Knights on Ice — A Wildflower Appears in the Desert

Very few things have the capability to grow in the desert and yesterday that appeared to hold true, as the VGK and Arizona Coyotes faced off in the final game of their 4-game series. Arizona especially wasn’t producing much of anything for the entire 60 minutes, launching only 16 shots that found their way toward Fleury, who stopped them all for his 62nd career shutout and the 1-0-win, compliments of “Wild Bill” Karlsson who scored with just 46.7 seconds left in the game.

It was Karlsson 2nd goal of the season and both have been instrumental in 2 of the 5 VGK victories. Karlsson’s first goal came on Jan. 16 in the VGK’s 2nd game when he scored with just 1:22 left vs. Anaheim with Fleury on the bench for the extra skater. The game ended tied and just 7 seconds into OT, Max Pacioretty scored for the VGK victory.  

Yesterday’s win propelled the VGK to an impressive 5-1 start and has them on top of the Honda West division and tied with the Montreal Canadiens for the most points in the NHL: 10 out of a possible 12. 

At the other end of the ice was Arizona’s goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was much busier; he had to face 27 shots in a rather boring game that appeared to be headed into overtime scoreless, until Karlsson saved the day and allowed the VGK a quick jump start out of the gate in this compressed 56-game season. 

These first 6 games were more like the usual 6 pre-season games that a normal hockey schedule affords a team. These are the games that allow the players to work out the kinks of the off season and gives the coaching staff time to implement whatever system they’re seeking and an opportunity to work on the power play and penalty kill. This didn’t happen in 2020; the pandemic forced the NHL scramble in order to somehow salvage the 2020-2021 season. 

So what you saw in the first 5 games hasn’t been the team considered by many hockey pundits to have a serious chance to make another run to the Stanley Cup Final. Their play was sloppy, their power play dreadful — 2 for 20 even with 2 different 5-on-3 advantages. But somehow, they’ve managed to win 5 of their first 6 games. 

Yesterday they played the entire 60 minutes for the first time in 300 minutes (5 games). Unfortunately, they ran into Darcy Kuemper, who was outstanding and held them scoreless and somewhat frustrated for 59 minutes and 13 seconds. Fortunately, the VGK had Marc-Andre Fleury 180 feet away. Sure, he had to stop only 16 shots, along with a little help from the goal post, but his save on Phil Kessler’s late in the 3rd period made the difference in yesterday’s results. If Kessler scores there, the entire game plan changes; with a 1-0 lead, the Coyotes would have clogged up the neutral zone and frustrated any offensive entries that Vegas would have attempted. 

Many, including me, doubted that Fleury would remain with the team this season. But he’s been outstanding winning, all 3 games he’s played, stopping 58 of the 61 shots he has faced and a GAA of 1.00. His rotation with Robin Lehner continues as they share the net. How long this continues is anyone’s guess, but we do know that Coach DeBoer has an opinion about Robin and his abilities, which he made clear in the playoffs last summer. Fleury’s play so far is making a valid argument for his ability to be THE GUY. Eventually, DeBoer will have to decide who’s the #1 goaltender. This stalemate is causing the salary-cap gymnastics that the VGK are forced to deal with, dressing 13 forwards and only 5 defensemen in 3 of their games so far. By doing, this they can remain under the cap with 20 players on their roster. The NHL allows them 23 players, but they can’t field a full 23-man roster and remain under the cap. In three games out of the 6 games, they’ve played with this unbalanced lineup instead of the usual 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. With $12 million in goaltenders’ salaries, this dilemma is not going away anytime soon.  

On William Karlsson’s winning goal, Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun assumed the play was going to be whistled for icing, as Alex Tuch was close or even possibly on the wrong side of the red line when he shot the puck deep into the VGK zone. Jonathan Marchessault never gave up on the play and beat Chychrun to the back of the net and in one quick motion passed it out to Wild Bill, who just like in game 2 vs. Anaheim, wasted no time in putting it behind Kuemper for the only goal scored in the entire game.  

“I was just rushing back, trying to be the first guy back there and everyone’s yelling, ‘Ice!'” Chychrun said. “I don’t know what else I can say. It’s frustrating. It’s just unfortunate that it cost us and I wish we could have it back.” 

Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said, “We just have to get a couple of our guys to understand that, in key moments, you have to play through the whistle.” 

Marchessault seconded the emotion. “You just kind of play through until there’s a whistle, and obviously there wasn’t one. I saw Tuchy have the puck around the red-line area and he tried to pass to me, but it hit something. I just kept going and it didn’t even cross my mind that it was going to be icing. Everybody stopped playing a little bit, but I just kept my head up and I saw Will alone, and he buried it.” 

The goal was Karlsson’s 18th game-winner in the NHL. Pretty impressive for a guy that the Columbus Blue Jackets left unprotected in the expansion draft.

The VGK had a friend in the schedule maker, who put the 2 of the weaker teams in the division, Anaheim and Arizona, as the VGK’s first 6 games Vegas on the schedule. These 6 games would be important if Vegas was to compete for the top spot in their division, as with both Colorado and St. Louis joining the West division, the race to the top was not going to be easy. Their 5-1 record so far compared to the other top 2 teams has them with a leg up as Colorado is just 3-3 in their first 6 games and St Louis is 3-2-1. Minnesota is off to a good start and sits in 2nd place.

These 4 teams are expected to qualify for the 4 playoff spots this season in the West division, though where the teams will finish is the question. The road to the final 4 teams this year will be different than the normal conference finals that Vegas has played in 2 of their first 3 seasons. Most likely, the Knights will have to beat both Colorado and St. Louis in 7-game series to make it out of their division. This is why a good start to this 56-game schedule was and is important. 

Under Coach DeBoer, the VGK have never lost 2 games in a row during the regular season and yesterday’s win kept that streak alive. 

Mark Stone 5-game point streak ended in yesterday’s game. 

My 3 Stars of the Game: Willaim Karlsson (GWG), the 3rd line (Roy, Tuch, and Kolesar), and  Marc-Andre Fleury 

Next up is 2 games vs. St Louis Blues on Tuesday and Thursday. Note the starting time is 6 p.m. and not the usual 7 p.m. for both games. 

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 

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 the previous VGK game? 

Fleury’s save on Kessel

Karlsson’s winning goal