Knights on Ice — What A Knight

Hockey players are creatures of habit, especially on game days. They prepare exactly the same way game in and game out: morning skate, pre-game nap, pre-game meal. They show up to the rink at the same time. Most players even go so far as putting their equipment on in the same order. They just don’t like change.

Well, welcome to the 2021-22 VGK season where nothing is going as planned and changes are a-plenty.

The VGK flight from Colorado to Dallas didn’t arrive until 4:10 p.m., just 3 hours and 20 minutes before the puck dropped. No morning skate. No pre-game skate at all. Unless players caught some winks on the plane, no pre-game nap. And the pre-game meal didn’t happen in the usual way.

I called their last win in Colorado on Tuesday night “gutsy.” I’m not sure what comes after gutsy, but last night’s 3-2 win in overtime against the Dallas Stars was more than gusty. It was a case of pure determination from a team that was facing adversity in the form of a 4-game losing streak and their very own hospital ward, as it seems they lose at least one player every game.

After Sunday’s fourth loss in a row against the Islanders, Robin Lehner said, “Good teams can dig themselves out.” Over these last 2 games, the VGK have, in fact, dug themselves out.

But it didn’t come easy last night. The ice seemed tilted in the VGK defensive zone, especially in the first half when Vegas seemed to have nothing but trouble getting the puck out of the zone. With Dallas swarming all over them, and if it hadn’t been for Laurent Brossoit, known to his teammates as “LB,” the night would have been over before the ice was dry.

Dallas’ forecheck created havoc for the VGK’s attempts to move the puck north to south and instead it just remained in their defensive zone.

Johnathan Marchessault called the Stars’ forecheck “amazing.”

Dallas had 30 shot attempts to just 10 for Vegas in the first period. At one point, the shots were 7-1 in favor of Dallas, then 22-6 through 2 periods. Vegas went 22 minutes without a shot during the 1st and 2nd periods The tight schedule Vegas was burdened with was showing and it wasn’t looking good.

But the VGK history isn’t bad when they play the Dallas Stars. They’ve now won 7 of their 9 meetings and 5 of the last 6 in regular-season games.

Speaking of history, Vegas is 12-1-0 in back-to-back games on the road since the 2019-2020 season. Last season, Vegas had an 8-0-1 record in back-to-back games. They’re also 10-0 in OT when it’s 3 on 3.

Laurent Brossoit was not only playing his first game as a VGK. Other than replacing Robin Lehner for the 3rd period in L.A., he hadn’t played a game in 171 days. So delays don’t seem to matter to LB, no matter how much hockey players rely on routine.

In fact, he said, “I thought our guys did a great job of weathering the storm, getting the travel legs out of us and making smart choices.”

LB made 32 saves on 34 shots, but the biggest was with just before the end of regulation. Jonathan Marchessault had just scored the tying goal with LB on the bench for an extra skater. It seemed we were headed to OT and a valuable and unexpected 1 point for the VGK. But not so fast.

With just 25 seconds to go, Luke Glendening found the puck on his stick in front of the net. LB was committed to his left as Tyler Seguin skated across the crease with the puck. When Seguin made a behind-the-back pass to the trialing Glendening, it appeared that Marchessault’s tying goal would be for naught. Somehow, LB pushed off of his left skate and found a way back to his right to make a pad save on a shot that was headed right into the net for what would have been a crushing defeat for the VGK.

The save sent the game into OT and the VGK didn’t wait long, 1:59 to be exact, to have their first winning streak of the season when Nic Roy made a brilliant forecheck and stripped the puck from John Klingberg behind the net. He slid the puck to Evgenii Dadonov, who wasted no time in putting it past Anton Khudobin for the come-from-behind character win for the VGK. Khudobin had a rough night, stopping only 18 of the 21 shots he faced.

Other game notes. William Carrier needed assistance leaving the ice after he blocked a shot in the 2nd period. He did not return to the game.

Alec Martinez was a welcome sight on the VGK bench last night.

When Dadonov was asked about his goal post-game, he said what a good teammate should say. As best as he could express it in English, he said, “All that matters win.”

With last night’s win the VGK jumped over 3 teams in the Pacific Division and are no longer in last place.

Last time these 2 teams played was in the Edmonton playoff bubble in 2020 and Dallas won the game in OT with Zach Whitecloud sitting in the penalty box, sending the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup Final.

I know you know, but I do have to tell you the VGK power play did not score last night and is now 0-15 and 0-33 since Game 4 of the Colorado series in Round 2.

My 3 Stars of the Game: LB (32 saves on 34 shots, many high-danger scoring chances, especially the one with 25 seconds left in the game), Jonathan Marchessault (game-tying goal and his tenacity over the last 2 games speaks volumes about his leadership role. especially considering the absence of Stone and Pacioretty), Evgenii Dadonov (GWG in OT)

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.

Marchessault’s tying goal

Brossoit’s save that sent the game into OT

Dadonov OT winning goal