I was dismissive of the Vegas Golden Knights earlier in the season. Their early success seemed like a mirage, which seemed appropriate for a hockey team in the desert. How could an expansion team perform this way? It seemed like an oasis shimmering in the distance, sure to disappear as soon as you got closer.
I was very, very wrong. The Golden Knights play a fast, relentless style of hockey that makes life difficult for opposing teams, particularly ones that only pay lip service to the speed of the modern NHL. Their solid possession statistics show their success is no fluke and, combined with excellent goaltending and opportunistic scoring, gives them a legitimate shot at a long playoff run.
They’re doing this while over $7 million under the salary cap and with 29 picks in the next three drafts. The Knights aren’t just better than the Canucks this season; they’re likely to be better than the Canucks for years to come.
These are some of the thoughts that went through my head while I watched this game.
- Anders Nilsson and Jacob Markstrom have made a habit all season of giving up early goals, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when the Knights opened up the scoring two-and-a-half minutes in on Nilsson. It was like a surprise party where not only was the birthday boy or girl entirely aware it was coming, it wasn't a party, but an intervention.
- It was a tough break for Philip Holm, who was immediately on the ice for a goal against in his first shift as a Canuck, but it was hard to blame him. He successfully tied up Cody Eakin and prevented him from getting to the loose puck in the crease. Erik Gudbranson looked even worse, turning in front with no idea where the puck was, but I don’t blame him either, as he clearly thought Nilsson had absorbed the shot and was expecting a whistle for a faceoff.
- Like a deodorant tester, everything went under Nilsson’s arms in this one. Three of the five goals that got past him beat him between his arm and his torso as he was holier than Swiss cheese blessed by the Pope.
- Sam Gagner returned to the lineup and formed an intriguing depth scoring line with Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen. For those wanting to see Virtanen with some skilled linemates, you got your wish, and, like chicken and waffles, they made a solid combo. Virtanen finished with a game-high ten shot attempts, five of them on goal.
- Gagner combined hard work and skill on the Canucks’ first goal. First, the hard work: he stole the puck from Reilly Smith in the neutral zone, then out-battled Brayden McNabb along the boards, squeezing by the much larger defenceman. Then, the skill. His saucer pass over the sliding Luca Sbisa was like a Corona: sublime. Sven Baertschi timed his shot perfectly, picking the puck out of mid-air and putting it over Fleury’s right pad.
- Baertschi has five points in his last four games and seven points in his last seven games, with just one of those points coming on the power play. The team as a whole is struggling, but Baertschi has quietly been racking up points.
- While Baertschi is putting up points while not always on the top line, Nikolay Goldobin is fitting in nicely with Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. He set up Boeser with one of his best chances, making a nice drop pass as he cut across the top of the slot, but Marc-Andre Fleury snagged it with his glove.
- Meanwhile, the old guys are still pretty good. Daniel Sedin took a pass from Henrik behind the net, cut in front, and hit the post as Fleury sprawled to the ice. That gave Thomas Vanek an open net, as he swooped in and shot it through Erik Haula’s legs, which isn’t quite as impressive as shooting it through his own legs, but looks just as good on the scoresheet.
- On the second Knights goal, Gudbranson was, once again, not exactly to blame, but it was still concerning how unaware he seemed to be in the defensive zone. He locked eyes on the puck-carrier, while William Karlsson was wide open behind him. Bo Horvat was the guy that should have picked up Karlsson, and the pass from below the goal line made it nearly impossible for Nilsson to make the save on the top-corner shot.
- Holm seemed to gain confidence as the game progressed and made a great neutral zone hit on David Perron late in the first period. Did he take himself way out of position to make the hit, forcing Nilsson to make a great save behind him? Yes. But the hit was still pretty nice.
- William Karlsson is seemingly scoring at will this season, with a monstrous 24.8% shooting percentage (which will surely regress). He’s just three goals behind Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead in goalscoring, which is crazy. He scored 6 goals in 81 games last season. This is ridiculous. All that is to say, Brock Boeser probably should have kept an eye on him instead of slowly skating back into the defensive zone while Karlsson blew past him, took the pass, and beat Nilsson under his left arm.
- Turns out that Gudbranson is good at clearing his crease. Regrettably, he cleared it of Anders Nilsson, running into him and knocking him back into the net as Jonathan Marchessault scored. In case you haven’t gathered, this wasn’t exactly a banner night for Gudbranson.
- After Nilsson let in yet another shot under his arm to make it 5-2, Jacob Markstrom came in for the third period. He made eight saves on eight shots for one-third of a shutout. Once he fills up his punch card, he can redeem it for one full shutout.
- There was just one more question to be answered about this game: would Brock Boeser get a point? Yep. He tapped Henrik Sedin’s won faceoff back to Daniel Sedin, who played a nifty give-and-go before beating Fleury. That gave Boeser a secondary assist to bring him up to 51 points in 57 games. Only 14 points behind Mat Barzal! So, uh, Boeser is not winning the Calder this year. Sorry, guys.
- With the way Jake Virtanen was playing — driving down the wing, dangling around defenders, making great passes — it seemed certain he was going to score a goal. Unfortunately, it was for the wrong team, as his bank pass to the point skipped through Troy Stecher’s legs and went the length of the ice into the empty net. On the plus side, Virtanen was on the ice with the goaltender pulled! That’s a lot more trust than Green has usually given Virtanen.
