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Vegas Golden Knights Dominant in First Two Preseason Games

By Richard Cardinale

VANCOUVER, BC - SEPTEMBER 17: Tyler Wong #80 of the Las Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by teammate Tomas Nosek #92 after scoring his second goal of the game against the Vancouver Canucks in NHL pre-season action on September 17, 2017 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - SEPTEMBER 17: Tyler Wong #80 of the Las Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by teammate Tomas Nosek #92 after scoring his second goal of the game against the Vancouver Canucks in NHL pre-season action on September 17, 2017 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /
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Vegas Golden Knights were too much to handle for the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche.

Offical preseason games are underway, and excitement is building around Vegas. Before the fans know it, two weeks will pass, and we’ll be talking about real games. But for now, we’ll stick with what we have and just enjoy it.

The Golden Knights kicked off their preseason schedule in Vancouver on Sunday with a 9-4 shellacking of the Canucks. The NHL’s newest franchise made a statement in their first action of the preseason. There were six different goal scorers for Vegas AND a hat trick.

The player that obviously popped the most in this game was Tyler Wong. Wong looked like a guy that was playing for a job, and he most certainly did his part on the score sheet scoring three goals and adding an assist. The 21-year-old camp invite was a 50 goal scorer last year for the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Western Hockey League so it may be a good idea for the Knights to sign Wong to a deal.

Other players that also impressed me were Tomas Hyka who netted a pair and Tomas Nosek who recorded three points. Shea Theodore logged 23:12 of ice time and didn’t look phased or fatigued at all which is a good sign. Only six out of the 18 Golden Knights skaters were held without a point in Sunday’s victory.

One of my major complaints about this game was the number of penalties the Golden Knights were taking. Eight penalties went against the Golden Knights, and the Canucks capitalized on three times on the powerplay. However, Vegas converted on three powerplays on nine chances themselves.

On Tuesday, the Golden Knights took out the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 4-1. Head Coach Gerard Gallant was probably more happy with this result than Sunday’s game as this was more of a complete effort from everyone involved.

The team got off to a fast start when Brad Hunt, Jonathan Marchessault, and Oscar Lindberg scored three goals in a span of 2:31 in the first period. Hyka got in on the fun again scoring his third goal of the preseason late in the third period.

Both of the Golden Knights goaltenders split time against the Avalanche and did quite impressive. Maxime Lagace started and stopped 10 out of 11 shots, and Oscar Dansk saved all 18 shots he faced in the third period. All in all, it was a great night in the crease for Vegas.

The powerplay did it again for Vegas on Tuesday night going two for six with the man advantage. The last setup on the Lindberg goal was a thing of beauty and surely encouraging to see. Vegas did end up killing seven out of eight penalties, but the team has to cut down on the infractions if they want any chance of winning consistently.

Next: Was It The Right Move To Acquire Marc Methot In the Expansion Draft?

So far, so good for the Vegas Golden Knights. Will the team’s early success in the preseason carry over into the regular season? That remains to be seen. But next up on the table for the Vegas Golden Knights is the San Jose Sharks Thursday night at the SAP Center in San Jose.

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