson’s opening goal was one that Dubnyk should have stopped. Ironically, Vegas scored a goal on their first shot in every period last night.

If that sounds like a good start to every period, consider this: The VGK didn’t register a shot in the second until Max Pacioretty scored at the 9:36 mark. That goal came from just inside the blue line, 60 feet from the goal line. It did appear that Pacioretty shot might have hit a Colorado player and slightly changed directions. But all in all, Dubnyk had a bad day at the office.

At the other end of the ice, Fleury was having a good night and got some help a few times from the post and crossbar. One shot rang off both posts before harmlessly sliding away. “Crossbar” Fleury stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced. The win was Fleury’s 488th, leaving him just 1 shy of Roberto Luongo for 3rd place for lifetime wins.

“Sniper” Max had a 2-goal night and 1 assist for his 8th game scoring streak of 5G 9A. It also was Max’s 50th point of the season and the 7th time he has accomplished that in his career. Shea Theodore picked up an assist on Max’s PPG, which extended his scoring streak to 5 games (1G, 7A).
“Long Stick” Stone used his billiards skills, scoring his goal from behind the goal line by shooting it at Dubnyk’s back. It worked as the puck bounced in over the goal line off of the scrambling goaltender. Stone had a 2-point night with 1G and 1A.

My 3 Top Gun Stars of the Game
1) Max Pacioretty (2G, 1A)
2) Mark Stone (1G, 2A plus the GWG)
3) Marc-Andre Fleury (35 saves on 37 shots, including a blind behind-the-back save with his glove hand as the puck was headed into the net.

Next game is Friday vs. Arizona at 7 p.m. Pacific Time at Gila River Arena.

If you want to hear and see more VGK content please check out the podcast I do with Eddie Rivkin on YouTube. It’s called “Hockey Knights in Vegas.”

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.

Karlsson’s goal just 10 seconds in

Stone’s bank-shot goal

Pacioretty’s PPG