It’s rare for an opposing player or coach to say anything about the other team right before facing it. They never want something they say to be misinterpreted, which could motivate the team they’re about to play.
But prior to today’s afternoon game vs. the Ottawa Senators, their coach Guy Boucher, noted around the league as someone whose words always have some sort of intended motivation for his team, said this about the VGK: “They’re one of the hardest working teams in the league.”
Was this a message to his team not to overlook the VGK, especially as they’re in the midst of a three-game losing streak, surrendering 14 goals in that span and playing their fourth-string goaltender? We’ll never know, but today, the VGK made Guy Boucher look brilliant in his assessment of them. They worked hard game and played the entire 60 minutes.
They even scored the first goal of the game, which is rare, then protected a third-period lead, which is very rare. They never trailed in this game.
When you’re playing the Ottawa Senators and take one of the league’s best players and no doubt the best defensive player out of the game, you stand an excellent chance of winning. For the entire game (minus the last 33 seconds), Eric Karlsson was a non-factor. His goal very late in the game was one Max Lagace never saw, due to a number of players from both teams directly in front of the net; he didn’t even look as the puck went top shelf over his right shoulder. That goal closed the lead to 5-4, though it only made it somewhat interesting.
With today’s win, the VGK tied another 100-year-old NHL record: It’s only the second expansion team to play the fewest games before achieving their ninth win.
Today’s win was a complete hard-working effort spread across the team, with four different players scoring the five five goals:
Alex Tuch and William Karlsson recorded their fourth goals of the season;
Jonathan Marchessault also had his fourth, along with two assists;
Eric Haula logged his third and fourth goals of the season.
The VGK also scored a season-high three power-play goals in today’s game.
In today’s game and the Karlsson vs. Karlsson match up I had the VGK’s William Karlsson the winner. Don’t expect this to be an every-game occurrence, but watching the Eric Karlsson skate today, I’m not sure he’s fully recovered from his off-season ankle surgery.
Here are some other interesting tidbits from today’s game.
The VGK had 17 shots on net in the second period.
The VGK have now had four different goaltenders win at least one game this season. Most teams have only two goalies record their total wins.
Even though Lagace surrendered the first two Senators goals on just three shots, he played another strong game and could very easily be 2-1 in his first three NHL starts instead of 1-2.
Today’s game was the first of another three games in four nights of this road trip. I’m sure the boys aren’t happy about how these games were scheduled. This is the longest road trip the VGK will face the entire season. If they can get at least one more win out of the last two games, they’ll save a road trip that started off as bad as it could’ve been.
I believe they can beat Montreal, even though it’ll be their third game in four nights, but they’ll have their hands full in Toronto.
When’s the last time you heard that being said in the NHL. Until recently, Montreal at home were almost unbeatable and Toronto was very beatable. How things have changed in the NHL. And the VGK’s amazing start this season is one of those changes in the NHL that comes as a (quite pleasant) surprise.
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