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Vegas Golden Knights Goaltender Malcolm Subban Earns Sweet Revenge Against the Boston Bruins

By Richard Cardinale

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 15: Goalie Malcolm Subban #30 is congratulated by his teammate David Perron #57 of the Vegas Golden Knights after getting his first career NHL victory against the Boston Bruins during the game at T-Mobile Arena on October 15, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Todd Lussier/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 15: Goalie Malcolm Subban #30 is congratulated by his teammate David Perron #57 of the Vegas Golden Knights after getting his first career NHL victory against the Boston Bruins during the game at T-Mobile Arena on October 15, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Todd Lussier/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Vegas Golden Knights improve to 4-1-0 thanks to a solid performance by backup goaltender Malcolm Subban.

For the first time in franchise history, the Vegas Golden Knights started a backup goaltender. And not only did Malcolm Subban get the start, but it was also against his former club, the Boston Bruins. Subban was a former first-round draft pick of the Bruins, and he was looking for revenge against the team that waived him last week.

Vegas also made a couple of changes to their blue line heading into the game. The team decided to slot in Jon Merrill and Brad Hunt and scratch Jason Garrison and Brayden McNabb. Upfront, Alex Tuch, and Vadim Shipachyov made their Vegas Golden Knights debuts as well. They took the place of injured forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Erik Haula.

In the first period, the Golden Knights earned a power play, but the B’s killed it off in easy fashion. Vegas ended up getting a faceoff violation penalty as well. Reilly Smith almost had a shorthanded chance on the breakaway, but a great defensive play by Brad Marchand denied the opportunity.

Overall, it was a very sloppy first frame for the Golden Knights. Boston controlled the puck for most of the period, and it took the Knights nearly 15 minutes to get their first shot on net. Filled with turnovers and mistakes, but luckily, the Golden Knights made it out alive.

And not only did they survive the first, but the team also ended up with a power play due to a Zdeno Chara slashing call that carried over into the middle frame. The NHL’s newest franchise didn’t score on the man advantage, but they started to swing the momentum in their favor.

An even second period for the most part. The Knights got a good chance when James Neal came down the wing all alone, but Tuukka Rask was up to the task and made a key save. Just a few minutes later the first goal of the game came with nearly 15 minutes gone in the second.

A Kevan Miller and Sean Kuraly miscommunication led to Alex Tuch walking in all alone versus Rask and sniping it past the former Vezina Trophy winner for his first career NHL goal. And with just about two minutes left in the second, another Golden Knights player earned his first NHL goal.

Tuch made the play happen in front taking a few quality chances that Rask stopped, but Vadim Shipachyov was there on the rebound for his first NHL goal in his first NHL game.  It was the beautiful moment for the fans after the saga of Shipachyov not making the team out of camp has finally come to an end.

Subban stopped every shot he saw in the first two periods saving 15 out of 15. Vegas ended the period on the penalty kill when Hunt took a hooking call with one minute left in the second.

Much better period here for the Golden Knights. They took advantage of a few Bruins mistakes and capitalized on their chances. And the team carried momentum into the final frame despite the penalty from Hunt.

The third period started with the Knights killing off the Hunt penalty without much of a push from the Bruins. It was a pretty sound period for Vegas defensively limiting the Bruins scoring chances next to nothing. This game was definitely one of the best defensive performances from the Golden Knights.

However, with 30 seconds left the Golden Knights lost the potential first shutout in franchise history. David Pastrnak made a pass behind the net that deflected off of William Karlsson’s skate in front and past Subban to give the Bruins a chance.

Related Story: Vadim Shipachyov Is Back!

But the Golden Knights got the last laugh when Oscar Lindberg scored with Rask pulled for his second goal of the season. The clock struck zero and just like that the former Bruins prospect earned the first win of his career. Subban had sweet revenge on his mind, and that’s exactly what he got.

My third-star of the game was indeed the young 23-year-old goaltender. Subban earned the honor by stopping 21 of 22 Bruins shots and nearly earning the shutout. He didn’t make a ton of flashy saves, but he got the job done on this night. Shipachyov earned second-star honors scoring what proved to be the crucial game-winning goal. And my number one star was none other than Alex Tuch. The team made the call-up this morning, and he impressed all night long scoring a goal and adding an assist on Shipachyov’s game-winner.

Next: Golden Knights Place Two Key Players on Injured Reserve.

All in all, a solid performance by the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night. There’s no doubt Head Coach Gerard Gallant made the right adjustments to get the team back on track. The team will look to improve on their 4-1-0 record against the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

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