Vegas Golden Knights Rally Late and Win First Game in Franchise History

James Neal and Marc-Andre Fleury shine in Vegas Golden Knights first regular-season victory in franchise history.

The Vegas Golden Knights regular season is finally here ladies and gentleman. At last, we can finally talk about games that count. The Golden Knights took on the Dallas Stars Friday night, but before the game, both teams shared a moment together.

Stars play by play broadcaster Dave Strader lost his battle with cancer, passed away five days ago. He was by far one of the best play by play announcers in the game, and it won’t be the same listening to nationally broadcasted Stars games.

And of course, the city of Las Vegas had a terrible situation of their own. Without getting into the disturbing details, the Las Vegas massacre was one of the worst tragedies in modern United States history. The Stars and Golden Knights stood together in an unforgettable moment of silence.

The moment of silence was by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen teams stand together for a moment of silence before. Very classy gesture by both teams joining each other in these tough times.

And before you know it, shortly after the anthem, these teams started getting physical very early on. There were tons of big hits and scrums early on in this one. Marc-Andre Fleury had a tremendous first period stopping all 14 shots he saw.

In the second period, the wheels were starting to come off. The Stars piled on the scoring chances, and they finally put one past Fleury as Tyler Seguin redirected a Devin Shore slap pass on the power play. Fleury still stood strong saving 20 of 21 shots.

The team looked very sluggish on the power play overall going zero for seven on the night. Both Golden Knights powerplay units needed a shot of energy. Many fans and media members are still wondering why Shea Theodore and Vadim Shipachyov. Perhaps, if the Golden Knights had these two players in the lineup, you probably wouldn’t see a goose egg out of seven man-advantage opportunities.

As the team moved on to the third period, Fleury made a ton of timely saves in the third period. He kept his team in it the entire game but more so in the final frame. But at the very beginning of the third period is where the turning point occurred.

Stars goalie Ben Bishop suffered a weird injury when he took a shot off his mask. However, the Reilly Smith wrist shot somehow cut him, and he left the ice bleeding. Dallas had no choice but to make the switch to a cold Kari Lehtonen early on in the third.

Vegas started to pepper Lehtonen with shots till one finally broke through the Stars goaltender. With nearly nine and half minutes to go in the game, “Real Deal” James Neal scored the first goal in Vegas Golden Knights history and tied the game at 1-1. Nate Schmidt left it for Neal to join the offensive fray and snapped it past Lehtonen’s five-hole for the goal.

The teams battled for the next six-plus minutes with players on respective squads getting their chances. Time was ticking off the clock but with 2:44 to go in regulation, ex-Star Cody Eakin fed Neal beautifully on a two on one and Neal roofed it on one knee over a sprawling Lehtonen.

The Stars pressured the Knights towards the final minute of the game but in the end, it wasn’t enough and history was made. The Golden Knights pulled off the upset and beat the Stars 2-1 in their building.

Fleury was outstanding all night long making 45 saves on 46 shots. He deserved the number one star of the night honor with that kind of performance. Neal also deserves praise for showing some offensive firepower when the team needed it. Tonight proved if the Vegas Golden Knights want to go anywhere this year, it’ll be because of Fleury and Neal.

Next: Vegas Golden Knights Sign Brandon Pirri

The Golden Knights have a quick turnaround as they travel to Arizona for a Saturday night meeting with the Coyotes. The team will try to carry the momentum from Dallas and go on a winning streak for the first time.

What did the new fans of the Vegas Golden Knights think of the game? Its fun rooting for a major professional sports team that’s yours, isn’t it Vegas?